The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-02-26
BY WEsTBROOK pEGLER

KANSAS CITY - About year ago these
dispatches revealed another disgraceful racket
in the smelly hypocrisy of the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor. This was the compulsory
insurance business of the boilermakels' union
of Kansas City, Kans., whereby Harold Frank
lin the son of good old Joe Franklin President
If the union received a commission on the
premiums of the members on the pretense
already rejected by a skeptical federal judge
in a court action, that he had hustled up this
enormously profitable account on his own mi
tiative. The fact is, of course, that the old
man sent his kid into the deal as agent not
only in the present contract with the Occiden-
tai Life of California but in three preceding
arrangements with other insurance COM
panies. One of the pervious companies defualt-
ed, and one of its reasons for its inability to
pay claims to the rank and file, explained
that the commissions to young Franklin used
up too much money.
Young Franklins commissions on the pre-
sent deal with Occidental amount to about
100000 year. The National government is a
party to this shakedown of hundreds of thou.
sands of wartime shipyard workers, for they
must keep in good standing in the union or
forfeit their jobs, and to keep in good standing
they must keep up their insurance payments
Within the year the expose of this sordid
exploitation of union office caused stir in
the union and number of horny-handed old
time union boilermakers were aroused again.
A few OF them came to Kansas City early
this month to resume their fight against old
Franklin's political machine and were ground
to hamburger in the gears. Not only that but
over the futile protests of such penniless vet
teranS, including men who had ridden the
rods from job to job 30 years ago and manned
the pickle lines, the convention by a voice
vote awarded old Franklin life pension of
S12,5 500 year, $4,000 more than he had re-
ceived as legitimate pay during his presidency.
A gimmick in the unions laws prevented a
roll call and the best the honest men of the
rebel group could do was to record their dis
approval of the handout after it has been
passed, which they did amid the boos Of the
Franklin mob.
One of the old-timers, R. c. McCutchan of
Winnipeg, was not even allowed to take his
seat as the elected delegate of his local. He
was turned down by the credentials commit
tee, which anticipated his protest against the
insurance racket and the pension grab. How
ever, ne did manage to denounce 1.-THE damn
able racket which has crept into our group
Insurance. before he was shut off by the
Chairman, B. M. Jewell of Jacksonville, Fla,
who referred to old mSn Franklin as my old
oar' and said Brother McCutchan must desist
from that line of discussion. Newspaper re-
porters were barred, but have copy of the
minutes and find that they omit mention of
t'ranklin's son Harold as the beneficiary of
the racket.
To make sure that old man Franklin's pen
SIGN would be secure for life at $12,50O year,
the machine stipulated in the resolution that
it should equal the presidents salary, then
raised from 1915 to $500 a month, and even
that the incoming officers should sign life
contract with him at that figure. Though the
Presidents salary may be reduced sometime,
his pension cannot be cut, incidentally, not
withstanding the governments attempt to
freeze salaries. The Assistant Presidents pay
and that of the secretary-treasurer were boost
ed $4,000 year, the vice presidents were
raised fro m$375 to $500 month, and even
the editor of the little monthly journal, largely
devoted to praise of the machine, was hoped
from $500 to $4,000.
The United States government smiled on
these tawdry proceedings in the persons OF
Dan Tracy, former president of the Electric
ians' union of AFL and now an assistant secre-
tary of labor and Ray c. kirkpatrick, di-
rector of labor relations of the Federal Works
Agency. both of whom delivered friendly
orations. And President Roosevelt, himself, ad-
dressed the gang in cordial terms by letter.
The protests against the pension were fur