The Wilmington morning star., 1946-06-26
Fair Enough
Copyright, BY King Features Syndicate, Inc.
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

HOODS oil to deprive union gan9SterS OF a
special right to resort 10 assault and highway
robbery against the flow of interstate COM
merce, the Senate has, at last, thrown back
into the teeth of the Supreme Court the in
sulting proposition that it was the intent of
Congress to exempt criminals from punish
ment Tor these acts provided they held union
cards.
The Hobs bill, presented in the House of
Representative by Sam Hobbs, OF Alabama,
passed the House twice and on the first oc-
casion was smothered in commute in the
Senate. Recently, it passed the Senate, de-
prived OF its identity, as a portion OF the
larger Case bill, which President Truman We
toed. Now, in its true identity, it goes to the
White House, firmly approved by both houses
as a considered expression of the COMPRESSION
al intent.
There can be no clubbing as to whether
Congress meant to grant exemption to union
racketeers. The Hobbs bill was introduced for
the sole purpose of wiping out that exemption,
written into the original anti-racketeerlng act
in a historic opinion of the majority of the
Supreme Court composed by James Byrnes,
the Secretary of State, when he was on the
court. AS the opinion, itself, was historic, so
is the present action of the Senate historic
for it is the first act Of the Senate III calm,
resolute defiance of he union lobby and the
political terror of the AT. of L.. the CLIO. and
the Political Action Committees. The late Case
bill, which would have provided the same re-
form, was passed in a mood OF resentment
and an atmosphere of excitement and most OF
those who voted for it In the Senate doubtless
were relieved when the House, in a juvenile
reversal of its first position, flinched and kill
ed the Case bill after the veto.
This is one of the most interesting particular
issues in the long and disorderly career OF
union laWlessness.
Local 8O7 of the Transfers union established
holdup stations on roads entering the city OF
New York and compelled the owners to pay
extortion at the rate Of $9.42 for a large truck
and S8.41 FOR a small che. for the privilege OF
entering this market with all manner OF mer-
chandise, including food. Many Of the defend
ants were common gangsters with criminal
records and it was shown that some of them
refused to do any work for the money. On TINS
point, the late Chief Justice Stone wrote that
there was abundant evidence" that at least
some of the payments were made to pur-
chase immunity from violence"
The local and the individuals were convict
ed.
Mr.. Byrnes went back to the legislative his
tory of the anti-rac keteering act to find Justl-
~fication FOR the majority opinion. This act was
drawn primarily, but net exclusively. to put
down brigandage by notorious hoodlums of the
Dillinger type BY providing special penalties.
They were, of course, already subject to the
state laws against highway robbery, assault
and murder but Congress saw a menace to
the flow Of interstate commerce and passed
this law to provide specific protection for that
The A.F of L. objected to the original draft
and the department Of justice obligingly revls-
ed it so as to reassure William Green. These
alterations exempted the payment of wages
bv q hona f6o ernployer to a bona tide en-
ploye." MI. Byrnes held that a gangster be-
comes an employee of q man or company run
ming a truck over the highways when he holds
up a truck with a gun and demands $9.42
or So. Al, even though he has no intention to do
any work, provided he holds a union card.
The gangster, being ar ex-convlct, might be
forbidden by law to take the wheel and the
employer then would be responsible in civil
and criminal law for letting him drive the
truck. The gangster might not even know how
to drive. He might be physically unable to
work. Nevertheless, Justice Byrnes held that
any person who tries, Cnsuccessfully, by vlo-
lent means to become an employee, by that
stick-up, actually does become am employee
and the money thus extcrted becomes bona
fide wages.
He went out Of his way to approve a prac-
tice of Jimmy Petrilo'5 musicians union
whereby an employer who brings an orches-
ira from, say, New York to Chicago must
pay the union a days wages for each out-of-
town man in addition to the wages paid the
actual performer. He held that the anony-
NOUS musician represented by the extra days
paw had a Job even though the money would
not 90 to any individual but to the local trea-
sury and might be used to buy a home or a
new automobile for Petrillo himself.
Leaving no doubt of the nature of the rob-
berries, Justice Stone wrote that the gangs
tiers '1ay in wait, forced their way into the
trucks end, by beating, Or threats of beating,
the drivers" eXtorted the money.
The opinion came down in October, 1941. 1t
has been debated bitterly ever since and is
one of the fragrant decisions in the record of
political favoritism to unions by the Roosevelt
court.
Although most of the boss unioneers have
fought the Hobbs bill as a "represslve' and
fascist strike against Labor" none OF them
has ever had the effrontery to argue that such
brigandage as here was proved In court is a
Legitimate aim of labor" They could go
no further than to express a fear that the re-
form would impair 'labor's' rlght 20 picket
neacefullv as though armed robbery, barri-
cades on highways and slugglng were peaceful
means Of advertising the mertls OF a dispute
between striking worknen and their employ
err.
The amazement, if not the indignation, caus-
al by Rvrnes' opinion was shared by one of
~. LAWYERS who defended the gangsters and
T "a I1-I