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ae Be eo = nar nan duue iti dn mana hs» Teast, Sentebonienti juts fii Minis denial ine GRAPE ANTITRUST C Bureau File #62-24153. In the Fall of 1930, an investigation was initiated by the United States Bureau of Investigation of allegations that certain levies had been and were being assessed against purveyors of grapes which arrived in Chicago from California. The grapes in question were of a variety which made them valuable primarily because of the juice that could be extracted from them. The investigation related to charges that racketeers in Chicago, particularly, were making an assessment of $20 per car load for the grapes which ar- rived in the Chicago Freight Yards, and an additional assessment of three cents against each lug or crate of grapes sold from the cars in the Freight Yards. The indications were that this practice had led to a depression in the grape market, which was further aggravated by the fact that a rival gang of racketeers was alleged to be planning to assess an additional levy of §30 per car, thus bringing the total amount of tribute levied by racketeers to the total of $50 per car. The fact that this complaint was made and that the Department of Justice had become active in the investigation became known, presumably by some person connected with the com- plainants. Considerable publicity attended the making of the complaint and the indications that an investigation would be made, which resulted in causing it to be practically impossible to ob- tain evidence of the actual collection of levies. As a result of the investigations which were made, however, it was agreed by all that the effort made by this Bureau in that case for a time at least caused a discontinuance of the practice. COPIES DESTROYED 23 AUG 3 1964 NOT RKCORDED ba- a4 © 4 6 an