The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 13, 1925, Page 3

} j | | | | | | ELECTION FRU OF FARRINGTON IS LAID BARE Daily Worker Gives the Facts to Miners (Continued from page 1) throw a light on an important link in the chain of treason of the crook- ed labor jeaders and their coal-com- pany allies. The Trail’ of the Thieves. The DAILY WORKER has uncover- ‘ed the following facts concerning the Stealing of the sub-district election of last December: Shortly before the union election two men, as yet unidentified, but be- Meved to have been connected with the ku klux klan and the Farrington machine, appeared at the printing shop of J, W. Grear in West Frank- fort, where the official ballots had been printed for the sub-district elec- tion of the union, The unknown men asked Grear to print 5,000 additional copies of the ballot from the same type, and offered to pay well. Grear refused the offer. The agents of reaction in some way obtained a copy of the official ballot, and’ went to another printer to get some fraudulent ballots printed. But it was impossible for the sec- ond printer to make an exact dupli- cate that oould not be detected. The original ballot had been printed from imperfect type—that is, type that was battered and broken. This could not be imitated with any other type. Method of the Counterfeiter. For this reason it became necessary for the forgers to make a photogra- phic Mkeness of the original ballot, so that the peculiarities of the brok- en type would be the same. The ori- ginal ballot was taken to a photo-en- graving shop. The phofo-engraver made what he thought was an exact reproduction of the type of the bal- lot, down to the slightest detail, brok- en type and all, with one exception— the engraver apparently was afraid to reproduce the printers’ union label be- cause there is a law penalizing the making of a duplicate of the union label for purposes of deception. So the engraver left the union label out of the engraving. Apparently for the reason that the union label was missing, and because it was necessary to supply this de- ficiency, the forgers seem to have hunted up a printing shop having a label with the same shop number as the shop where the original bal- lot_ was printed. The original ‘ballot ‘has on it the union label bearing the number “3” and the name of the town, “West Frankfort,” which means that it was printed in the shop of J. W. Grear of ‘West’ Frankfort. The forged ballot also carries a union label number 3, but with the name of the town mutilated so that it cannot be read. An expert photo- grapher has photographed this label, however, thru a powerful magnifying lens, and the experts agree that it réads “Mt. Vernon, Ill.” This would at least superficially indicate that the forged job was printed in the shop having the label number 3 in the town of Mt. Vernon, a few miles from West Frankfort. The printing shop in Mt. Vernon which uses the label No. 3, is the shop of Theo. P. Stelle. How- ever, the DAILY WORKER in the ab- sence of more conclusive evidence cannot make the charge that the forg- ed ballot was printed there. A close comparison of the label on the forg- ed ballot to the label appearing on work done by Stelle’s shop seems to confirm the identity of the labels, al- tho it is of course possible that Stelle’s label was stolen and used th another shop. . Union Label Mutilated. The smearing of the printers’ label was necessary in order to conceal the fact that the forged ballot was not printed in the authorized shop, The Walden Book Shop 307 Plymouth Court (Between State and Dearborn dust South of Jackson) CHICAGO Free Lessons in English ‘This advertisement entitles you to free instruction for a month me ator in our 3 MONTHS’ » Afternoon or Byening class. MONTHLY RATES Morning or Afternoon Classes, 41 Hour Daily wn. 2 Hours Daily PRIVATE INSTRUCTION DHOUP oven b 1-Hour pene from class to class . or from private ebtruttion to classes, a wastes Office Hours from 9 MAVOLTA SCHOOL OF ae NGLISH 400-402. ba ‘Isabella Building Rooms oi aast Van Guten Street, WEST FRANKFORT PRINTER IN AFFIDAVIT SWEARS BALLOTS)USED IN ELECTION WERE BOGUS STATE OF ILLILNOIS FRANKLIN COUNTY hes J. W. Grear, being duly sworn upon his oath, states that he is engaged in the business of job printing, at West Frankfort, Illinois, and that he was employed by Frank Johnson, secretary of Sub-District No. 9 of District No. 12, U. M. W. of A., state of Mlingis, to print the official ballots for the bi- ennial election for sub-district officers, which was held on Tuesday, Decem- ber 9, 1924. And did so print said ballots, and he further states upon his oath, that