The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-09-12
By WEsTBROOK PEGLER


er will know how much graft or loot they
nave been compelled to pay to the under
world OF the construction racket including
contractors as well union racketeers as
part OF the price of conducting this war The
horse has been stolen and there is no dispo-
sltlon on the part of any agency of the federal
government to lock the door even now
This area on the west shore of the Hudson
river region extending down into the politi-
cal bad lands ruled by Frank Hague in New
Jersey, has been a thieves paradise, They
looted the Delaware aqueduct project, $780,
100000 project the great Orangeburg en-
barkatlon center, five miles square and the
flying fields for the United States Military
Academy.
The unions, principally the horribly corrupt
rackets known as the operating engineers and
the common laborers, have shaken down thou
sands OF workers without mercy for years
and are still at it, although Orangeburg is
almost finished now and two gangsters of the
common laborers' union have been convicted
in the local state court by logged but handi-
capped assistant attorney general Edward
ONell, held over from the Lehman demo-
cratic administration, and given 10 to 20 years
in prison.
The vein Of graft and extorton is petering
out at last and the federal government obv-
ously intends to let the crooks get away with
the Department of Justice did send man
up to take a look and he gathered consd-
cradle information but he has never been
back and when last heard of he had been
transferred to duty on urgent dried egg
case" The Orangeburg center cost S30OOO-
600 and Stewart field and its satellites in the
general nelghborhood now in its final stages
but recently struck nevertheless by the oper-
ating engineers, cost S23, 900, 900, the unions
have taken a tremendous toll in invitations
fees, permit fees and dues and contractors
with trucks and heavy machinery for rent in
leveling hills have made their share.
At full force there were 10 900 men employ
ed-Working would be an overstatement-on
the Orangeburg job and it is admitted that
men would hide out and loaf at ST an hour,
straight time for common labor. InformantS
who worked in and around the project say
that it was loaded with men from New York
many of them with criminal records, recruited
by the racketeers who took tribute Of them
at so much per head. Some men were fired
for loafing but that meant only that others
were hired and forced to pay the rackets for
permission to work. The greater the turn
over, the greater the profit to the unioneers
and the Army was rushing the job as mill
tary project under the handicap of politics
and the governments policy of conniving at
union extortion and job-stretching by delay.
To what extent the Army was victim of the
governments politics and policy and to what
extent negligent or inefficient, it is impos
sible to guess without formal interviews with
the officers who were responsible And it is
useless to interview them because in that
case anything that is written on the subject
must be cleared through Army intelligence
and if intelligence says mo- then the in
formation is sealed.
The most important individual racketeer has
been Joe Fay, the vice president OF the oper-
and
president of the prevailing local and himself
a contractor renting heavy excavating ma
chinery but he is a strong henchman of
Frank Hague of Jersey City who is power
full new deal politician and Fay has not been
troubled by the Department OF justice, al
though he is at present under TWO state IN
dictments Another interesting character in
the Orangeburg center is Charles II: Prlndle
Jr.. of Central Nyack NJ j., who is chair
man of the Rockland county building trades
council and of the county branch OF the mis-
called American Labor party. mr.. Prlndle's
council has general jurisdiction over the
Orangeburg jobs and he IS the personal pos
SCISSOR of a criminal record, having served
time in Elrnira reformatory under SEN
tence imposed in April, 1870 When ne was
20. on his plea of guilty of charge OF run
ming fence for sale Of stolen automobiles.
There were four such indictments ana po-
lire report on his activities says that he
bought stolen cars from the actual thleves
for low prices and sold them at a profit
to residents of the county. Mr. Prlndle also
was employed on the Orangeburg project,
,noss;bl,, as an electrician for that is rep
resented to be his trade and he is a dele
cate of the local electricians union.
The county prosecutors lack the staff, the
,oonev and the incentive and moreover the
unions and the contractors are IN politics.
The State of New York has done some super