Evening star., 1939-04-17

churchmen, even
Charles G. Ross. in the ranks of
Oxford graduates who maintain
that bosslsm is necessary to "effi-
clent' government in the big cities.
They tell how the bosses feed the
poor; how they always keep their
word; how they cut through red
tape and "get things done" for
their communities.
This is the sort of stuff that Is
customarily poured out ad nauseam
when the boss system comes under
attack. Any official who goes after
an intrenched little Caesar like
Pendergast must not only fight the
machine itself, with all its re-
sources of political patronage and
OF spolls from its business connec-
tlons, but must overcome the IN
ertia or the positive opposition of a
lot of the best people
The instinct of great majority
OF the people, to repeat, remains
sound. The soothing sirup of the
| defenders of the Hagues and Pen
dergasts cannot permanently deaden
| the public conscience So it is that
when Dewey in New York or a
| Stark in Missouri breaks through
the facade of politically organized
| corruption and shows it for what
1t ls-a menace to the foundations
of the Democratic systematic peo-
pie rise up and give three cheers
and propose the dragon-killer for
| higher honors.
Plaudits Heartening Sign.
| He may or may not be qualified
| for higher honors, but the plaudits
| he receives are heartening sign
! that the various and sundry "ideol-
| ogieS" have not yet wiped out tho
old-fashioned ideals of common
/ decency in government.
| A week or SO ago, Lloyd Star.
was just another Governor. Now.
! the man who is smashing the Per-
dergast machine of Kansas Cit.
he is having a triumphal progress
through Washington. Mr.. Roose-
welt sees him at the White House.
Mr.. Roosevelt takes him down the
Potomac River to patriotic cele-
bration at Mount Vernon; Represent
atlye Canno gives a luncheon for
him at the Capitol, attended by the
Missouri delegation. the Speaker OF
the House, the ma jority leader anc
other key men of Congress; Gen
Malin Craig. the chief of staff OF
the Army, entertains him at dinner
he is brought to his feet at the din
ner of the Gridiron Club and en-
Enthusiastically applauded And so
on. The phone in his hotel suite
! rings every five minutes; if 1t is
not somebody wanting an interview
or a picture. it is an invitation to
another dinner or luncheon.
1t ought to be said here. lest some
body get the idea that Gov. Stark
came to Washington to bask in the
limelight, that he accepted an invi-
| tatio nto the gridiron dinner months
ago. His presence here immediately
after the Pendergast indictment is
sheer coincidence.
His Views and 1910.
There is intense interest in Stark
at the Capitol. Is he a liberal?
he think of this, that or the other
policy of the Roosevelt administra-
ton? These are hard questions to
answer, for Gov. Stark, while sup
porting the New Deal in general.
has not had to commit himself on
specific policies. 1t is not the inten-
| ton here to try to answer them. If
| personal view may be expressed,
it is that Gov. Stark, on national
Roosevelt and Garner-to the right
of Roosevelt, to the left of Garner.
This is speculation; what is known
of the Governor is that he has
political courage and great tenacity,
that he has a strong sense of civic
obligation. that his governorship has
added luster to respected Mis-
souri, name. He is taking in his
stride the attentions that Washing
ton is showering upon him.
What are the chances Of Gov.
Stark to win place on the national
Democratic ticket of 1910? 1t would
be idle to attempt an answer at this
time. What this article would en-
phasize is the point that the ques-
tion is being seriously asked. Mani
festly, the Governor has elements
of political availability" and the
greatest of these is the fact that he
undertook a job of supreme impor-
tance to the people of Missouri
indeed, to the people Of the whole
Nation-and is carrying it through.
He might have chosen the easy
political way and gone along with
the boss, as so many others in Mis-
souri, politics have done: he chose
instead, in the public interest, the
hard way.
His political aspirations, II any,
he has not revealed, but on his pub
lie record he is eminently entitled
to aspire.