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and the electrical workers' unions.
If the Chicago labor men and man
ufacturers and contractors now un
der indictments are heavily fined or
go to jail, the big national trust will
have a clear field forthe sale of its
goods in Chicago. AnaMt will mean
added profits running into hundreds
of thousands ,of dollars. On the $300,
000,000 of building construction in
this city the demand is enormous nofc
for electrical supplies and is grow
ing. The complaint in the indictment
reads "a large number of corpora
tions have carried on manufacture,
sale and installation of electric jpanel
boards, switchboards, rheostats, met--al
enclosing cases and other electric;
appliances and supplies, ,and except
as they have been prevented from do
ing so by the unlawful acts of the de
fendants, have sold large quantities
of the said electric apparatus, in Chi
cago, and have shipped such ?le'ctric
apparatus from states other than the
state of Illinois into thecity of Chi
The big national electrical trust is
then named as a complainant against
the "unlawful restraints of trade" and
the "monopolies" of Chicago. This
is the list of complaining witnesses
which for some reason has not been
printed in any Chicago newspaper:
General .Electric Co.. Sprague Elec
tric Works, Schenectady, N, Y.;
Westinghouse Electric Mfg. Co.,
Pittsburgh.; 'Culler Hammer Co., Mii--waukee
and New York.; Walker Co.,
Philadelphia; Prank Adams Electric
Co St Louis; Crouse-Hinds Co., Syr
acuse, N. Y.; H. Krautz Mfg. Co.,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
There are a few "pikers" in this
list who are not really a part of the
national trust monopoly. But these
companies admittedly have grabbed
the electrical market of the United
States, except a few corners where
patent rights or political or labor con
ditions are a factor.r
Understand, the indictment against
Mike Boyje., Erank. Landmark, Ray:
Clearj"and theother eIectric?Iwork
ers' unfon 'does NOT charge graft
The charge is 'conspiracy to hinder,
restrain and prevent the installation
of any electrical appliances of cor
porations" and firms located in states
other tha'n Illinois." It reads fur
ther: "Officers and agents of Local 134
of electrical workers were to influ
ence and cause the electrical work
ersXo refuse to and not to install elec
trical appliances manufactured in
states other than Illinoisv and
particularly the defendants, officers
and agents of said local union were
to prevent by force and violence in
stallation by persons other than
'members of Local 134 of the elec
trical appliances manufactured in
Illinois." The labor crowd misses the glad
hand from part of the public because
of the records of some of the indicted
labor officials.
Mike Boyle went along a few years
on a .salary of $50 a week and as
chief of the electrical workers and
out of the $50 a week made himself ,
the owner in clear title to a $350,000
apartment building at Prairie av. and ,
Garfield blvd.
And Simon O'Donnell, building
trades head, has gone along with the
riearst papers, issued a trades union
edition yearly that brought in $60,000
of advertising at one crack, and has
tried to force through a universal
compulsory arbitration agreement
on all building trades unions. v-
If all the indicted labor officials
could come through with a clean rec
ord the rank and file of the unions
would be free to sail in and make a
terrific attack on the federal govern
ment policy of prosecuting a small
electrical trust inside the Chicago city
limits toward the profit of a big na
tional electrical trust.
The General Electric Co. of Sche
nectady and the Westinghouse Co. of
Pittsburgh know as much about
Woodrow Wilson's "new freedom" as
a hog knows about Sunday.y J ,
.., firfroiwait'WriaaaiMi
