Evening star., 1924-04-27
The Boss and the People.

New York is in deep grief over the
death of Charlie" Murphy, the Tam
many leader. Tears of the sincerest
sorrow are flowing. Men sob when
they speak of him. He is mourned as
a friend. For the boss is to the
rank and file of New Workers.. especial
ly of his own party, a dear intimate.
This is not a remarkable condition.
The boss as rule comes up from the
bottom. He is strictly one of the peo.
pie. In the course Of his progress up
ward he makes scores of warm, loyal
friends. AS precinct leader he shares
N the joys and sorrows of several hun
dred. When he is promoted to ward
bosship his field of patronage and vir-
tual parentage widens. At the head of
a district he is the source of benefac-
tons for many thousands.
One of the means of the political
boss in a big city like New York for
gaining and consolidating power is the
bestowal of bounty. He gives freely,
but discreetly. He helps the unfortu-
nate. He binds the men to him by
finding them jobs IA public or private
employment, and he enlists the sup
port of the wom~1 by providing enter
tainment for the children. The club
over which he as a rule presides is a
clearing houss or neighborhood social
activities. He gets people out of
trouble" He is guide. counselor and
friend. So when he goes up to city
bosship he has behind him a wide cir
Gle of direct intimate acquaintances
In other districts than that from
which he graduated into highest posi-
ton and power are men just like him
self who are in touch sympathetically
with the people. So to the whole COM
munity the boss at the top is just
like the man Immediately known.
Thousands, tens of thousands, in New
York felt that they We're Charles"
own people, even though they may
never have met him or even seen him.
Because they knew the type.
This is the secret of the boss rule
in the big cities of this country. His
power springs from the early neighbor-
who rises to heights is he who in
variably maintains the same principle
Of contact with and sympathy for the
humblest person. No successful boss
has ever reigned in an American city
who has become an autocrat in the
sense of forbidding access by the peo-
pie themselves, directly or through
their representatives. In other words,
the big boss of the kind that Murphy
was preserves his relations with the
people who have the votes, regardless
of the wealth he acquires or the mag
nitude Of the interests he has de-
veloped.
This is why it is SO hard to beat the
boss system in cities where it has
gained foothold. For to the boss politi-
cal management is a business, not an
avocation, not something on the side,
not the matter of a spasmodic sense
Of civic responsibility. Every day of
the year and every year in the calen-
dar, whether elections are impending
or not, as intently just after an cleo
tion as just before, the boss is play
ing politics." by keeping up his rela-
tons with the people who have the
votes, watching out for their interests,
helping them to positions, sympathiz-
Ing with their sufferings, rejoicing
with them in their successes and act
ing always as their friend and helper.
Thus do bosses keep their strength,
and though they are overthrown from
time to time, they are hard to beat.