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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1962)
Hoffa Said Probably Most Investigated Man in U.S. Edilor'i Note: Jimmy Hot fa, as head of the Teamiten union, probably is the most powerful tingle labor leader in the country. Hit union it ihe biggest one. and if he chose to do so he could tie the nation into knots by pull ing the truckers off the high ways. This is the first of five dispatches on H o f f a , his amazing rise to power and his incredible ability to survive investigation. By HARRY FERGUSON Washington -tliPH- Any list of the most powerful men in the United States wouldn't make sense unless it included James Riddle Hoffa. If he were so minded, he could make half a dozen phone calls and plunge the nation into chaos. The International Brother hood of Teamsters, Chauf feurs, Warehousemen and Helpers is the world's biggest union with a claimed mem bership of 1,720,000. As gen eral president, Hoffa is the boss with a salary of S75.000 a year and an unlimited ex pense account. He doesn't con trol all the drivers who roll trucks across America's high ways, but he controls enough of them to make a shambles of the economy of the nation's j cities if he chooses to do so. I A Teamsters strike in New 1 York, for instance, would j leave perishable foods rotting ! on the docks and at the rali j terminals. Delivery of fuel j and milk would almost cease, j Garbage would pile up. The I pinch would be felt in 12 j hours. Within four or five i days the big city would be beaten to its knees. I The thought that a nation wide strike could make the same thing happen all over the country is frightening enough to be a nightmare. It would not be correct to say it frightens Hoffa because he doesn't frighten easily. But it gives him pause and he has gone on record as follows: "There never will be, as long as I have anything to do with it, a national transportation strike." Move Toward Goal Whatever Hoffa's enemies say about him - and there are plenty of them and they have spoken volumes - nobody ever accused him of being dumb. Any nationwide strike has the best chance of succeeding if all the local and regional con tracts expire almost simultan eously. The Teamsters have been working toward that strategic position and will be close to their goal in 1964. 5 .f. . V' sr i ' f if fJ ' , if '-,v ' t. - . V"- I K--'-;'., . ...... Kf, WOULD MAKE LIST Any list of the most powerful men in the United States wouldn't make sense unless it included James Riddle Hoffa, above. If he were so minded, he could make half a dozen telephone calls and plunge the nation in chaos. He is shown here as he testified bf fore a Senate com mittee in 1958. (UPI) f , -, (', Is. mm 4 K ! "No Madam, towards Bruzers are not made of iron . . . They just wear like it!" And we're not kidding! Here's real hoy-proof foot wear, constructed by people who just got tired of seeing shoes worn out before they should be. BRUZERS change all that. They're not just rugged . . . but extra rugged. BRUZERS outlast them all. Bring in your toughest youngster, and we'll demonstrate. Hoffa's career is a study in survival. When it seems inevi table that prison doors will clank behind him, he some how snatches victory out of defeat. He has been tried and acquitted on charges of brib ing an attorney to spy on the Senate Rackets committee. He has been tried and acquitted of tapping the telephones of subordinates in the Detroit of fice of the Teamsters union. Samuel Baron, former field director of the union, accused Hoffa of slugging him and had some wounds to show, but the case has not been prose cuted for lack of corroborat ing evidence. Hoffa and his j union were expelled by the ArL-LlU, but he went on picking up members and broadening the areas of his authority. Subpoenas are dropping around us like confetti at a country fair." George S. Fitz gerald, a Hoffa attorney, ex claimed when they had their backs to the wall and were fighting a half-dozen court actions at once. Faces Two Trials Hoffa's powers of survival still are being tested in two pending legal actions. He must stand trial in the coming months on charges of misusing $500,000 of Teamsters funds in a Florida real estate devel opment. He also must stand trial on charges of receiving a share of $1 million in il legal payments from Commer cial Carriers. Inc., a trucking firm. It is doubtful whether any day has dawned in the last six years which didn't find Hoffa engaged in litiga tion. He became a labor leader at the age of 19 when he was working for 32 cents an hour