the annexed ballots were not printed by him, and is not, to the best of his knowledge, and belief, an official ballot for said election; that he has no knowledge of where said ballots were printed, that he did not print of the official ballots printed by him. State of Illinois County of Franklin La said county and state, Feb, 5, 1925. (SEAL) The forgers thought they had cover ed their trail. However, a peculiar. ity of the printing process betrayed the fraud. As long as the ink-on the printing press was freely distributed, the label appeared only as a black smudge. But after, examining hun- dreds of the bogus ballots, the DAILY WORKER has found one on which the ink had run thin. On this one bal- lot it has been possible to read with a powerful magnifying glass the name “Mt. Vernon, Ill.” Other Marks of Fraud. On obtaining copies of both the offi- cial ballot and the bogus ballot, the DAILY WORKER set out to prove the fraud practiced in the sub-district election, Detail by detail, the proof was worked out and is now publish- ed for the benefit of the members of the United Mine Workers. The next evidence of fraud discov- ered was that the faking photo-en- graver had made the mistake of mak- ing the engraving larger than the original type of the ballot, A meas- urement of the two ballots shows that the printed area of the bogus ballot is about 5-16 of an inch longer than that of the good ballot, and about 3-16 of an inch wider. This surprisingly clumsy error is alone, enough to be- tray the fraud. But the counterfeit is even more definitely, shown by the fact that the lettering on the bogus ‘ballot is of an odd size that does not exist in printers’ type. On the good ballot the large type is of the size known as “18 point.”,;.Qn the fake ballot the same lettering measures more than 18% points. Type of such a size never was known to the print- ers’ trade—never was ‘manufactured. The odd size proves that the bogus ballot was not printed from type at all, but from a photographic reproduc- tion which slightly enlarged the ori- ginal. Next the DAILY WORKER had the bogus ballot examined by an expert photo-engraver, who pronounced de- finitely that it had beew printed from an engraving and not from type. This expert noticed that seyeral periods and commas had been Jost in the acid process, which had also left blurred edges on the type in seVeral places, such as would be impossible except in an engraving. He then discovered the mdrks of the turned-up edges of the zinc plate from which the en- graving was made, and one place where unmistakably the engravers’ routing machine had cut a semi-circu- lar gash in a piece of box rule. By such means the DAILY WORK- ER was able to establish beyond a shadow of doubt that fraudulent bal- lots were used in the election, How the Steal Was Put Over. The next step was to find out to what extent the fraud affected the election results. This search reveals a grimy trail which leads from the union election of last December di- rectly up to the present point of the murder of one faithful member of the union and the effort to lock into the penitentiary 15 others for no oth- er reason than to get them out of the way of the crooked labor leaders and their coal-company allies. It is not possible to prove exactly every instance in which the bogus bal- lots were used to swamp the election. The only place in which the DAILY WORKER has been able to obtain ac- tual posession of the bogus ballots is Buckner, Ill, In sevefal other local unions it is morally certain that the ballots counted were not the ballots cast by the union members. The most glaring instance of this moral cer- tainty is in the case of Local Union No, 789 of West Frankfort, taking the race between the progressive candi- date, Frank Johnson, and the reac- tionary Farrington machine candi- date, B. B. Loden, In this local union Johnson received the nomination, Yet in the election the official returns showed Johnson as receiving only 77 votes as against 538 votes for Loden. The coal miners take this as prima facie evidence of something crooked. bot! 42.00 | But copies of the ballots that were cast there are’ unobtainable. At Buckner the case is absolutely clear. Here the tellers met at the union office on the night of the elec- tion, December 9, The ballots were brought in late and all of the tellers were tired. As it was midnight some- one suggested that the ballots be locked up for the night and that the tellers return the next day to count them. This was agreed to, and the ballots were left on the desk, the door of the office was locked, Next day when the tellers returned, a stack of ballots was on the