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UNIVERSITY
JAN 1 11916
LIBRA
NON-PARTISAN
Official Organ of the Building Trades Council of Cincinnati and Vicinity
Vol. III. No. 38
CINCINNATI, OHIO, JANUARY 8, 1916
One Dollar a Year
INDEPENDENT
Prosecutor Campbell Gloats Over
Indictment of the Union Painters
At a Barroom Dinner He Tells What He Is Going to Do to Them
Two Members of the Grand Jury Were Ex-Painter Bosses and Hired
Scab Labor. Campbell Says "There Shall Be No Politics in This
Case' During His Own Political Speech, Which Intimates That
There Is Politics in Other Cases.
"There will be no more pleas for
siercy for murderers in Hamilton
Comity. The increase of crime in this
county is appalling. If I fail to obtain
a conviction of the men who are guilty
out of their own mouths for the Christ
Hospital murder before a jury, I will
devote the rest of my time in office to
placing the men in tile penitentiary
where they belong."
This was part of a speech made Mon
day night by County Prosecutor Camp
bell at a dinner given to him and Com
mon Pleas Judge Geoghegan by the re
tiring grand jury at Mecklenburg's
Garden.
"There will be no subtle influence that
can swerve me," he said. "Men have
tried to intercede for these murderers.
Hut there shall be no politics in these
eases."
Judge Geoghegan praised the work of
the jury, headed by J I. J. Robben, which
returned indictments in the murder of
James Shall at Christ Hospital five days
after the act.
The above report of a dinner, taken
from a daily paper will come as a sur
prise to those who have heretofore re
garded Mr. Campbell as a man of dis
cretion and sound judgment, and who
have believed his capacity for enforcing
justice was above the bar-room banquet
in quality. To those who have regard
ed Mr. Campbell as a man who would
do his duty under all conditions, his re
marks come as a distinct surprise and
there are many who are thoroughly dis
appointed to know that he has lowered
his personal dignity, to say nothing of
the great office which he holds to a level
where he must declare his intention to
enforce the law, for which duty the
State pays him, and the expenses of the
operation, in a speech delivered at what
must appear as a sort of general jolli
fication meeting of judge, prosecutor
and jury over the indictment of the un
ion painters, in a place where men
gather for a good time.
Mr. Campbell is reported as saying,
"There shall be no politics in these
cases and that no subtle inlluence shall
.swerve him." Mr. Campbell is paid to
bring criminals to justice and the people
who placed him in office expect him to
perforin his duty.
Mr. Campbell fails to state what these
evil influences which are attempting to
clog the wheels of justice consist of;
nor does he explain why he failed to
bring this matter to the attention of
the grand jury and ask for indictments,
as is his plain duty.
There has been so much of inuendo
and mystery among those who have
held public office in Cincinnati during
past years, so much of the carefully
veiled sort of something which must
be kept under cover for a time and
which has never come out, that the peo
ple arc distinctly sorry to see Mr. Camp
bell resort to this time-worn and thor
oughly despised subterfuge. If there
are to be politics in the office of the
prosecuting attorney during the term of
Mr. Campbell, if subtle influence arc
not to prevail, it might be a good idea
for Mr. Campbell to follow the sugges
tion of the present attorney general of
the state and fight his battles out in
court and refrain from trying them
through the press and at bar-room din
ners. So far as the prisoners under indict
ment for participation in the murder at
Christ Hospital are concerned, it is cer
tain these poor outcasts, who have been
held incommunicado during the past
month, it is hardly possible that Mr.
Campbell intends to convey the impres
sion that the subtle inlluence is theirs.
It is equally certain that organized labor
has attempted to exert no such inllu
ence and is interested only through hu
manitarian instincts. If there are such
influences at work Mr. Campbell should
take the most drastic action to bring
the men behind the inlluence to justice.
Mr. Campbell says that in case he
fails to secure the conviction of these
men it is his intention to devote the
balance of his term to sending them to
HON. JOHN J. CRAIG
Mayor of Covington, Ky.
the penitentiary, where they belong. In
order that he may accomplish this it
would appear that Mr. Campbell is will
ing to allow other criminals to go un
punished, but how does he expect to
get these men to the penitentiary unless
lie can convict them ?
Though Mr. Campbell does intend to
punish these men to the exclusion of
others equally guilty, we fail to see rea
son for his boasting of the fact, there
being others who should call for equally
severe prosecution.
