Mr. KANTER. No, sir. Mr. ROBSION. And the vocational board in New York stopped your going to that school? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. And you wanted to go on? Mr. KANTER. Yes; I did. Mr. ROBSION. And you are still willing to go on? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir; I am, until this strike is over. Mr. ROBSION. And what is this fountain pen job you are talking about? Mr. KANTER. Well, I was making threads on the inside of the pen. I went there one day, that was about seven or eight days ago, and there is the outcome of it [showing hands]. Pushing them in and pulling them out about pulls the hands off of you, and you have to stand up all day, and I can't stand up. Mr. ROBSION. Did you get that job yourself, or did the vocational board get it for you? Mr. KANTER. The vocational board got it. Mr. ROBSION. Now, you don't consider that you are taking training there, do you? Mr. KANTER. I don't know what I am taking half the time up there. Mr. ROBSION. Did anybody advise you to take this pen work for training? Mr. KANTER. Mr. Chappelle advised me. He says: "It is a very good idea for you to go down and take it." I says, "Mr. Chappelle, I will take anything now. I haven't any money and I have got to take it." Mr. ROBSION. Well, do you get pay at that shop? Mr. KANTER. Well, I don't know. I got 84 cents for about three days. Mr. ROBSION. You workd by the piece-piecework? Mr. KANTER. I don't know; I think it is by the hour. Mr. ROBSION. By the hour? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. How much an hour did you get? Mr. KANTER. I don't know; I know I received 84 cents there for about three days. Mr. ROBSION. And what time did you begin in the morning and what time did you quit? Mr. KANTER. Well, I didn't work there regularly, because I had to go and get my teeth fixed: I have two fillings here. Mr. ROBSION. And you got 84 cents? Mr. KANTEG. Yes, sir; for three days. Mr. ROBSION. Who paid you that? Mr. KANTER. The firm-the Wizard Fountain Pen Co. Mr. ROBSION. Are there other soldiers working there at that factory? Mr. KANTER. There were about three of them working, but they all quit. Mr. ROBSION. What were they getting? Mr. KANTER. The same thing as I got, I believe. Mr. ROBSION. Haven't you some idea as to how much an hour you were getting? Mr. KANTER. No, sir; I didn't pay any attention to it. Mr. ROBSION. Who arranged for you soldiers to work at that shop? Mr. KANTER. Well, I don't know. I guess it was Mr. Chappelle, the advisor up there. Mr. ROBSION. The New York board? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. They put you boys to work in this shop. Mr. KANTER. Well, some of us. And they have got another fountain-pen place; I don't know where it is. Mr. ROBSION. Where they put other fellows to work? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir; I believe so. Mr. ROBSION. Now, about how many hours did you work? Mr. ROBSION. And you got 84 cents? Mr. KANTER. Eighty-four cents; yes, sir. Mr. KANTER. I don't know what it amounts to; it was 27 hours, I believe. We figured it out up there. They says," You only worked 27 hours," and I says, "Well, I had to go over to New York." Mr. ROBSION. How long after you worked was it until you got that 84 cents? Mr. KANTER. I got it on Saturday, I believe. Mr. ROBSION. When did you work those three days and get 84 cents? Mr. KANTER, I didn't work all that day. Mr. ROBSION. When was it? Mr. KANTER. It was from about Thursday until Saturady. Mr. ROBSION. What time in the month? Mr. KANTER. What time in the month? It was about the 11th of the month-no; it was the 17th of the month. I started on St. Patrick's Day; I remember that. Mr. ROBSION. The 17th of March, 1920? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. And you worked three days. Now, since you worked the three days what have you been doing? Mr. KANTER. Nothing at all-what was I doing? I was working. Mr. ROBSION. After those three days were over what did you do? Mr. KANTER. They told me they were trying to get a pawnbroker place for me; and I ain't got one yet. Mr. ROBSION. Did you quit there? Mr. KANTER. No; I will tell you how it happened; I came in five minutes late, and the man says, "We don't want you men like that to come in here late.' Mr. ROBSION. And they fired you then? Mr. KANTER. They fired me; yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. Because you came in five minutes late? Mr. KANTER. I really didn't care for that place, anyway. [Laughter.] Mr. ROBSION. And since then you have not been doing anything? Mr. KANTER. No, sir. Mr. ROESION. You haven't been going to school or taking training anywhere, and had had the promise all along, if I have understood you, to get into a pawnshop? Mr. KANTER. That is about all they are doing-promising. Mr. ROBSION. Have you ever collected the $80 a month at any time? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir; $110 I have collected for about a month. and a few days. Mr. ROBSION. When did you get your last vocational training? Mr. ROBSION. Now, have you received any check from the Vocational Board or the War Risk? Mr. KANTER. I received my back compensation from the War Risk. Mr. ROBSION. That was before you took the training? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. But since the 29th of February have you received any check for pay since the date that that 29th day of February check was paid you? Mr. KANTER. I was awarded $41 a month for 13 months. I received that. Mr. ROBSION. I understand that; but that was to date back of the date you were taking the training, wasn't it? Mr. KANTER. No; that was before. Mr. ROBSION. Well, I say, the compensation, the check that you got from the War Risk, was to pay you compensation back of the time that you were taking the vocational training, but now for the time since the 1st of February, have you received any check for that, except this 29th of February check? Mr. KANTER. No, sir. Mr. ROBSION. Do you understand that you are taken off the pay roll of the vocational board? Mr. KANTER. Well, that is what I understood them to tell me up there. Another man tells me I ain't, and I don't know what they are going to do with me. I have tried to reason with them, and all like that, and they won't treat with me. They call me all kinds of names. Mr. ROBSION. Tell us some of the names they call you. Mr. KANTER. Well, Mr. Marks told me that last night, and told me that a week ago, that it was either Mr. Benway-I just don't remember who it was that called me a skunk up there, yesterday. Mr. ROBSION. Who did that? Mr. KANTER. Mr. Benway or Mr. Clark. Now, that is what Mr. Marks says. He is the representative of the Seward Park School, the president of the Seward Park School. Mr. ROBSION. These men are of the vocational board, are they? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. Mr. Clark and who else? Mr. KANTER. Mr. Benway. Now, I don't know whether either one of them Mr. ROBSION. Did they say that to you? Mr. KANTER. No, sir; but he told me that they said it. Mr. ROBSION. Who told you? Mr. KANTER. Mr. Marks. Mr. ROBSION. And he is head of this school where you were attending? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. ROBSION. Now, what did he say that they said about you? Mr. KANTER. Just what I said before-that I was a skunk. Mr. ROBSION. That you were a skunk? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. Mr. VESTAL. Mr. Chairman, that is really not competent testimony. The CHAIRMAN. It will not be if anyone objects. Mr. VESTAL. That is hearsay evidence. Mr. KANTER. And he told me that, and he would say that down here. I think he is summoned here next Monday. Mr. ROBSION. Of course you understand that the purpose of that is to find out who can give the testimony. And you say that Mr. Marks is summoned for next Monday? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. I met him last night. Mr. ROBSION. Now, what caused Mr. Marks to tell you that these men had called you a skunk? Mr. KANTER. He has been up there trying to fix my case up a thousand times, trying to get me back in Seward Park, and there is no possible chance. They just tell him, " No; there is no chance of his going back there." Mr. ROBSION. In what connection did they call you a skunk? Mr. KANTER. He said, "They don't like you up there, Kanter. One of those fellows up there called you a skunk." I said, “I don't know why. I never done them any harm." Mr. ROBSION. You say they called you names. Is there any other name that they have called you? Mr. KANTER. No; I don't remember any other name. That is the only name. I don't remember whether he said Mr. Clark or Mr. Benway. Now, that is up to Mr. Marks, but that is what Mr. Marks told me, and I can't swear to it but that is what he told me. Mr. ROBSION. Were you working for the New York papers before you got into the Army? Mr. KANTER. Yes; I worked for the New York Telegraph; I worked for the Globe, and Mail, and all those papers. Mr. ROBSION. What money did you make? Mr. KANTER. I averaged $40 a week easy, besides my outside line. There is a man that will tell you-Mr. Littledale will tell you what the newspaper business is. Mr. ROBSION. And you feel that you can't get along in the world and make your living unless you have this vocational training? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. I remember Mr. Chappelle and Mr. Benway telling me two different days, "Kanter, why don't you try something else? Why don't you just sign an agreement that you won't take vocational training? You can go out and make a living." Those are the very words they both told me two different times. Mr. ROBSION. That is all. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Kanter, you live in New York City? The CHAIRMAN. At Stamford? Mr. KANTER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Are you married? Mr. KANTER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Is there anyone dependent upon you? Mr. KANTER. No, sir. Mr. VESTAL. What was that question, Mr. Chairman? I did not get your question. The CHAIRMAN. If he had any dependents; anyone dependent upon him? Mr. VESTAL. And what was your answer? Mr. KANTER. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. You may be excused. We will call Mr. Braham. STATEMENT OF MR. W. W. BRAHAM, 1739 P STREET, WASHINGTON, D. C. (The witness was duly sworn by the chairman.) The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Braham, give your name and present address to the stenographer. Mr. BRAHAM. W. W. Braham, 1739 P Street NW, Washington, D. C. The CHAIRMAN. Where are you just now? Mr. BRAHAM. Where am I working? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. BRAHAM. I am an employee of the Federal board at Walter Reed Hospital. Might I just now, Mr. Chairman, state how I happened to be summoned to the committee? The CHAIRMAN. Well, you may, in order to qualify. It may be that we will not want to hear you just at this time. Mr. BRAHAM. That is the reason I want to make the statement. I have known Dr. Henry Temple, who is our Representative in Congress from western Pennsylvania. I have seen these Littledale articles in the New York Evening Post, and I thought some of them were hardly founded on fact, at least those portions of articles that reflected upon or were connected with the work in the hospitals, and I wrote a note to Dr. Temple. I told him that if it came in the line of his duty I would be glad to give him the benefit of my experience in the hospital. I don't know so much about the placement work of which the gentleman spoke this morning, or the training section, but I do know the hospital work pretty well, I think, and I know Walter Reed Hospital. The CHAIRMAN. Now, Mr. Braham, Dr. Temple spoke to me, stating that a friend of his out in Walter Reed Hospital could throw some light, he thought, upon the matter we were investigating; but if you are identified with the board, I don't think we want to hear you now, until we have the evidence of the other side all in. Mr. BRAHAM. Yes, sir; that is the reason I asked to make that statement. I was not clear about it. The CHAIRMAN. Well, I think that would be the proper thing, so we will not hear you at this time, but will call for you later. Is Mr. Friedman here? (There was no response.) Gentlemen, I think we have heard, then, all that were to appear to-day, except Maj. Henderson. He was asked to come. The committee will stand adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. Mr. BRAND. Mr. Chairman, you have no witnesses here for tomorrow morning? |