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Al Capone — Part 36
Page 55
55 / 62
voto.) t
with ahe deuck drivers’ strike there in 1934. Note the policeman
the fighting.
iment began its case in the
m Kronick, (4) Charles Wolk,
(Associated Preas phote.}
Guilford had mentioned were
‘ped. Guilford himself, secord-
to fricnds, was wnexpected)y
perous. He changed his home
24 shabby rooming house to &
>in one of the best hotels, he
-hed” considerable sums of
ve, aut Sported many new
ies.
Doe
a @ few weeks he re
td io his newspaper attacks
1 the underworld and upen city
Oui: officials. Then the Min-
“a gar iow, passed by the state
‘iaiure in 1925, was invoked
nst Guilferd and his partner,
L. Near, on-parblishers of the Sai-
ay Press The cage agonist them
proses: 2 by Floyd lsc:
he press carp law was pecuilar
“ihesoia alone. It permitted
at a state offclals to sup.
wn shal Py fury payer.
ublish:e domatier of a Uma!
Candalous, or defamatory”
werd the cost of carrying the fight
to the United States Supreme court.
THE Cuicaco TRIBUNE individually
engaged counsel for Near.
In an epochal decision on June 1,
1931, the federal Supreme court
ruled the Minnesota gag law was
unconstitutional because
fered with the liberty of the press
@5 guaranteed by the fourteenth
amendment to the federal constitu:
tion. In this battle Near and Guil-
ford won, and the Saturday Press
continued to be published.
While these matters were in the
courts, Hennepin County Attorney
Floyd Olson was busy building a
political organization. Defeated in
i924, when he ran for governor on
a platform which was almest wholly
communistic, Olson was cut to gain
the support of labor in the three
large citles in his state—Minneapo-
Us, St. Paul, and Dututh.
His opportunity came in 1928,
when boodiers in the Minneapolis
elty council] became panicky.
The boodlers had been operating
on a small scale, the ring consisting
of half a dozen aldermen.
Leader of the ring was Alderman
Louis N. Ritten of the "silk stock-
ing” Second ward in Minneapolis,
He was a former president of the
elty councll and a prominent grain
merchant in the town. Soon after
he entered the council, according
to Ritten's own confession, he begun
accepting bribes. Then he became
® member cf Heensing committees
and of a committee which controled
Purchases,
Within a short tline Ritten worked
out an arrangement with Alderman
Frank E, Giebenhain of the Tenth
ward, a labor representative, and
J. Russell Sheffield, Eighth ward, to
accept money which would later be
divided among the trio. Certain
other aldermen, including John P.
Eckbery, a labor party politician
from the Twelfth ward; Fred Maur+
er, ancther iabor man from the
Third ward, and E. J. Sweeney and
W. OH. Rendeli intermittentiy tock
part in the boodling.
at nes,
heeause it ft
at aTLLeTe
ond
AM vere aT tab ae
Gov, Floyd B. Olson of Minnesota, who as a county aHorney in Min-
neapolis is shown to have failed in his duty of prosecuting certain
2
members of the criminal e
that during that afternoon Ruf had
been in conference with Melvin Pas-
solt and Joseph A. Poirer in the
county atlorney’s office, and he be-
lieved Ruff had told them every-
thing regarding our meeting.
“T asked Frank what he would do
if he were in my boots, He de-
clared I should get & good attorney.
ZT asked him whom he would recom-
mend and he said, ‘Get Archie M.
Cary” [Cary is known In Minne-
epolis as the lawyer who appears
for the syndicate hoodlums ani
other criminals who are able lo pay
large fees.]
“Brunskil! called Mr. Cary from
my office and arranged for a gon-
ference, at the same time telling
Mr. Cary that ‘Lou is a very good
friend of mine,"
That evening Riiten went to
Cary's home for a preliminary con-
ference and Cary telephoned EBrun-
skill to come to the home also. Rit:
ten’s confession continues:
“I told Frank I was worried io
death and didn't know what to do
or where to turn, er words to that
effect. Brunskifl declared that he
had been in 2 bad fix himself, and
that Cary had got him out of
trouble.”
aa
The following day at another con-
ference Cary demanded a retaining
fee of $5,000, which Ritlen produced.
Bitten tells also that Woodward
Bitten fells also inal ‘oocdward
demanded money to get ont of town,
6aying a grand jury subpena had
been issued for his appearance. In
all Ritten gave Woodward $3,300
to get out of town. Then he was
told that Ruff was about to go he-
fore the grand jury. He then de-
cided to go before ihe grand jury
ang try to get immunity, on advice
of Cary.
The venfese) movant iies:
“A few days taler Cary arranged
for a meeting between myself.
County Attorney Floyd B. isnn.
and himself in a temm at the Minrc-
apolis Athletic club At That tite
IT told the counts. atforner ever:
thing J knew, except the payments
to Woodward. The next conference
ment, (Tribune photo.)
of business men also were indicted,
these defendants being named as
givers of bribes, the aldermen being
charged with their acceptance.
But Olson's part in granting Rit-
ten immunity frem_ prosecution
never before has been made public
That confession was obtained by
two Minneapolis newspaper men who
followed Ritten when the Jatter fied
to California. When they returned
with the document their editors
chose to print only certain excerpts
therefrom.
During the trials which followed
the public was kept in the dark
about the Ritten incident. Prose-
cuter Olson was praised as # public
servant, zealous to uphold the law.
Strangely enough the “common pew
Ple "—the laboring classes of Minne-
apolis, St. Paul, and, in fact, all
Minnesota—ralied around him.
Just what Olson did for the labor-
ing men of Minneapolis is shown
in the following table, which lists
lhe defendants as te punishments
or lack of punishments;
Prison Sentences
ohn P. Eekberg, labor alder
man, Twelfth ward, 10 years, ace
cepling bribe; Frank E. Gieben-
hain, labor alderman, Tenth ward,
10 years, @ccepting bribe; Fred
Maurer, Jabor alderman, Third
ward, 2 years, accepting bribe; E.
J. Sweenex, labor alderman, Third
ward, 2 years, accepting bribe,
Fines
Morris Eisenstadt, cleaner and
dyer, convicted of giving bribe,
paid $1,500, James E. Fox, oil
broker, pleaded guilty to giving
bribe. paid S750
Charges Dismissed. Consent
of Siate
4. Russ 1) Shefhels VK stock-
Ing” Eighth ward, indicted for re-
eciving bribe; Don Green, agent
far fire apparatus Manufacturing
companys, indicted for giving bribe:
Ls , reg! estate breke:
tidictend for givies: Imhe; EL FP.
Brown. business man, indicted for
kiving bribe; Henry M. Basker
ville husiness man fmdicted for
TET
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