To the average citizen it will appear
that none of these officials, from the
judge of the court to the last man on the
jury, has anything to cause unusual
sentiments of pride to form under their
domes; if they have done their duty
they may reconcile this fact with the
equally evident fact that this is only
what was expected of them and what
they were paid for. The people have
the right to expect faithful performance
of duty from public officials and it is
now up to Mr. Campbell to get these
men into open court and show a trial
jury how he proposes to convict them
from their own mouths.
A charitable view of the remarks of
the prosecutor should be taken ; the con
ditions under which the remarks were
delivered were likely conducive to con
viviality and Mr. Campbell likely want
ed to pat the whole bunch on the back,
expand his chest and call attention to
the fact that each man there assembled
had done his duty.
In addition to judge Geoghegan and
Prosecutor Campbell, the following
members of the grand jury are said to
have been present : il. J. Robbin, fore
man, 4220 Forest ave., Xorwood ; Jos.
II. Kaille, 1(180 Carroll st.; Jacob liett
nian, 22." Heading rd. : Peter Reitcr,
1420 Sycamore St.; Julius Weber, 120
V. Fourteenth st. ; I fenry lScrnhcini,
22-11 Kemper lane; Edward Terdoest,
15228 Colerain ave.; Michael M. Murray,
SB 13 Melrose ave.; Jos. P. Dickerson,
Hartwell; Christopher Hrinkman, Mt.
Healthy; Henry T. Anthony, North
Heud rd.; Jas. P. Kelly, 82.-. E. Rock
dale ave. ; Jos. Perince, -142 Pioneer st. ;
Jos. Kealy, .102 Hawthorne ave., Price
Hill, and Charles Callahan of Kenton
street.
Two of the members of the grand jury
are ex-painter bosses and hired scab
labor, so they were in line to rejoice at
the misery of union painters.
Hut Campbell was making a political
speech when he made the above address.
Prosecutor Campbell has the ace in
the hole; he can get all the assistance
he wants, as the bosses have subscribed
to a fund to convict the men.
The actions at this feast and the
gloating over the misery of the poor un
fortunates will create a sympathy for
the men in the heart of every man who
toils for a living, every man who has
an ounce of the milk of human kind
ness can see the turkey buzzard in
Mecklenburg's dinner.
All union labor wants for its mis
guided brothers is a fair trial before
an unbiased jury and they expect
Prosecutor Campbell to see that the
regular jury fixers lay off of this case.
s-iiorit LAW KOIt lailOltHHK.
Washington. Controller of the
Treasury Warwick supports the audi
tor for the state and other departments
that the federal eight-hour law applies
only to those employes of the govern
ment "who fashion or manufacture
things and who perforin manual labor"
those engaged in "industrial pursuits
or on public works."
The statute provides "that eight hours
shall constitute a day's work for all
laborers, workmen and mechanics who
may be employed by or on behalf of the
government of the United States."
The decision rejects the claim of a
penitentiary guard, employed at an an
nual salary and working 12 hours a day,
who claimed extra compensation for
four hours a day, which was his day's
duty beyond the eight hours.
The Building Trades Council
Passes a Resolution to Give Their Full Moral Support To
the Painters and Glazers in Their Present Trouble
A Full Attendance at the Regular Meeting Thursday
Night
The regular weekly meeting of the
Huilding Trades Council was called to
order Thursday evening by Secretary
Hock, owing to the absence of Presi
dent Cullen and Vice-President Fischer.
Secretary Hock called for the election
of a president pro tem and Hrother
Tweedy of the plumbers was chosen.
The minutes of the previous meeting
were read and adopted.
Communication from the Huilding
Trades Council of Milwaukee, Wis., ask
ing if the Waldheim Furniture Com
pany had a store in this city and if so,
how does it stand with union labor? It
was moved and seconded that the mat
ter be investigated and that the desired
information be forwarded.
A communication was received from
the Painters' District Council Xo. 12,
naming the following delegates to repre
sent them in the Huilding Trades Coun
cil : Edward Mendenhall, L. A. Hoyle,
Philip Gastorf, Thomas Mugavin, George
Meinders and Oscar J. Sunker, all being
COVINGTON'S NEW MAYOR
That the affairs of the city of Cov
ington are in the hands of the friends
of the people was plainly evidenced by
the big celebration at the City Hall on
January I!, when John J. Craig took
the oath of office as mayor of the city
and that the people were much pleased
with the prospect for the coming two
years was shown in the manner in which
the new mayor was received. It was
also plainly evident that Mr. Craig has
lost none of his old time popularity by
the manner in which he was received.
Men of every walk of life were there
to greet him and extend best wishes
for the success of his administration.