desk, apparently the same as the night be- fore, These and show- * be them; that the omission of periods, a blurred union lable, and other de- fects is conclusive proof to his mind, that the annexed ballot was not one (Signed) J. W. GRBAR. Subscribed and sworn to before me a notary public in and for afore (Signed) WALTER MOSS, Notary Public, SEE ed an overwhelming majority for the Farrington machine candidates, As it was known that the miners. of this local were largely opposed to the ma- chine candidates, this aroused suspi- cion, Frank Johnson, progressive candi- date for sub-district secretary treasur- er, told the tellers, “The genuine ballots were marked by me for iden- tification. I marked them with a light yellow crayon on the bottom edge of the stack. You cannot see the yel- low crayon on a single ballot, but when you stack them up you can see the yellow mark.” ‘The ballots were stacked up and showed no sign of the yellow mark. Burglar Methods. The office was then searched, and it was found that the door had been jimmied open during the night. Later it was discovered that the initials of the secretary on the backs of the bal- lots seemed not to be in the hand- writing of the secretary, Sam Con-. gardo. Nevertheless, the tellers de- cided to turn in the vote as genuine. It was from this set of ballots that the DAILY WORKER obtained the samples of the counterfeit. Throw Out Good Ballots. ‘When the returns of the sub-district came in, it was shown that in spite of whatever frauds were perpetrated with the bogus ballot, at least one of the candidates of the progressive slate, Frank Johnson, was elected. Johnson had been elected on the face of the returns by 4659 votes as against 4411 votes for his highest op- ponent, the candidate of the Farring- ton machine, E. B. Loden, But the machine could not afford to have the important office of sub- district secretary-treasurer in the hands. of the progressives, and so de- cided to throw out enough ballots to beat Johnson. This was done. In Local No. 992 at Zeigler, Ill., the progressive slate had run highest, Henry Corbishley having received 640 votes for snub-district president, as against 241 for Lon Fox, the machine candidate, and Frank Johnson 555 votes as against the re- actionary Loden’s 154 votes for sec- retary-treasurer, Johnson’s lead of 401 votes in this one local union was enough to make the difference be: tween his election or defeat. To throw out the returns of this Zeigler local would, therefore, be alone sufficient to wipe out the last candidate of the Progressives and leave the control of the sub-district completely in the hands of the Far- rington machine. , - The machine found a way to throw out the Zeigler local’s vote. Alex Hargis Helps Crooked Game. Farrington had his man in the of- fice of recording secretary of Zeigler Local No. 992. It was Alex Hargis, who is believed by the miners to be a member of the ku klux klan, and cer- tainly known to be a tool of the Far- rington machine. The consfitution of the U. M. W. of A, requires that the election returns of any local, in or- der to be counted, must be signed by the recording secretary of the local. The machine saw to it that the re- cording secretary, Hargis, refused to sign the returns, Then the machine ruled that since the recording secre- tary failed to sign the returns, the vote of the big Zeigler local was -il- legal. Another local, No. 2657 at West Frankfort, where the progressives ran a high vote which it was impossible to overcome with the fraudulent bal- lots, was thrown out on the excuse that the returms were sent in by spe- cial delivery mail whereas the rules require that they be sent in “by re- gistered mail.” A smaller local at Rend City was thrown out on the ground that the returns were not in the mail in time, The Trail of Fox, Cobb and Hargis. It is now necessary to follow the trail of Lon Fox, D. B, Cobb and es- pecially the petty tool, Alex Hargis. Fox and Cobb, as president and vice- president of the ‘sub-district showed themselves to be the outright agents of the Bell & Zoller mine owners and worked hand in glove with both the republican party machine and the ku klux klan. Their tool, Alex Hargis, was destined to fire the shot that killed Mike Sarovich, a faithful union member and member of the Workers (Communist) Party, When Frank Johnson, cheated of the election as sub-district secretary- treasurer, was elected by the Zeigler Local 992 as assistant checkweigh- man, he became an obstacle to the cheating of the miners inthe weigh- ing of their coal, Johnson discover: ed that the scale at the Bell and Zol- ler No. 1 mi was registering 80 pounds