Evening star., 1940-08-10

with Gov. Stark
about year ago,
G. Gould Lincoln. when the Gov
ernor became potential candidate
for the Democratic presidential or
vice presidential nomination.
1t was Gov. Stark who took Tom"
(Boss) Pendergast for a ride in a
couple of election contests after
Stark became Governor. 1t was
Stark who pressed for action to put
the Pendergast machine and its
boss out of commission in Kansas
City.
Maurice M. Milligan was United
States district attorney in Kansas
City. After the onslaught against
Pendergast had begun, it fell to Mr.
Milligan to prosecute the boss, and
to obtain a conviction against him
for income tax law violations So
Mr.. Milligan, worked upon by his
own friends and by enemies of Gov
Stark, determined to get into the
Democratic senatorial race.
Milligan Boom Debated.
Early in the year there wer0
those who insisted-although tn
might have known better-that Nj
ligan was the man of the hour, an
that he would defeat both Stark am
Senator Truman, who had been
elected to the Senate six years ago
with the support of Pendergast.
What happened to Mr. Milligan was
rather pathetic. He received about
125,000 votes in the primary last
Tuesday to 1000 for Senator Tru-
man and 255,000 for Gov. Stark. His
only accomplishment was the de-
feat of Gov. Stark. Stark and the
reelection of Senator Truman
with the accompanying Joy of the
Pendergast machine and probably
of the boss himself. For one reason
or another, the machines hate of
Gov. Stark was far stronger than
any dislike it may have had for the
district attorney who won the cases
against Pendergast and sent him to
Jail.
Gov. Stark showed himself an
uncompromising foe of the machine.
He has been accused of having az
cepted the support of Pendergast
when he was nominated four year7
ago and later turning against tl.c
boss. He did have the Pendergsst
support. which would have been
placed behind some other Demo-
cratic candidate had Stark not been
the man. But when Pendergest
sought to dictate the appointments
of key men in the States govern
ment. Gov. Stark promptly told the
boss where to head in.
Recount May Decide.
The vote in the senatorial rlomi-
nation was so close in Missouri that
a recount may be necessary, but on
the face of the returns, Senator
Truman has a lead of 1000 votes
over Gov. Stark. There remained
yesterday several outlying districts
to be heard from. in the sections of
the State favorable to Stark, and
also a large number of absentee
ballots to be counted.
1t is easy to see that if Milligan
had not allowed himself to be per-
suaded to enter this senatorial race,
the anti-Pendergast machine voters
would have nominated Gov. Stark
for Senator.
The pleasant Mr.. Milligan was
forced to resign his office as United
States prosecuting attorney when he
became candidate for the Senate,
under the provisions of the Hatch
clean politics" act. 1t is difficult
to see, right off the bat, just how Mr..
Milligan has done much for him.
self.
Gov. Stark is the kind of man
needed jN American politics. He is
a gradr. . of the United States
Naval Academy. He served as an
officer of the Army in the A E. F.
in the World War. He has been a
successful businessman and a good
Governor of Missouri. At one time
1t was thought the President might
appoint him Secretary of the Navy.
But Mr.. Roosevelt turned to Charles
Edison, who was Assistant Secretary
of the Navy and is now the Demo-
cratic nominee for Governor of New
Jersey, after leaving the secretary
ship vacant for months. And then,
after Edison had been built up
for the gubernatorial campaign. the
President picked Col Frank Knox,
Republican publisher of the Chicago
Daily News, to be Secretary of the
Navy in his effort to give the Gov
ernment a semblance of political
solidarity.
Machines for Roosevelt.
1t will be unfortunate if Gov.
Stark is now retired from public
life permanently. The Roosevelt
administration has the ardent sup
port of the bosses of Democratic
machines in a number of big cities
in this country. Some of the ma
chimes have reputation for cor
rupt politics that will not down.
1t will have the support of the
Pendergast machine in Kansas City,
just as it has the support of the
Kelly-Nash machine in Chicago, the
Crump machine in Memphis, the
Hague machine in Jersey City and
the Democratic machine in New
York City, which is now dominated
by ED" Flynn, new chairman of the
Democratic National Committee.
1t looks as though the present
campaign may come down to a
contest between the city and rural
votes. The New Dealers are count
ing heavily on rolling up huge votes
in the big cities-New York, Chicago,
Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles,
Boston, Cleveland, etc.
A job of the Willkie campaigners
is to so reduce the city pluralities
rolled up for President Roosevelt
that, taken in conjunction with a
big rural Republican vote, the G.
o. P. nominee may win next No
vember. Mr.. Willkie is turning over
to Thomas E. Dewey the job of
showing the connection between the
New Dealers and corrupt machine
hoccne