The Great Spokane Labor Carnival Swindle
A labor organization finds themselves penniless after a predatory contract with a traveling carnival company nets them only $6.40 from $18,000 in gross receipts.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Spokane Trades Council bought a gold brick in holding the recent labor carnival, for although more than $18,000 was taken in, the profit of the Trades Council was just $6.40. The council got cinched in a contract with the Southern Carnival company, so that the company got the money taken in at the gates and also the $3,770 raised locally. The contract provided that the labor council was to receive 15 per cent of the gate receipts and pay all expenses connected with the show. The result was that the carnival company cleared up about $14,000 for the week's work and the Trades Council cleared up $6.40. The members of the Trades Council are complaining that they got the double cross, claiming the contract read 50 per cent when they signed it.
“The members of the Trades Council are complaining that they got the double cross.”
Predatory contracts and 'hidden' fine print have long plagued local organizations trying to raise funds, a struggle that remains a cautionary tale for civic groups today.
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