light a car of coal, He reported cre gompelled the com- pany to correct the scales, thus cost- ing the compan}? tMousands of dol- lars out of which they were swindling the miners. ) Within a few days after Johnson had compelled, the Gorrection of the scales, the company discovered that under the contract with the union on- ly one checkweighmian is entitled to work at the pit-head for the miners, and Johnson was forthwith notified by the company that he would not be permitted to weigh coal. Johnson was put off the job. But the amount of coal dug was too much for the single checkweighman to weigh, and he notified Corbishley, president of the local union, that he could not weigh the coal alone, and walked off the job. Corbishley im- mediately went down and told the men in the mine that their coal was not being weighed by any check- weighman, The men threw down their picks and came up out of the pit, and an “outlaw” strike was on. Corbishley called a mass meeting. It was pointed out, that the contract required that the men keep on work- ing until the case could be settled, and Corbishley advised the men in the mass meeting to continue work accordingly, which they decided to do, Union Officials to the Rescue of the Bosses, The sub-district president and vice- president, Fox and Cobb, immediate- ly came to the rescue of the com- pany’s right to rob the miners. They removed Corbishley as president of the local, and Mat Cernovich as sec- retary, and called upon the local union to hold a special meeting to elect new officers. The meeting was held on August 11; Fox and, Cobb came to the union meeting, Cobb carrying a blackjack in his pocket. Their tool, Alex Hargis, came carrying a gun. The two sub-district union officials made lame speeches showing that they had no interest in the affair ex- cept to protect the company in the right to short weight the miners, The miners were angered and the discus- sion became, heated. Thereupon Cobb lost his head and pulled the black- jack from his pocket. A coal digger jumped on kim and jerked the weap- on from hig hand, and this incident created a disturbance. In the excitement, Alex Hargis, with the gun in his pocket, worked his way toward the door. After mak- ing sure of, his get-away, with one foot on the-Stairway, Hargis turned, drew his gi and began firing point blank into the crowd of union miners a few feet away. A bullet from Hargis’ gun tore thru the entrails of Mike Sarovich, who fell mortally wounded, to die in the hospital later. The long trail of treachery had reached the point of murder, Prosecute the Victims, Not the Guilty. Right away'the . cowardly Cobb (who, needless to say, was roughly handled by the workers in the scrim- mage) ran screaming to the capital- ist courts to wreak vengeance upon the workers. Twenty-five of the best, most outstanding figures among the members of Zeigler Local Union No. 992 were arrested. on Cobb’s com- plaint and charged with “conspiracy to murder.” Later this charge was dropped, but 15 of the miners are’ being prosecuted for “assault with intent to kill,” with Cobb as complaining witness, Of course,, Frank Farrington, the “inside scab’. who. serves the coal companies from the advantage of his position as district president of the union, has declared that he will back up the prosecution of the workers with all his resources, including the treasury of the Mine Workers’ Union. An Old Fight Flames Again. This is not the first time that blood has flowed in the mine fields of South- ern Illinois. The trouble goes back twenty years, to 1905, when the big Zeigler mine was opened under the ownership of Joe Leiter, who began armed warfare against the unioniza- tion of the plant. Gunfire has been heard before both at Zeigler and the nearby historic town of Herrin. Out of the terrific struggle have emerged some of the best men ever known to tle labor movement—and also some of the worst inside scabs that ever worked for the bosses within the Mine Workers’ Union. It is safe to say that among the best are Henry” Corbishley and the others of the fifteen heroes who face the danger of long prison terms at Zeigler, and among the worst are the scabs and company gunmen who, with Frank Farrington at their head, control this district of the United Mine Workers. The struggle, after all, is a strug- gle to take away from these thugs the control of the United Mine Workers. It has cost Mike Sarovitch his life, and it may cost Corbishley and the others their liberty, but it must go on until the union, belongs to the mine workers, and until the final victory over Farrington’s. masters, the boss- es and their clas: Only $11.50 Per Week. NEW YORK.