The Wilmington morning star., 1941-01-27
Fair Enouuh
BY WEsTBRooK prc1r.

to know that views and ~sIs
ions expressed in this ar TI,l'
are those of the author sns
may not always hi ,moriu u
with its position.-The ESitns
NEW YORK, Jan. 26.-R-son,.
months ago I remarked that SV nv
American people were So far us
in such vices as graft and ds so.s
by public men, so comfortablv ,lsi'
justed to p~rofiteering on pnhI;o a'
flee by relatives of high offic;, "
that, in words of one syllable tSal
just don't give a damn. Some =.
my fellow citizens were woundo,
sore by that observation, but Taa
as much, l think, by the fact i,ss.
as by the open recognition of il
You call a con-man a speculat,,
or a cafe %trollop a glamour gfrI
and nobody's feelings are hurt b1,
they are what they are lust t, s
same, as well we know and tbsr
too. And, similarly, if you iras,
sort of gold-plate our national, Nm
ular immortality in civic affairs =,
an amiable frivolity people dom,
mind. On the contrary, they thin,
it rather cute or mischievious, Al,
though we know it all amounts To,
terrible burden of graft that CONE,
out of the work and earnings d
the citizens and a cynical condor,
alton and encouragement of wron,
Too Sloppy to Care
This sales talk is by way Of in,
Producing a discussion of a comb.
ton that could not exist in any lsri
whose people were not too Slopm
in their morals to care. l retp
to the %extortion of millions of ID,
lars from American citizens BY
labor unions, mostly unions Of N.
A. F. of L., in return for pernis
sion to work on camps, arsenss
and other works having to do wifi
the national defense.
At the base we have the fact that
workers are allowed to organize for
collective bargaining, which is an
honest enactment in that respect
But these A. F. Of L. unions have
been forcing men to join up at ex
tortionate rates, and the American
people and the Congress, which
knows their mind, are so tired d
studying out things, so discouraged
in the matter of insisting on the.
rights and protesting, that nobody
is doing anything about it. So
few private and, in some cases,
very exclusive organizations are
carting off tons of money which
the people pay into the treasury as
taxes and the treasury pays out b
the workmen as wages.
The so-called hod-carriers' Union
is a spectacular example, al
though, of course, the carpentes
and electricians and all are getting
theirs, too.
The hod-carriers' is the common
lborers' union. 1t has not held a
national convention in 80 years, but.
it has been charging common pick
and-shovel workers $50 initiation
fee plus dues. If we assume for al
fgure-and not an extravagant fig
ure, by any means - that $1,000
such men have been put to work
that would mean a rakeoff Of S.
500, 900 for that union alone, with
out reckoning in the dues at all
Whose Right?
Whose right of collective bargain
ing is this, anyway? Vas it intena'
ed to protect the workmen or t'I
provide a graft for a private G'|
ganization? The Workmen don't
want to join. They don't rally
round the union collector and I'M
plore him to be their bargainns
agent. Personally, they would
much prefer to part his hair with
a spade and save that $50 per head
plus dues, which would buy con-
siderable shoe-mileage for Their
kids or gin for their innards come
Saturday night. Il
But they have to give up to TIL:
stranger who shows up on work Of
the United States government, anu
if the contractor puts them to WoFh
without the giveup this strange.
will jerk his head at the strangeFS'
representing the carpenters anu
electricians union and they JERK
the job, and the soldiers cam sleep
under the stars. T..
This common laborers' union Is
one of our pretties. Over in PENN
sylvania it bestrode the big nlgl.
speed highway job and took ilIs'
cut at the pay of the roor, hoFns.
handed sidehill dodgers OF tn'
farms and mines, many OF ulellI
Just getting off relief or puOls
doin'-around jobs, who had mVb''
to sell and, by happy chance q
place to sell it. ,s
But in Chicago it issued a shea.
of charters like a deck of cards y
a dirty blackhander and guhni'a
of the Colosimo-Capone c1VlllzatY'
named Mike Carrozzo, who %S wa
such a low and notorious goIii-4
that even in Chicago he coulon
get naturalized until his thlfo az
tempt, when obviously some cioYa
must have put in the fix with SoHI'
other crook.
The locals, be it rememOeIes
get most of the graft, paying ol-'
a small divvy to the internauon ,s
and the local may be one hooolul,
as in the case of Carrozzo,, S VIZ
was in himself about 81 locoIi
accountable to nobody, ana one
the richest men in town IN fea0
cash.
P,,t uyb,+;.. Tho use? The Amer