unloading freight cars for the Kroger Grocery Co. in De troit. The men had to stay near the unloading platforms 12 hours a day although they were paid only for the hours they worked. Hoffa chose a time when a big shipment of strawberries had just arrived. Then he led a committee of six into the executive offices and gave management the al ternative of raising pay or let ting the strawberries rot. The raise was forthcoming. From that day Hoffa began clawing and fighting his way to the top of the labor move ment and he was not too par ticular about the men who boarded his bandwagon. The Senate Rackets committee had this to say about the men who rose with Hoffa "Hoffa employed persons as business agents and organ izers despite the fact they hid been accused of armed rob bery , kidnaping, larceny, bookmaking, throwing stench bombs, impersonating govern ment officers, felonious as sault and carrying concealed weapons." Hoffa doesn't bother to deny that some of his associ ates have unsavory records. but merely says,-"I never turn my back on anybody." His appearance before the Senate Rackets committee made Hoffa known to persons outside the labor movement and it was there that he en countered a young man nam ed Robert F. Kennedy, coun sel for the committee. They first met when a mutual ac quaintance invited them to dinner. The dislike was in tense and mutual. Hoffa was quoted as having described Kennedy as "a spoiled little jerk" after they parted. Ken nedy was confident he had the goods on Hoffa and predicted he would send him to prison. It was a roaring feud from the start and it still goes on. Kennedy, because of his posi tion as attorney general. makes no public comments about Hoffa these days, nut it j is significant that federal I grand juries in 14 cities are I digging into the affairs of the Teamsters union. There isn't much doubt that over the last six years Hoffa has been the most investigated man in the United States. Next: Bobby and Hoffa fight it out. MedfordlWTribune i i " -is. - Open Friday Nites 7 to 9 P.M. t ' SB "grj . sr. SECTION B MEDFOBD. OREGON. MONDAY. AUGUST 27. 1062 PAGES 1 to 8 j 1 THE BIG STEP ... TO YOUR FUTURE GOAL! s BUSINESS EDUCATION Fall Term Opens Sept. 24 Day and Night Classes ROBERTSON SCHOOL of BUSINESS 40 North Riverside Phone 773-4264 Medford Court Records MKIlKORD MUNICIPAL TOI RT Monroe Marvin McGonagle. dii- obevrd traffic signal. S10. David Hart Collins, driving wrong way on one-way ttrcet, $10. Kenneth Wayne Piazza, failure in obtain Oregon operator'! license, 2.V Michael .Tonne Lentz. no opera tor's license, S3, suspended . Glen Green Georee. failure in display vehicle license tags, S5 suspended. Adelaide Peters Long more, vio lation of basic rule. $10. Zclma Esther Hayes, violation of basic rule. $10. Boms Elizabeth Field, violation of basic rule. $2.V Emma Castlcinan. defective equipment. $10 suspended. Donald Lee Nelson, violation of basic rule. $50. George Cronk Van Galder, viola tion of basic rule. M0. Christine Verndel McKlnnis, dis obeyed stop sign. $10. - Carole Mae Moore, violation of basic rule. $10. James Marvin Williams, violation of basic rule. S2.V Alfred Coles Barney, disobeyed traffic signal, $10. Clyde Timothy Latta. disobeyed traffic signal. $10. Donna Maire Edfngton. driving wrong way on one-way street, $10. Janet Adelaide Kilbourn, vicLl tion ol basic rule, $25. Ronald Ernest Cushman. dis obeved traffic signal. $10. Maggie .Mae Cushman. expired vehicle license, $5. Betty Lou Cline. violation of ba sic rule. $10. Lester Lee Lewis, disobeyed traf fic signal. $10 llSTIfF ( Ot RT Gold Hill iMMrltl Norman Dale Crippen. no horn. Dennis Ralph Mooney. no head light. $5. Francis George Virtor Gordan. disohcyed stop sign. $7.30 Lathanuel Swinford. driving while encumbcrrd. $15. Hrrtrv Allen Gammel. excessive nv-rhang. $15 Marv Donovan M riser, no opera tor license. $.V 1 ioma Edward McCarvel, over load $60 June Larson Drown, no opera tor license. S.Y Lehe Earl Gurgrl Jr . impro per passing. $7 50. Charles Norman Gail, failure fo dim head llnhli. S5 Tom Albrrt Tion. disobeyed stop sign. $7 50. Edward Lyle Wn.idcock, viola tion of basic rule. $13 Sally Ann Ward, no operators license. $5. Raymond Silvester Powers Jr.. no vehicle license. $5 James Joseph Calhoun, dis obeed stop sign. $7 30 Howard Ronald ThorhiU, no tail light $3. Milton Earl Yeoman, obstructed v i m on $ 1 0 Charles Ludwig Gardner, no op erator's license, in-day jail sen tence in Jackson county jail and $73 line Plirir.SIX MIMI IPM. t niRT Darre! 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