The Wilmington morning star., 1941-02-01
Fair Enouuh
By pEcr,n

are those of the author ans
may not always harmonic
with its position.-The Editnr
NEW YORK, Jan. 31,-The pre..
pick-and-shovel shakedown densrt
ment of the American Tederato,
of Labor, which at present iS -.
torting some vast sums fro~
horny-handed American toilers ..
the poorest bracket, is goverros
by an exclusive, self-perretuatt,.
group of labor racketeers who n.'
err confde in the rank = and 81.
members, or slaves. Joe Morescb;
the president of the racket. knov,,'
officially as the International HID
carriers Building n Comm,
Laborers' union, just cased inta
the president of the racket, known
acy of the executive board on III.
death of Dominick d'Allessandrn
in 1926, and since the time of tba
last International convention of fl.
shake, 81 years ago, no vacancv
in any international office has been
filled by popular vote. The bose,
just get together and decide whom
to cut in on the rakcet withun
saying aye, yes or no to members
No Elections
Possibly no such decision w.s
submitted to the members or anv
e | e C e d representatives of The
members for some years before
that, but a span of 81 years with.
out elections, conventions Or re,
ports to the membership surely is
enough to prove the character Of
the racket which controls 250,OM
stiffs in all parts of the country
and bleeds out of their small and
intermittent earnings upward &
Sc, 900, 900 a year.
Of this enormous shake the in.
ternational gets a little over a mil.
lion dollars a year in per capita
taxes at the rate of IS cents per
head per month, plus S. out Of
each initiation fee provided, Of
course, that the gangsters who
have charge of some of the locals
don't forget to kick in.
It is unlikely that the hoodlum
would be so foolish as to hold out,
however, because the boys in
charge Of the international may
easily cancel the charter of an u.
ethical gorilla, which, after all, is
a valuable license to graft from
employers and extort from work.
ers.
This year, with the locals shak'
ling down ex-members Of the WPA
force, farmers and casual labor
ers for permission to work on can
tonments and other rearmament
projects, the international Should
collect at least $4,000 and perhaps
twice that many S. dividends on
the initiation fees. So the total
receipts of Moreschi's office should
run well over $l,25O,OO
Don't Bother
They just don't bother to tell the
rank and file what they do win
all this money. They Cont like TO
worry the poor, dumb rank and
file with big figures. But they DO
pay a modest office expense, IN
Guiding the cost Of charters, Or
racketeering licenses, for enter
prising gorillas starting new TO-
Gals, and there is a theory tns'
they sometimes pay a death oene'
fit of from $50 to 5000, slthough IN
Chicago. when that subject was
mentioned to members OF the mo'.
they offered no book figures DIV
just smiled. 49,.
Some of the locals Lave a me
oretical S. a week accident OelE'
fit for members injured on mE
LOB. but. again referring to chi,
cago, the Is local unions were d.
held in the single ownership Of d.
old-time gunman OF the souNh sM.
prostitution trade named WIN
Carrozzo, and he as oaSll~
about his generosities.
incidentally, although S2Oo IS ls
maximum theoretical death Oe enS
fit. after a man passes his ova
birthday, though he m ay hsm
been a member all his Worh .a
life. the maximum drops 10 Sg ~.
AS death becomes more pFo1s n,r
the racket, with its vast take nGI
the earnings of the SUCKER S'D''
of course, it will be discovefss
that William Green, the presioFa'
of the American Federation Oh ~
Dor, has been utterly unawa "a M i
the nature of this racket an n'+a
time. MIR. Green being a man hi;
likes to think good Thoughts o. .t n
associates in the cause OF Law
with an upper-case L. crepr
But in May, 1881, Mr. U .pss.
, was one of those invited 10 d s.o,
monial dinner in Boston In ilo.s
of Moreschi as that great crusSs NJ
for the RIGHTS, and dues, Of M
5 pick-and-shovel stiff prepafeu
: shove off for Bristol, Engiaia'
t a fraternal delegate OF ,he 1 a.
| of L. to the British Trades ~ At
Congress. Mr.. Green dla NV New
tend, but Frank H. Mccarthy +
t England organizer of tn a. him
) of L., officially Represented ME- MES
l at a feast adorned by 'he ;psr.
ence of Army and Nay oLN Nj.
} the Italian consul and o'hef
sons of rank and note. ,Y
Mr.. Moreschi was pralseun and
- - 1o,der of en-, ~ m