The Wilmington morning star., 1945-02-12


sponsibility for the personal views of Mr..
Pegler. and often disagrees with them
much as many of his readers His articles
serve the good purpose of making people
tfink.)
By WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1945, by King Features Syndicate)
Bespeaking prayer for the repose of the
soul of Tom Pendergast, the Rt. Rev. Thomas
B. Mcdonald revealed the fact that Fender
CAST had gone to church every morning at
1880 for thirty years and described him as a
man with a noble heart and true friend.
1t would be un-christian to attempt to pur-
sue Pendergast but men known by
their works and this political boss of Kansas
City was the obvious subject on an apostro-
phe by another Catholic priest, the Rev. Daniel
Lord, S. j., a distinguished editor. Written
several years ago, when Pendergast was at
the height of his power and the commander
of one of the most corrupt political gangs in
our. history, this document, entitled "Open
Letter to Boss" argued that such man
could not separate his religious life from his
public life and that his conduct as boss was
confessional matter.
A friend Tom PendergaSt may have been
to some, but there was proof that he be-
trayed and preyed upon many of his personal
and political friends and he did not change
his ways until he had been convicted of crime,
sentenced to prison and, by the articles of his
subsequent parole, forbidden to take further
part in politics. Father Lords essay could
still apply to other powerful politicians in
Jersey City, Chicago and Albany, N. Y, but
he, too, is Missourian, living and writing in
st. Louis and Pendergast's conduct was such
scandal and an embarrassment to some of
the clergy of the same church which, as Mon
sgnor Mcdonald now reveals, he attended at
7:30 every morning for 30 years, that it may
he cod per6nrCaSt the hOSS
to whom the open letter primarily ad-
dressed.
Under Pendergast's absolute rule Kansas
City was a serious menace to the morals of
young and old and to the confidence of the
people in their government always legitimate
obligations of men who accept the honors and
other rewards of leadership. Brothels flour
ished openly which at his word, a word he
never uttered, could have been put down.
Criminal gangs operated as auxlllarleS OF
his reign so brazenly and with such violence
that the F. B. l. would not exchange conf
dences with his police department. Gambling
houses were commonplace as grocery
stores, and worst of all, Pendergast had
method of multiplying the votes of decent citi
zens of whatever religious faith, or at
ALL so that they could not vote down these
conditions in the elections. All this underworld
poured money into his persona treasury which
he then gambled on the races. Unlike most
other bosses of the same general type, ironic
ally known as Honest Johns, he let little of
the graft trickle down to his underlings.
Under our form of government, which all
w-abiding Americans are bound to respect
and most of us, at one time another, swear
to uphold, the right to vote and the right
that that vote shall be fairly counted, are
stones in the foundation of order. Pendergast's
ward and precinct machines violated those
rights by stuffing the ballot boxes, a system
all -,4I - s%-1 o,kI
dictatorship revolution. Anyway, it was
fagrantly inconsistent with that habtual at
tendance at church every morning for thirty
years, as Father Lord plainly pointed out
There is a general disposition nowadays
to forget, or forgive, the relation of patron and
protege which existed between Pendergast and
Harry S. Truman, now vice-president of the
United S+"tes because Truman did good work
as chairman of the Committee to Investigate
the National Defense Program This propa-
ganda overlooks the patriotic diligence of
other senators on the same committee, notably
Ralph Brewster, a Republican from Maine, to
glorify Truman with all the credit.
Much worse, however, it ignores the fact
that Truman not only accepted membership
machine but, out of cynical loyalty to cor
rupt boss, and for no other reason, opposed !
the denomination of Maurice Milligan, the i
United States district attorney, because Mill |
gan was out to break up the gang. Miligan
attacked the Pendergast underworld with a
federal law forbidding the denial to individual
citizens of rights guaranteed them under the /
constitution. The right here denied was the
right to vote and to fair count of that vote.
If Truman had had his way, that denial would
have continued indefinitely.
1t is a strange and omnous fact that of
all the men who fought the Pendergast cor
ruption not one has received recognition from
the people or the Roosevelt party, which cor
daily accepted Pendergasts cooperation. But
Truman was acceptable to the American peo-
pie as vice-president, not unlikely to bring to
the very presidency in the next four years that
same code of morals and citizenship
Truman flew to Kansas City for his old
patrons funeral, in Army bomber.
In attending the funeral he consistent
and within his rights and 1 would ha- had
less respect for him if he had abstained for
fear of criticism.
But The use of an Army plane for his travel
was more justified than the shipment of
Elliott Roosevelt's dog in transport and the
of three service men in Difference
to the dogs "A' priority.
AS vice-president, Truman more de-
serves such accommodation than any other
civilian desiring to be present at the funeral
of some better citizen than Tom Pendergast. |
He has no military status and his duties are
merely to preside over the seante and cast
vote in case of a tie
1t were as fitting that, should Willie Bioff