The Boss Forgives

Edward Hull Crump has bossed Memphis so long (36 years) that many Memphians hardly know they are being bossed. "See Mr. Crump about it," is a Memphis byword. And Memphis' two newspapers (both Scripps-Howard) rarely ask him a rude question.

But last week there was one piece in the paper which made Boss Crump's bushy eyebrows rise. It was a letter to the editor of the Press-Scimitar, written by Wisconsin-born Mrs. Lee Richardson, wife of a railroad worker, mother of four sons, a Memphian for eight years. Wrote House-wife-Citizen Richardson : "I am not satisfied here, have never been. Those who do not approve of conditions here are advised to keep their mouths shut. From where I stand it seems that those who kept their mouths shut are to blame for the shameful conditions here."

Mrs. Richardson listed her complaints: 1) the poll tax ("a breeder of dirty politicians"); 2) the schools ("my oldest son enters the fourth grade soon . . . in three years he has had very little actual knowledge offered him. [He] can barely write"); 3) the city employes ("what a sorry lot . . . barely a day goes by but what some policeman or two run down some poor defenseless Negro").

She added: "I hear said, 'But look what Crump has done for us. All the nice parks.' Other cities and states have parks without the help of Crump and the poll tax. Other states have fine schools where a splendid education is offered without a politician being mentioned. . . . Missouri rid itself of Pendergast. Why can't the same thing be done here?"

Mrs. Richardson concluded by calling on the women of Memphis to "rid our city of selfish, heartless creatures."

Boss Crump, hurt by such ingratitude, but nonetheless magnanimous, wrote to the Press-Scimitar in the pained accents of a misunderstood father:

"Mrs. Richardson advocates the formation of a political society with exclusive feminine membership for 'women's rule'. . . . Her dissatisfaction with our Southern administration has led her to forget the bloody dungeons of Catherine of Russia, the uneasy heads about the court and country of Elizabeth of England. . . .

"How much happier Mrs. Richardson would be with a better outlook on life. . . . A little kindness, a little thoughtfulness would do wonders in bringing back the glow of joy. Jesus cared for humanity, cared for human souls and even those who did not care for themselves. Long ago Plato said that a real musician makes harmony not merely with his harp but with his life--his life goes into his song.

"I am not suggesting that Mrs. Richardson leave Memphis because she has been unhappy ever since she came here but I do suggest that she try living by this rule. Be kinder to others than anybody can be to you and do it first. . . . It is my sincere hope that Mr. & Mrs. Richardson are going to be happy in this very delightful progressive city where there is more honesty and less graft than any place in America."

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