Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-09-11

rivals and entertaining the whole
population, much of it against its
will, with his old-master tactics.
Having seen him rise and fall and
rise again, people are slow to dis
miss his latest boast: II expect to
live to be 125 years old. and l
also expect to be Mayor of Boston
all of that time"
Consistently Entertaining.
How does it happen that this
son of. poor Irish immigrants,
who quit school at 10 to support
widowed mother, came to be
identified with one of the oldest
and proudest cities In America, a
city that was once called "the
Hub of the Universe?" Joseph
Dineen, a Boston newspaperman
who has observed Curley in &C
ton for 80 years and who talked
with him on his triumphal re-
turn from prison in 1916. tries to
give the answers in a biography
that is never profound but is con-
sistently entertaining, and an
object lesson in practical politics.
One of the reasons for Curley's
fabulous rise is the fact that he
springs from a race which, while
it has never dominated Boston
either Intellectually or socially, has
become, through force of numbers.
q decisive political factor. In Bos-
ton an Irishman may call a
Yankee legislator "perf1dious
Albion" and not smile. That an
Gent enmity, which dates back
to the days when mills had signs
reading mo Irish need apply" has
been tempered by prosperity and
recognition, but it was the guild
ing principle when Curley was
coming up the hard way through
Roxbury politics.
Has Left His Mark.
A maverick from the beginning,
Curley made capital of the abuse
of ward leaders during his first
campaign for Common Council in
1900. A lone wolf, he schooled
himself thoroughly in the lives. of
the great orators and statesman.
He used the occasion of his first
imprisonment-he was caught
taking Civil Service examination
for a friend-to bone up on his
tory and the classics, but he never
seems to have evolved any philos-
ophy beyond the rudimentary
punish your enemies and re-
ward your friends" A ruthless
and tireless politician, he was and
is a considerate, a strong and de-
voted family man, and an anony-
NOUS benefactor of the poor. He
has left his mark all over the
city in the way of public works
schools, roads, hospitals. solaria
and Fairgrounds. But, he made
outrageous appointments which
resulted in some of the most
cynical and fragrant grating in
the history of the State. In Mr..
Dineen's words, as Governor in
1856 he acted like a footpad
while easing the burden of a
troubled people" AS Governor.
James Michael was full of pomp
and circumstance and question:
able expenditures. One item in
his budget was SIS, 461 .05 for taxis. "
With that background, the general
feeling in Massachusetts, when as
CONGRESSMAN he was indicted for
his part in the engineers group"
was that the Federal Government
was straining at gnats when the
State had been swallowing camels.
Mr.. Dineen is sympathetic to-
ward Mr.. Curley in that particu-
lar plight. At the time he was
sentenced Curley cried dramati-
cally to the judge, you are send
ing me to my death"
James Michael made a remark
able reincarnation. His job was
held for him by a Republican
Governor "a little arrangement not
quite satisfactorily explained by
Mr.. Dineen), was greeted after
serving five months of his sentence
by cheering thousands. 1.-THE
last of the old-time bosses" who
wanted only money from the rich
and votes from the poor returned
in glory to his office. This is by
no means the definitive work on
this phenomenal man. The causes
and the effects are much deeper
and bear more investigation. But
1t should be salutary reading for
students Of political science, who
wonder how 1t can be that tout
of evil comes good"
-
The Little White Wagon
Should Have Come Sooner