The Wilmington morning star., 1941-01-31
' fair Enouuh
BY WEsTBROOK pFcI

Ions expressed in this artoI t1i'
are those Of the author I'VE a1e
may not always HARMONY aa
with its position.-The Editar
NEW YORK, Jan. 3o.-1 am =.
ing to tell you some more .hs,'. a
the union racket which is sba,in'
down the poor pick and sbo,,s'
stiffs in the great national sfto.'
to spread freedom every ybers ~
which President Roosevelt vo,., ol
that nobody would be allowed ST.a
profiteer. The pick and sbon'
shakedown is the hod-e arriers, cSsI oaa
common laborers' union, and IL s'u ;
the sweetest graft of all, becan.
the boys just go along quietly S's sns
mysteriously, never holding elas s
tions or conventions but a,wan.
collecting the money, and whsn
ever you try to get in touch with with
them they are away. 1t is Tta
trying to nail a plank on clomi
of smoke to investigate the hoS
carriers and common laborars,
racket. You know it is there h'.
when you try to touch it. if aim,
This union now claims 25O0N
members. That much l did 90,
from the woman who answered tbs %
phone in Washington, where hs
headquarters were established last
April after many years in Quincy
Mass.
Reason for Moving
Joe Moreschi, the boss, or in,
ternational president, explained IA
the local chamber of commerce in
Quincy that he was moving hs
business to Washington 10 be
closer to the public pulse-obvj.
ously misprint for purse" in.
asmuch as his boys have been ey.
torting from $25 to $50 per head
from American citizens desiring 10
turn a few spades of soil in the
building of cantonments, powder
plants and the like.
The boss, however, is not in
Washington, and neither is the sec.
retary, Achilles Persion. They are
out of town, and will be gone for
a month.
Guess where they are. Out in
the snow heartening their loyal
followers as they chip the frozen
soil with picks to earn a few eat.
ing-bucks for their families? You
know better than that! Mr., No..
reschi and Mr.. Persion are down
in Miami, the hibernating place Of
I the criminal scum and the rack.
eteers of the A. F. of L., to con.
fer with themselves on solemn at'
fairs of labor with a pital L, in
series of deliberations which will
include an accredited represents
tive of the Chicago under world
You would think that big in
ternational union of the A. F. Of l.
would leave some imprint, if only
!, scar, on a city the size of Quincy
4 after 20-odd years of official resi-
dence there. The teamsterS ant
:, carpenters are pretty important Il
! Indianapolis, for instance. But Il
= Quincy, Mass, the pick-andshove
;, racket was very aloof. MIR. MoreS
,, chi was generally out o.
away" and the local peopl
know little about him or his union
J.; except that the union did build
:. three-story edifice for its head
= quarters.
: Became President
n He became president, after tn
+ death of Dominick d'Allesandro
1926, and became president
y about as good a term as can D
IS used to describe the process. In
n rank and file were not consulted
v nor has their opinion been aske
r on any question since the last col
!. vention in 1911. Moreschl 'pt
J. cine president and president
It remains, and nowadays, accordln
h to the claim of his own office
o Washington, his central treasuf
draws tribute from 25O,O00 Amer
o can workmen-some of them WI
1t ing suckers, of course, but o'lFl
IS victims of plain extortion.
l. At the rate of IS cents MON
l per member, which was the sam
1t graft that was extorted from u
d building service workers
George Scalise, that would yie
e 81, ,O5O,OO0 year to the internauo
s. al treasury, and we don t hlo
l. how many years this graft hs
been rolling in or what has Dee '
done with any of it beyond payn
the salaries of b o ut ~ olll'
hands at headquarters and III. ~
erable little death benefit raAsn
\ from $50 to 5000.
u This union is SO rotten that eve
the gorillas of the movie ei
ployees' racket may look with CIV M
n and admiration on the larcenG,
effrontery of the racketeerS w. "
run both the international ana =, u
dirty little shakedown locals winc ;1s
carry the message OF orgahll'
lie labor down to the pick-Snd-SAeo'1
Is stiffs. But the other A. r. ol i
IA construction unions, when coAa 10
: crate with it and give II alu on "a,
N comfort by their stan ing G asIt y
w ments to strike jobs struck oy :. =
=. common laborers, are Only lltD
r less guilty.
e Bill to Pay c. A. Jones -,
'r $500 for Death of Ch'ld