—HEleven dollars and fifty cents, average total earnings per week, were reported by 320 college girls who summered as waitresses in New Hngland hotels, Wages averaged $5 per week and tips $6.50. b Rob Mails in Minnesota, ICONA, Minn., Sept. 11.—Five band- its held up a majh truck driver here today, bound him, hand and foot and mouth, with wire,.took four pouches of mail and escaped in a touring car headed toward the Twin Cities. MINER OFFERED BRIBE FOR SUPPORTING MEN PIGKED BY MACHINE At example of the way the crook- ed game has been played in the southern Illinois coal fields is shown {in an old letter which a coal miner exhibited to the DAILY WORKER. The man who wrote the letter is dead now. “He wasn’t as bad as most of them,” said the coal miner who has the letter, “and so | ask you not to print his name. He got ashamed of the crooked game before he died. The letter was written to Jack Carso. He's dead now, too. Before Jack died he gave me this letter to show to the boys, so they would understand how It is they are swindled by the machine. Here it ts:” . (The letter is on the stationary of a subdistrict executive board mem- ber at Benton, Ill., and the blurred date appears to be November 23, 1916.) “Mr, Jack Carso, “Christopher, Ill. “Dear Sir and Bro. “These are the names that | would like to see elected; they are good men, If you get to go to Zeigler or Johnson City some time see some of the boys and have them work for them. “If they are elected old Santy Claws might come to see you. De- stroy this when you are through.” The last paragraph, Sam Carso sald, was a promise of a share in the large amount of bribe money that was being paid out by the ma- chine to buy up all of the local leaders in the union who were able to influence the rank and file. By this method the union was kept in a debauched condition for many years and the machine was kept in power. That the coal companies supplied the union officials with the money for bribery is the inference. But recent events show that this method is supplemented by the use of the automatic pistol and the gun- man, as witness the dead body of Mike Sarovich, and by the organized crime of the ku kiux klan, as wit- ness the klansman Alex Hargis, who killed Mike Sarovich. It is further supplemented by the present collaboration of the union officials with the capitalist criminal courts, as shown by the pi prosecution of 25 of the best and most loyal union members for “conspiracy to murder” with D. B. Cobb, sub-district vice-president of the union, acting as the chief state's witness, while Frank Farrington, district president, making use of the whole financial resources of the union, is ruthlessly goading on the prosecution. Grand Jury Probing Sigman Gang’s Raid; More Pickets Jailed NEW YORK CITY, Sept. 10.—The grand jury will hear on Thursday, September 10, all the details in the case of the assault of Sam Sabalof- sky, of 218 East 122nd street, whose case was brought to the attention of the district attorney this morning up- on récommendation of Judge Henry Goodman, Assistant District Attorney Ferdi- nand yesterday interviewed Sabalof- sky, Attorney Abraham Goodman, C. S. Zimmerman, representing the Joint Committee of Action, and various members of the shop of Shulman Bros. of 26 West 20th street where last Friday a group of gangsters en- tered the shop, attacked the 30 work- ers, and severely wounded Sam Saba- lofsky. There were four arrests yesterday morning on the picket line before the shop of S. Zweig, 500 7th Ave., which was called on strike two weeks ago by the Joint Committee of Action, fol- lowing the discharge of workers for participating in the stoppage. Anna Moskowitz, Mollie Rosen, Es- ther Weissberg and Marion Gross were arraigned before Magistrate Francis McQuaide in the Jefferson Market court on a charge of disdrder- ly conduct and were released on $100 bail. Flood N. Y. Subways, NEW YORK, Sept. 11—Thousands of office workers were poured into the streets during the morning rush hour today, when a broken water main at Broadway and Highty-fifth Street flooded the subway, tying up all traffic on the west side subway from the battery to Van Cortland Park. Tracks were submerged under five feet of water. FOREIGN EXCHANGE, NEW YORK, Sept. 11.—Great Brit- ain, pound sterling, demand 4.84 7-16; cable 48413-16. France, franc, de- mand 4.69%; cable 4.70. Belgium, franc, demand 4.42%; cable 4.45. Italy, lira, demand 4.16%; cable 4.17; Swe- den, krone, demand 26.78; cable 26.81, Norway, krone, demand 21.86; cable 21.888, Denmark, krone, demand 24.888; cable 24.90. Germany, marks blank. Shanghai, Taels, 80.50. Murdered Dry Woman Was Kluxer. VINTON, Ia., Sept. 11.