St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-08-18

AluSrlSu WIN were hIlOWu 4lDSI dis
followed the guile of the Christen-
sen (Bilbo for short) element
CounciImen at whom we had looked
with doubt, down previous years,
rose to the call of right for one
to live by the sweat of his face.
1t was the first time in the his
tory of the council that an issue
was made of an application for a
food license, in which the applicant
was accepted as a decent citizen
without a record, either criminal or
character. 1t was one of the few
times in the same history, that the
council disregarded the vote of the
representatives of the ward in
volved, and OVERRIDE their wishes.
Thus was won legal victory and
thereby hangs a tale.
Parker opened his eat shop last
Friday night. He opened it with
out further ado because Jens Chris
Jensen came to him after the coun-
Gil meeting, and gracious in his de-
feat shook hands with Parker, told
him that he had simply done his
duty as a councilman, would bother
him no further, would perhaps pat
ronize him soon, and wished him
the best of everything. =
Christensen's iberality vanished
though as night fell. That evening
on Fourth avenue, we saw how
mobs were made, and violence bred.
In that socially tender spot be-
tween 18th and 18th streets Jens
Christensen crusaded for white
supremacy" in the nth degree.
Marc Anthony was no more
clever in bringing Brutus to task
than was Christensen when he ad-
dressed little groups of dime beer
nightlifers on the injustice that was
being done them and theirs.
We followed Mr.. Christensen for
quite some time in and out of bars,
listening to his story of woe and in
Justice. We stood in doorways when
he held his curbstone conference
with people who were ordinarily
decent persons if let alone. We
heard of his threats to those who
dared question his program of hate.
And the mob spirit slowly grew.
Friday night at one o'clock when
the places closed, Parker's venture
was almost the sole topic of con-
versation, with a great many per-
sons in the area saying that they
believed in square deal. Jens was
not satisfied.
Saturday he was busy on his hate
project. By Saturday night he had
the neutrals convinced, the square
dealers silent, and the Bilboites
ready to do his bidding.
AS a result, Saturday night a
plate glass window in the restau-
rant was broken, Police were called
to break up the milling crowds, and
Parker served his few customers
with difficulty.
Parker is hardy soul, not easily
inundated. Sunday night he tried
it again. We do not know whether
Christensen worked Sunday or not.
Perhaps he is opposed to that. We
do know that Sunday a screen was
kicked in and broken. The owner
of the building was threatened with
violence if she did not force Parker
to move. Bigger and more hostile
crowds gathered. Colored persons
walking the streets in the area were
threatened, women insulted, and
feelings had become so taut that
only by the grace of God, and the
fact that it was a night when the
drinking element of the neighbor-
hood are more or less "run down"
Minneapolis did not have its own
little Detroit.
Alderman Murphy, who did not
originally oppose Parker's plea for
license, apparently swung into the
Christensen column when he cast
his vote against the project in the
council meeting on Friday.
Christensen played the astute
politician in dealing with his col
league on this issue. There was
pressure, telephone calls, every de-
vice known to put a politician on
the spot used to make him change
his vote. It was the test of Murphy
and as so often the case in northern
communities, apparently the man,
however sympathetic, knew little
of the race problem or its weakness
of prejudice. Had Murphy stood up
in that council meeting and voted
his convictions, he would have been
hailed by sixteen of those aldermen
as a man of political stature. He
was told as much after the meeting
by some of the liberals who ap-
parently were disappointed in his
attitude.
In the opinion of the writer,
Murphy's vote does not indicate his
true feelings toward Christensen
and his ilk. It is not unusual to
hear Alderman Murphy rise and
condemn his fellow wardsman.