The Wilmington morning star., 1946-04-26
Fair Enough
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1916, By King Features
Syndicate, Inc.).

criminal racketeer who runs whole group Of
/ A. F. of L. unions under sheaf of charters
and four relatives and in-laws have figures
in five bankruptcy cases since 1925. Benz amin
himself was twice convicted of fraud in such
proceedings and served two prison terms and
there were allegations of fraud in others.
| Ben Pross, who testified in one hearing that
| he was born in Russia in 1900 and came to the
United States when he was II years DID, also
pleaded guilty to violation of the antitrust law
in 1899 and was fined $1Oo, but was acquitted
of black market indictment, charging lille
gal traffic in liquor, early this year.
Reuben Pross, also known as Rubin, Robert
and Richard Pross, has gone bankrupt twice
and has given his occupation as union dele
gate" He identified himself with two unions
dominated by his brother, Ben, the upholster-
ers and the retail bakery clerks. The address
of the upholsterers union is 1860 Broadway,
identical with that OF Der, Pross' wine, Liquor
and Distilery Workers Union.
| When Reuben and his wife, Lee Pross, also
known as Lee Adler, went bankrupt in May,
1914, the telephone in their home was found to
be listed in the name of Joseph Adler whose
business address the records of the tele-
phone company was the Epee Trading Co. The
Epee Trading Company's phone number was
given as circle 60620 which was also the num-
Der of the Wholesale Wine Salesman's Union
The address of the Wholesale Wine Salesman S
Union also is 1860 Broadway, again Ben
| Pross' address.
The trading style "Epee Trading Company
was registered in June, 1943 by Joseph Ad-
Ter. Herbert Pross, and others The registered
address was 145 West 72nd street.. An investi-
gator who called there was told that someone
had rented desk space for one month in the
name of this company and had never come
back The investigator was told that some
girl' had called several times for mail but
| that there had been none.
| The home address Of Herbert Pross is listed
as 372 Central Park West, which is the address
of Marjorie or Madge Pross who was indict-
ed on Oct. II, 1914, in New York county on two
criminal counts charging hec with conducting
a gambling house at her home and being a
common gambler
| This woman took flight and was tracked
down only after difficulty at resort in the
Catskill mountains One count was waived and
she pleaded guilty to the charge of maintain
ing gambling house. The penalty, imposed on
March Is, 1945, was fine Of $3.50 or 80 days
in jail, plus suspended sentence Of 80 days.
She paid the fine and went on probation as
| to the 30-day sentence.
| One of those who investigated and helped
to prosecute the case said the sentence was
unusually severe and that the reason was that
some of the losers at the gambling house
were wives of working husbands who could i'll
afford to lose their housekeeping money. In
known cases, this person said, victims resort
ed to prostitution to recoup their losses, but
this fact could be a commentary on the
character of Marjorie or Madge Pross' guests
rather than aggravation of her offense in
running the gambling joint. She appears to
have accumulated wealth in real estate on
| Miami Beach.
In his latest bankruptcy, Reuben, Rubin,
Robert and-or Richard Pross scheduled Her.
bert Pross as creditor to the amount of
81, 500. The assets listed by him and his wife,
Lee Adler Pross, $1,000 each, consisted of
exempt household furniture. Their total liabil-
| tiles were SIG, 496.
| Under examination by the referee in bank
ruptcy, Reuben Pross said he had never been
bankrupt before. This statement is at odds
with the records of the bankruptcy of the Star
stationery Company in 1887, of which COM
pany he was president and Mrs. Rose Adler,
his mother-in-law was named treasurer. In
this case creditors charged fraudulent intent
in the Star company's submission to default
judgment for $91150 and the sale of the COM
panys property under execution for $1,01O to
satisfy the judgment UNFOLDING the charges
of the creditors, the court ordered that the
Isl, 010 be turned into the bankrupt estate
| In the Star Stationery Company bankrupt
cy, Mrs Rose Adler answered to many uues-
lions that she could not remember and indi-
Gated that she was merely a clerk in the
stores.
In the bankruptcy of Max Pross, father of
the family in 1925, the business under licui.
dalton was an auction room at which furniture
was sold. The liabilities were $4,000 and the
assets only $500. He said his son, Ben, was in
charge of about $14, 900 worth of furniture and
other merchandise purchased within three
months before the bankruptcy Max Pross had
a faulty memory and said that sometimes
when his sons were absent from the store he
sold goods at loss because he did not know
values. There were two rohberies at the store
within short time before the bankruptcy.
In summary we find five bankruptcies, two
fraud convictions against Ben Pross, the
mighty A. F. of L. union executive who issues
high-sounding state papers III the union press
of New York, and tangled skein of connec-
tons attaching two of his brothers to unions
in Ben's zone of operations.
In January 1912, Bel Pross appealed to the
Department of Justice for presidential writ
! to restore to him certain civil rights which
had been suspended when he was sentenced
to Atlanta. This petition was denied which
means that he cannot hold public office or
even vote, although under the morality of the
A. F. of L. he is free to exercise despotic
power over thousands Of workers who never
saw him and are afraid to ask him for a
membership meeting, glimpse of their vari-
Gus constitutions or the employer contracts
! governing their economic life, to say nothing
of an accounting of thel money.
II This man recently announced that he intend
. cd IN oroooize an American Legion post of his