The election of Mr. Craig was a high
tribute to his worth and tl' best evi
dence of the high regard in which he is
held by his fellow citizens. Entering
the primary near the end of the cam
paign, Mr. Craig snowed his opponents
under by a tremendous majority. The
new mayor immediately announced the
appointment of Al Steitenkanip as his
secretary, thus further increasing his
own popularity, since Mr. Steitenkanip
had been employed by the gas company
until he accepted this appointment, and
it was evident that the change wa- most
welcome and that he had .tired of his
previous occupation of holding up the
unfortunates who do business with this
big utility corporation.
Commissioner Pat Phillipps made the
hearts of the people glad when he an
nounced the appointment of Colonel
Lew L. Applegate as city clerk. Xo
more popular choice could have been
made, although the people wish the sal
ary attached to the job was twenty
thousand instead of as many hundred
per year, since the money would be
placed in immediate circulation within
the limits of the home town, Colonel
Lew being known as one of the best
fellows in the world and strictly in fa
vor of home industries.
The new administration will have the
support of organized labor and the busi
ness men of the ctiy.
KASTIjAM) IHHASTHIt KKCALIiKl)
Washington. The Eastland disaster
at Chicago, last summer, is referred to
in the annual report of the steamboat
inspection bureau, which requests legis
lation to permit supervision of hull con
struction. While local inspectors now
inspect hulls once a year and may re
fuse to certificate a ship, it is pointed
out that the board of supervising in
spectors has no authority to lay down in
detail structural tests.
illtlK D1C.MAM) LIVING W.U.'K.
Hoston. Several thousand young
women and girls employed in the gar
ment industry in this city are holding
meetings preparatory to presenting a de
mand to their employers for a living
wage. These workers are members of
the International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union. They declare that
over half of them receive less than $0
a week and that working conditions arc
intolerable.
present except Hrother Mugavin ; they
were obligated.
A similar communication was receiv
ed from the Structural Iron Workers'
Union Xo. 44, naming Thomas McEwen,
Charles Mueller and James M. Davis as
their delegates for the coming year.
Hrother Davis being the only new mem
ber, was duly obligated.
President Cullen entered the meeting
and assumed the chair.
Husiness Agent Hock read his regular
weekly report, which showed very little
trouble on the many jobs now being
erected throughout the city. The report
was received and filed.
Under the head of good and welfare,
it was moved and seconded that the full
moral support of the Huilding Trades
Council be given the painters and glaz
iers in their present tight. This motion
was carried without dissent.
There being no further business, the
Council adjourned until next Thursday.
FRED MEIER SIGNS UP
Fred Meier, 2141 Reading road, ce
ment contractor, signed up last week
with Local 524, which pleased them very
much.
Business Agent Wolde reports that
Mr. Meier treated him with the greatest
consideration and that it wa a picture
to do business with a man like Mr.
Meier.
KIGIIT HOCUS FOIl SHIP VAItDS
Washington. President O'Connell, of
the A. F. of L. metal trades department,
has called a conference of the interna
tional presidents of all the metal trades
organizations to meet at the headquar
ters of the metal trades department,
Washington, D. C. Monday, January 10,
for the purpose of considering plans to
inaugurate the eight-hour day in private
shipyards throughout the country.
The presidents of the several organi
sations not affiliated with the metal
trades department, such as carpenters,
painters, etc., who have a number of
their craftsmen employed in the ship
yards, have also been invited to at
tend the meeting.
This conference is in accordance w-ith
the recommendations made by President
O'Connell at the metal trades conven
tion held in San Francisco during No
vember, which recommendations were
were concurred in and a resolution was
presented to the A. F. of L. convention
indorsing the plan recommended; the A.
F. of L. executive council to support the
movement.
The private shipyards of the United
States are crowded with work and the
metal trades department believes that
the time is opportune for the organi
zation of the eight-hour day in this
industry.
IXni'STltlAlj KIR'CATIO.V.
Minneapolis. The annual meeting of
the national society for the promotion
of industrial education will be held in
this city January 10-22. In this an
nouncement Secretary Dodd states the
purposes of this organization as fol
lows :
"The society forms a natural clear
ing house for the various movements
and experiments in vocational education
now being conducted in different parts
of the country.
"Its many surveys and studies of
cities and industries have been made for
the purpose of determining how far and
what kinds of industrial training could
best help the worker, the manufacturer
and the community in that city or in
dustry. "Its publications are authorities on
the subject, and in its membership and
on its board are found industrial man
agers, educators, labor leaders and pub
lic men. Among them are the men and
women of largest experience and most
intimate knowledge of this field and the
society is honored with the support of
some of the most exacting critics of pub
lic movements."
