Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-06-27

handful OF polished mobSterS
worth millions of dollars,
These men have infiltrated
some of the best clubs. They
have purchased country clubs of
their own. They control sky
scrapers, construction and insur-
ance companies, restaurants,
night clubs. banks, textile and
steel mills, garment firms. truck
ing companies, transit lines, con-
struction supplies distributors,
hotels, juke box companies,
stevedoring outfitS-even barber
shops and luncheonettes. All this
the local and Federal police have
recorded in intricate records.
They Love "Respectability"
But little can be unraveled in
the courts-because unlike the
old Capone muscle days and the
bloody gun and ice pick wars of
Lepke and Gurrah, all this is
legal. 1t may be unethical. i'm
moral and contrary to the quasi
public trust a labor official should
pledge himself to when he goes
to work for the proletariat, but
it is legal-and the boys do love
the aura of responsibility with
which it cloakS them.
The key word among today's
mobsters is "respectability
standing they've gained in their
communities while they operate
their criminal cartel behind the
scenes. Their dominating fear is
neither the police nor the Federal
investigators nor even the In
ternal Revenue Service.
They fear most the spotlight
of exposure in the press which
goes into their communities,
their homes and among their
families and neighbors.
Forced Partnerships
To amaSs their fortunes in
cash, real estate and other
investments, they've used the
power of the unions they've
seized-often in the same bust
ness fields in which they operate.
They have become businessmen
partners" by simply threaten
ing to withhold workers from
employers whose projects were
racing for headlines set by con-
tracts with the Federal Govern
ment. big cities and private con-
Germs.
Let's step past the men whose
notoriety has hit the press so
regularly. They're as familiar to
the public as Marilyn Monroe's
curves.
Let's look at some current in
cidents cut from the same old
pattern.
Let's consider the gimmick
used by George j. Walters,
former president of the Pitts
burgh Building Trades Council
and an official of a Bricklayers
local there. So prominent a citi-
zen was Walters that he served
as chairman of the Pittsburgh
Housing Authority and as a
member of the city's board of
education.
Failed to Report $4,000
Walters, who went to Jail, had
connections with pipe and build
ing supply firms. If you wanted
skilled bricklayers for your con-
struction job. you had to buy
blocks from the company which
paid him part of it's profits.
During his trial, lit was shown
that in two instances he picked
up $4,000 and later $4,000.
Walters was jailed for Is months
and fined $1,000 for failure to
report $685. 99 in income which
he got on the side from building
contractors over a f1ve-year
period.
Just a few weeks ago, two
Bricklayers officials in PennSyl-
wanna were indicted by Scran-
ton grand jury on charges of
demanding $4,000 before they
unloaded bricks for contrac-
tor building Signal Corps depot.
I report these two incidents
out Of many others because they
are typical of the disrespect for
decency displayed by this crowd,
Walters. trusted by his neigh
bors, gave all labor a black eye
by forcing money out of bust
nessmen although he was labor's
representative on importan t
municipal bodies. The Scranton
men are penny-ante operators.
but this case shows that not
even vital Government projects
are immune from shakedowns.
Million Dollar ShakedOwn
The pressure by some union
officials on contractors building
swiftly needed Federal projects
doesn't always come from the
penny-ante crowd. There is a
hulking fellow now SHINING
down in the Federal pen for
another decade or so because he
tried, among other inspirations.
to extort a million dollars from
the Ebasco Corp, then building
tremendous power projects for
our atomic and thermometer
defense program. This shake
down artist is Evan Dale, chief
Of the Hodcarriers and Common
Laborers in East st. Louis.
Not quite as imaginative as
the pirate in the atomic fields
was a set of crooks who were
lifted out of the st. Louis con-
struction trades unions by a
Federal grand jury. There it was
shown that businessmen who
wanted to bid on Government
contracts first consulted certain
union officials. The contractors
had to find out exactly how
much the union mems shake