—Mrs. Myrtle Cook, murdered dry crusader of Vin- ton, held the highest office in the women's organization of the ku klux klan as well as the W. C. jis learned , here, Page Three POSTAL UNION ASKS END OF | PITTSBURGH, PA,, ATTENTION SEE D. MAZER for your life insurance, representing the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Arsenal Bidg., 4300 Butler Street Phone Fisk 2544 Postal Service Ruled by Secret Inspectors WASHINGTON—Thos. F. Flaherty, secretary-treasurer of the Natl. Fed- eration of Post Office Clerks, in his annual report, to be given to the con- vention of the organization In Kan- sas City, Sept. 7-11, admits that un- der present conditions the postmaster is less important than before the in- ment in the service. But he argues spectors became the actual ruling ele- that “the opportunities for postmast- ers to harrass clerks” can be mini- mized If men who approach the prob- lems of the office with sympathy for the human element are promoted to these places. Ordinarily, Flaherty observes, pro- motion from the ranks has had the effect of hardening the individual in his policy as a supervising officer. The antidote to this hardening tend- ency is prior experience as an execu- tive in the labor movement. Trade union officers know men and the needs of men; they can learn rules without forgetting men. Wants Spying Abolished. Calling tor a reorganization of the post office inspection force, with a res- toration of the crime-detection service to the department of justice, the re- port emphasizes the demand of the union that overhead lookout or spy- ing galleries in post office buildings be removed. “No humanizing program can be complete,” it says, “unless these relics of an archaic and inefféctive spy sys- tem are removed. If we are to be partners in conducting the postal in- dustry we shall insist upon being treated as the trustworthy equals of those in authority and not be con- stantly subjected to an objectionable espionage that stigmatizes subordin- ates as potential wrongdoers.... It is a singular fact that railway clerks, rural carriers, city carriers and other postal meployes are not subjected to a similar constant espionage.” Union Bulletins Censored. Protest is made against Postmaster General New’s policy of censorship of bulletin boards in “swing” rooms at the main offices. Unless statements from the unions are found to be laud- atory of the department officialdom, they are not permitted to be posted. “The thot is abhorrent to me,” says Flaherty, “that after our long strug- gle to be freed from official domina- tion and official gags, that we now, even by implication, submit to a cen- sorship by postal officialdom of any of our news utterances.” Air Mail Landing for Post Office Planned The new post office building plan- ned for Chicago will boast an air mail landing platform stretching across a two-block roof, Four giant lights from each of the corners of the gigantic $15,000,000 structure will light the way for night flying pilots. If con- gress approves this venture at its next session the building will be set down upon the two-block site of Madi- son-Adams-Canal-Clinton streets, Put a copy of the DAILY WORKER in your pocket when you go to your union meeting. Phone Forest 8749, Joe Kaizer Candy Co. HOME MADE CANDY ICE CREAM LIGHT LUNCHES PHILIP RACHEFF, Manager 4975 EASTON AVENUE St. Louis, Mo. Philadelphia, Notice! Weber Printing Co. 350 N. FIFTH STREBT, Philadelphia, Pa. To those who work hard for th money, | will gave 50 per cent all their dental work, DR. RASNICK :. DENTIS% ¢ 645 Smithfield Street. ~ PITTSBURGH, PA, George E. Pashas COZY LUNCH 2426 Lincoln Avenue One-half block from Imperial Hall PHONE DIVERSEY 0791 CHICAGO Madison Pharmacy INC. BETTER DRUGS Light Luncheon Served 1154 Madison Street, Corner Ann OPEN DAY AND NIGHT Four Phones Chicago J. KAPLAN MERCHANT TAILOR Suits Made to Order at Reasonable Prices 8546 ARMITAGE AVENUE GRIGER & NOVAK GENTS FURNISHING and MERCHANT TAILORS Union Merchandise 1934 W. Chicago Avenue (Cor. Winchester} Phone Humboldt 2707 ' Genova Restaurant ITALIAN-AMERICAN 1238 Madison Street N. E. Cor, Elizabeth St. Spaghetti and Ravioli Our re Specialty Special Arrangements for Parties on Short Notice CRAMERG&S 6722 SHERIDAN Tel. Sheldrake 6515 ROAD hee a FUR GARMENTS MADE TO ORDER, REMODELED, REPAIRED, CLEANED, STORED AN D INSURED. Special Summer Rates—Reductions on All Furs. Nee eT TT ITT TLL LLL LLL LLL Amalgamated Food Workers GENERAL HEADQUARTERS 81 East 10th Street, New York, N. Y. THIS IS OUR T. U,, "| EMB An Industrial Organization For Hay, Cs LEM All Workers in the Food Industry a