Proletarec. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1906-19??, 1946-02-27
Readers Digest" Perpetrutes q Fake
In Effort to Prove That Unions Have Bullying treasure
Magazine Resumes Shining at Organized Labor

Ray Scott, editor of the B. OF L. F. & E. Magazine" protests
against an article in the February issue of the Readers Digest" 1t is
capioned, Labor Is Big Business" and was written by Victor Riesel,
who is described Is the labor editor of the New York Post"
We do not know MIR. Riesel, but his article is full of glaring in
accuraces. For example, he writes:
"A few years ago the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fremen and
Engineers found itself in a violent wage controversy with John L.
Lewis, who had unionized the coal diggers in mines owned by the
Brotherhood. This union has assets of sSO,OOO,OOO"
Now, there is no such labor organization as the Locomotive Fire
nen and Engineers" Probably Mr.. Riesel had in mind the Brotherhood
Of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen:"
But the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen never
owned a coal mine and consequently never had a controversy with John
l. Lewis.
The Brotherhood,s assets do total $50 oo,o oo-maybe a little more
but what Mr.. Riesel doesn't reveal is that all this money, with the
exception of about S2,OOOJoOO is a reserve for the Brotherhoods insur-
ance system.
It's the best and cheapest insurance in the world. No one makes
a penny out of it. Insurance is sold only to members of the Brotherhood
and at cost-probably 20 per cent below the rates of old-line insurance
companies.
The system is so sound that it has been approved by the insurance
department in every state in this country and in every province in
Canada.
The Brotherhood didn't go into the insurance business because it
wished to engage in some activity outside the labor movement. Many
years ago 1t discovered that men who ran locomotives were regarded
by insurance companies as "extra-hazardous risks" Some companies
So the Brotherhood set up its own insurance system. It's divided
into two sections, and that enables a member to take out as much as
$1,000. The total insurance outstanding is about $780, 100000.
It is scarcely necessary to say that not a dollar of these insurance
strongly suggests, Of course, all these facts might have been secured at
the expense of one telephone call-but that might have spoiled the fan
tastc story about "multimillion dollar" union treasures.
The Readers Digest" rather than MI. Riesel, is really the guilty
party. For many years, the Digest" has been snipng at organized
labor Even when it printed a good word about N union, it was only
to make it appear that other labor organizations were rotten" All its
articles on labor have been 80 per cent falsehoods and halftruths.
The Digest" will plead that it merely summarized n article which
appeared in the American Mercury but that albi is probably no
more accurate than Mr.. Riesers statements.
1t is we'll known that the Digest has a peculiar propaganda tech
nique. When it wishes to put over something" it has the article writ
zine, with the understanding that the Digest will later print a
summary.
content to summarize articles appearing in other magazines. It's not
exactly ethical, of course, but it's a very profitable racket-Labor.