leading to his arrest. “The charges of conspiracy which resulted in the indictment,” he told the Jewish Daily Bulletin, “had no basis in fact. The Federation of Kosher Butchers has never employed coercion, violence or terrorization in obtaining any of its membership. The Federation has always been a voluntary organization with which the kosher butchers have voluntarily aligned themselves for the purpose of improving their own condition and that of the industry.
“During the year 1933-4, there wasn’t a major problem which confronted the industry that was not cared for by the association. When prices rose in the meat packers establishments, the Federation conferred with the meat packers in an effort to reduce them for the benefit of the consumers.
COOPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT
“The Federation has constantly cooperated with the Live Poultry Code Authority, and with every Governmental agency and has succeeded in eliminating the many abuses and unfair practices in the poultry as well as in the butcher industry.
“The butcher was assisted by the Federation and not imposed upon by it.
“The charge which has been made that a fund was raised by taxing each member of the Federation one cent for every pound of poultry he sold, is so utterly preposterous and ridiculous that they need no separate denial.
“Just who was to collect the extra cent, when it was to be levied, and to whom it was to be paid, are a few of the facts in which the whole declaration (the declaration by Assistant Attorney General Ward to the newspapers Tuesday) is rather vague. Certainly the statement that the member would pay approximately fifteen or twenty dollars weekly, should have established an enormous fund with which to carry on the salutary work of the Federation.
SAYS FEDERATION MEN UNPAID
“The fact is, however, that the men employed by the Federation have not been paid for weeks. According to the figures, if there were about 2,000 paying members of the Federation, at twenty dollars per head, the gross income per week would be $40,000. Our average bank account has never been over a few hundred dollars.
“The Federation never went into the butcher business, nor did it open any stores in proximity to non-members.
“There hasn’t been a single instance of any price fixing as far as the Federation is concerned. The facts are not that ‘non-members bring in a fair and reasonable profit of about forty per cent. on sales’ and that members attempt to make a profit ‘ranging between sixty and seventy per cent.’ on their sales. Neither members nor non-members realize a profit beyond twenty per cent, in any case.
“Any other facts are based on fancy and not on actual conditions in the retail kosher trade.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
