Also, there was Mr. Odell, a lawyer, one of the members of the old board, who had voted “right,” and who, as a Mason, brought many votes; a retired hay and grain merchant, who stated naively to the committee of teachers that he was tired of playing golf and wanted something to do; the wife of a real estate and insurance man; and another lawyer, who represented the bond house of Mr. Babcock, the gentleman who was selected by Captain Fredericks as campaign manager to put this reactionary school ticket into office. Mr. Babcock’s firm got the handling of several millions of the school bonds; and this firm sends out literature, signed by Mr. Babcock, attacking government ownership, and advising the public to put its money into private enterprises. So you see how Big Business and the schools tie up! On this board almost every kind of interest which preys on the school system was boldly represented; and to elect it every power the Black Hand could wield, both inside and outside the system, was wielded, and every slander that could be whispered concerning the opposition was spread upon the front page of the “Times.” “No politics in the schools!” runs the formula; which means, quite simply, that no one must oppose the Black Hand. The rumor was spread that the “teachers’ board” was pledged to oust Mrs. Dorsey; and so for every teacher the issue was one of “loyalty to the chief.” Many were intimidated—I know one teacher who was told by her principal that if she gave out literature for the “teachers’ ticket” she would be summoned before the grand jury! Others were bought with promises of promotion—the system is honeycombed with intrigue of that sort. The principals’ clubs went boldly into politics, cheered on by the “Times” and the “Express.” One school director, a pet of Mrs. Dorsey, used the school time and the school’s long distance telephone for a whole day calling the Masons in the school system to a meeting at which they were told how to vote. I have before me a letter from a school principal telling me how a certain political woman came to him, offering him, in exchange for his support in the gang, a written promise of a high school principalship. This offer was turned down and the principal wrote his wife, who owns a dairy: “Keep the cows. We may need them.”