The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-05-04
PRESS ON CHARLES r. MURPHY

~
& The death of so prominent poiltlcai flg
ure. as Charles F. Murphy. for twenty-one
years boss of Tammany Hall. has attracted
wide editorial attention. especially as this
is a critical political year. There is some
thing tragically just in the fact that Murphy
died on the eve of a national presidential
convention of his party which would nave
been the first to be held in his city IN sew
eral decades, and which he was in part re-
sponsible for obtaining. To be sure, ms ~
fluence was not regarded as good, either for
his party or for his country, but his deaths
came lust before he had reached the zenith
of his career He was affiliated with an ele-
: ments that no longer is in good legal standing
In this country. And even aside from that,
there Is legitimate popular dislike of the
thought that the political machine of one
city should have a predominant influence IN
a national party.
I. The New York World finds that Tammany
has been improving since Murphys ascend
4 ency: "Considered as a machine in city
government, Tammany at his death probably
had as few vices and as many virtues as are
possible to such machine under its present
limiting conditions. In Murphys elimina-
tion of the red light or police graft which is
the familiar sustenance of many city ma
chimes, and in his recent refusal to join
Mayor Hylan in raid on the school system
sre to be found proofs of the recent tendency
in Tammany both to broaden and to cleanse
its bases of strength in the community. As
to Murphy himself the World observes:
Murphy was a boss. His existence was it.
self proof that the American people massed
in large communities have not yet succeeded
in acquiring the art of self-government; but
as bosses go he was by" no means the worst.
In many aspects of his character, in many
r L. As.-sks
he was man against whom his political OPP
ponents could level nc severe condemnation;
one who gained the respect and confidence of
his supporters, and for whom many adver:
saries, though unchengeably opposed to what
he stood for, felt not unkindly."
The New York Times also finds that Tam
many has grown less crude and more subtle
in its methods, but "for New York it is just
as much of disgrace as it was fifty years
ago that it is often ruled by this SECRET
and self-appointed olgarchy, which does not
publish its accounts, does not care to submit
its chief members directly to the test of
popular vote, and yet presumes to direct the
public administration and the political for
tunes Of this great city. Mr.. Murphys rule
was comparatively mild. He did not openly
affront the moral sense of the citizens. He
was reticent in speech and had amiable traits
which bound his friends to him. But moth
ing of all this should make us forget that
he was the exemplar and beneficiary of a
system which, without official responsibility,
degrades our official life, and which con-
dennis New York City to suffer from
maladministration and the lowest moral
standards in public office"
From the Republican Herald Tribune of
+ New York comes this dictum: 1T would be
! INDUCING in futile hope to predict that the
: passing of Murphy means the passing of
Tammany. q He was but its creature. The
organization will remain and the old methods
will continue as a menace to clean and pro-
gressive government. But even though, in
{ the opinion of this newspaper Mdrphy's
vision of himself as future Warwick would
: have proved illusory, his was a remarkable
career. and, from the Tammany point of
view, an astonishingy successful one. 1t will
be long before the organization will find
leader SO exactly fitted for its captaincy"
While Murphy was an advocate of Al
Smith for the Democratic nomination for
( president, the Baltimore Sun thinks that "in
+ the coming convention it is quite possible
that Governor Smith will be better off with
{ out Murphy Perhaps Governor Smith
Will suffer from lack of Murphy's expert
: cnced management. But it must be noted
Y that the stories of Tammany's plans to pack
and stampede the convention for Smith have
not indicated Murphy as a managerial asset.
Those plans were mistake that a boss like
Murphy, dealing always in brutal power,
might make, but that a really intelligent man
IKE Smith would never fall into
Why bossism like that of Tammany's can
\ exist is we'll explained by the Washington
I Star: "One of the means of the political
boss in big city like New York for gaining
and consolidating power is the bestowal of
bounty. He gives freely, but discreetly. He
helps the unfortunate. He binds the men
3 to him by finding them jobs in public or
private employment, and he enlists the sup
& port of the women by providing entertain
ment for their children. The club over which
he as rule presides is clearinghouse of
ueighborhood social activities. He gets peo-.
s pie out of trouble He is guide, counsellor
and friend So when he goes up to city boss
+ ship he has behind him a wide circle of direct
E intimate acquaintance. In other districts
than that from which he graduated into high
est position and power are men just like him.
self who are in touch alphabetically with
the people. So to the whole community the
boss at the top is just like the man imme
diately known"
Perhaps that also accounts for the fact
that there is little friendship for Tammany or
its bosses outside the sphere of their per-
sonal contact, which is confined to their
own city and its outskirts. Nevertheless
Tammany with Murphy at its head would
have been a powerful influence at the Dem
pcratic convention. His death relieves the
situation to a great extent, and insures some
freedom from the machine trickery which
would otherwise have been freely employed.
In spite of the Baltimore Suns opinion, it is
quite likely that Governor Smiths chances
are lowered by Murphy's death.
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