The Wilmington morning star., 1943-03-20
BY wEsrBROOK PEGLER

making people think.
BY WESTBROOK PEGLEk
KANSAS CITY,-What evidence nave We'
then. that Harold Franklin, the son OF he
nresident of the boilermaker's union Is no"
and for II years has been receiving rake
off from the premiums paid by the union
members on compulsory LIE Insurance.
Young Franklin denies all and William E.
Walter, the secretary-treasurer OF the unlon'
which has national headquarters IN Kansas
City Kan, insists that he has no knowledge
of the fact Franklin's father says nothing.
First we have photostate OF various docu-
ments in the deal between the union and
the Occidental Life Insurance Co., OF Cali
fornia, signed by the elder Franklin and
Walter. There is also a photostat OF young
Franklin's commission agreement with tne
company, fixing his rakeoff on insurance wnlch
the workers are compelled to buy, falling
which they are refused employment IN SNIP
yards building vessels for the war mus
to work in shipyard man must pay trlo'
ute to young Franklin, failing which he may
be drafted and lose his life.
To 90 back to the start, there is on file
in the U. S. District Court OF Kansas sul1
by young Franklin against the Chicago Ma
tional Life Insurance Co., in which Franklin
admitted that the company paid him $28,-
546. 10 in commissions on the group insurance
carried by his fathers union and demanded
SAT 1OO16 more He based his claim on his
services in writing this insurance business
for the company and appended his contract.
1t began Oct. /, 1926 No term was stated
and year later the company, finding the
agreement Improbable when it had to pay
the union presidents son 10 per cent Of the
premiums on compulsory insurance and Is
per cent on voluntary policies, made 4 new
arrangement.
Thereby Franklin got $1,000 a month for a
year and 200 shares of stock in company.
He was beaten in court when a jury found
for the company. The contract which he de-
MES and which the secretary treasurer claims
to know nothing of, is on file with the papers
in the suit
As recently as last August, young Franklin
took part in another lawsuit which is still
pending on appeal to the U. S. Circuit Court
in Denver. In that case, another insurance
company, the American National of Dallas,
which had succeeded to the business when
Chicago National retired, recounted that it
had insured the So 900 members under group
contract. The contract ended on July /, 1941
when President Franklin took it away and
gave the business to his sons new connection,
the Occidental
In that suit the American National asked
for declaratory judgment to the effect that
young Franklin had broken his contract as
agent and that the company owed him moth
ing. The petition said he had been paid
$500 each, or Sl7,500. Nevertheless, the COM
pany alleged that he had refused to use his
pest efforts and that he was instrumental in
taking away the business and transferring
1t to Occidental to which he now transferred
| his own interest.
Now the American Nationals petition said,
| Franklin was demanding $18, 900 more b
would not bring the dispute to issue in court
1nere1ore the company asked the court to
| decide the matter one way or another and
this the court did with judgment for the
company. This is the one that is now in
| the circuit court on young Franklins appeal.
But before the case went to trial young
FRANKLIN made an affidavit which refutes the
present denials of himself and Walter and
shows that he was agent for the Occidental
he thought Federal Judge Richard J. Hopkins
was prejudiced against him, and asked that
another Judge be assigned to hear the suit
of American National This request Incl
dentally, was granted.
AS showing prejudice, he quoted Judge Hop
klns as having asked him during the hearing
OF previous case: why do you think you
are entitled to SO much money for what you
did! What did you do to earn such large
amount of money? Why are you claiming
sum OF money entirely out of proportion
TO the time you spent and the work you did,"
And then, young Franklin swore that he
represented Occidental in the insurance deal
with his fathers union.
1t is easy to understand why both Franklins
and Walter would prefer that the young man S
insurance business with the union be kept
quiet. The workers all over the country
who find on applying for jobs that they must
join the union and buy insurance through the
son of the union president, might be rebellious
and start fight But how they expect to
get away with their denial when all this proof
exists in sworn statements is not clear.
Rich as they were, young Franklin's re-
wards for the previous insurance on the men,
bers were petty by comparison with the COM
missions which he may now receive from
the Occidental on the enormously increased
membership of about 200, 1000, most of it in
voluntary. If the goes two or three years
more he will be fixed for life. Not even
Mrs Roosevelt's salary limitation ere e
would have touched him for such commits.
s1ons are not salary.
The gravy train is really high balling now
V--
The Germans are bound to lose dn Tunisia)
unless they knock out five of our tanks for
eyery one of their own that is lost.-Lieut-
Gen. J. L. Devers.
| If we are to retain our hberty We must
cultivate in the largest possible number Of
our future citizens an appreciation of both
the responsibilities and the oenetlts which
come to them because they are Americans
and are free.-Prcsident James B. Conant
of Harvard U.