The Wilmington morning star., 1945-01-22
Fair Enough
By WESTRROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1945, by King Features Syndica


Copyright, 1915, by King Features syndicate)
CHICAGO.-The letter written by Joseph
Padway. general counsel Oh the American
Federation of Labor, to George Scalise, the
underworld union racketeer following the pub
lie denunciation OF Scalse as a convicted
white SLAYER contains some important points
of conflict with Pathways verbal statements
to me.
Scalise subsequently was convicted Of ex-
tortion by the state of New York and sentenced
to prison. He was president of the Building
Service Employees union at the time Of his
friendship with Padway and his official roster
was infested with ex-conVicts and notorious
New York and Chicago gunner, many of
them members of the old Capone mob. On
one occasion calsc rallied party of them
in Miami and to ok them on a Joy-rlde to Cuba
at the expense of the scrubWomen, janitors,
elevator operators and window washers who
had been delivered into his power by the
Roosevelt administration.
PadWay who is an esteemed friend of Roose-
velt for years has posed as a spokesman for
American labor and in this role was sent to
England by Roosevelt in company with Dan
Tobin of the teamsters' union, whom Roose-
welt publicly honored at the political brawl
in Washington during the late presidential
campaign. Padway actually is not labor
man at all but just smart lawyer special
tce and, like any other lawyer, he charges
money for his work
In the original Scalise expose these dis
patches reported that PadWay and William
Green, the president of the A. F. of L., had
endorsed petition at the department Of JUS
tice in which Scallse prayed Roosevelt to re-
store those rights of citizenship which had
been automatically suspended when he was
sent to prison as youth for taking 16 year
old girl on tour as a prostitute.
PadWay denied that he had supported the
petition and said he had merely told repre-
sentatives of the department that, as far as
he knew, Scalise was leading upright life
He admitted that he received $1,000 from Sea-
lise, and said this was his pay for drawing
a new constitution. This would be easy money
because such documents are not protected by
copyright. could pick one at random from
my large collection and adapt it to the uses
of any client merely by crossing out one
unions name and substituting another When
remarked to Padway that this $1,000 was
easy picking for a great spiritual leader of
the working man ano that the existing con-
stitution of the Scalise racket contained lot
of High school ritualistic nonsense, he said
this one wasn't his work Scalise had never
put the Padway constitution into effect.
1t may be true that Padway did get up
constitution for Scalise to justify his S., 1000
fee. In fact, after William McFettridge, the
some Of the worst gangsters out and got pos
session of the files an unused constitution
was discovered among the papers. This proved
to be paraphrase of the constitution of To-
bins union for which PadWay is general coun-
sci. Nevertheless, if this problem should be
presented to a jury. any alert prosecutor
would emphasize the fact that a good word
from Padway in support of the petition for
restoration of his citizenship would have been
easily worth 81 600 to Scalise and that the
new constitution could have been a pretext.
Now Just how far did Padway 60 for Sea-
lse? He told me he just said Scalise was 60
ing straight as far as he knew. But in his letter
to Scalise.. expressing undylng friendship, ne
said he and President Green had arranged to
confer with Robert Jackson, the attorney gen.
eral, regarding the petition, and added q am
going to support your application for restora-
ton of citizenship with all the power at my
command)
Padway can't convince that he was ig
norant of Scalise's continued criminal associa-
tons The union was literally infested with
low underworld gangsters and they were rob-
bling not only the unfortunate members but
EMPLOYERS too, and much of that money went
for high life in Miami, including wine, women
and gambling at the horse and dog tracks.
Padway would seem to have had opportuni-
ty to size up these people and their way of
living because he, too, was in the habit of
going to Florida and he is smart fellow who
knows gorilla as well as the next man.
But if we grant that PadWay didn't know all
this, then what right had this man, protesting
to be spokesman Of labor, to lend that pres
tige to the petition of man whom he had not
taken the trouble to investigate? Wasn't that
his duty not only as a citizen and officer
of the court but as a spokesman of the A.
F. of L.?
The workers and the honest officials of this
union got no help from either Padway or
Green in their desperate and dangerous fight
against the criminal underworld The help
came from Tom Dewey and these dispatches
and both Dewey and 1 were denounced as la
Dor baiters
1t is not up to me to save the A. F. of L., but
do know that some of its honest officials are
discouraged and terribly afraid of the future
and submit that one move absolutely essential
to the restoration of public confidence and
respect, including that of the rank and file
is to get rid of William Green and publicly
lso4~ Dad