1939: Kansas City Political Machine

One of the top stories of 1939 was the collapse of the powerful Pendergast machine in Kansas City, Mo., under the attacks of Governor Lloyd C. Stark and U. S. District Attorney Maurice M. Milligan.

The Pendergast machine had grown in power through 45 years, first under James Pendergast, and, after 1911, under his younger brother Thomas, until it controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, and extended throughout Missouri and even into Washington, D. C. In the election of 1932 Thomas J. Pendergast named the governor, Guy B. Park; and in 1934 his machine elected United States Senator Harry S. Truman.

After the notorious Kansas City election of 1936, when the Kansas City Star published detailed evidence of illegal registration of voters, Federal Judge Albert L. Reeves charged a grand jury to investigate election procedures, and U. S. District Attorney Milligan began prosecution of machine workers charged with election frauds. In a series of 19 trials, 287 persons were convicted in Federal court without a single acquittal. Governor Stark thereupon appointed a non-political election board for the city, which succeeded in removing some 60,000 illegal registrations from the poll-lists.

The real break in the power of the Pendergast machine came early in 1939. Federal Judge Reeves had instructed the grand jury called to investigate the 1936 election to extend their investigation to those higher up and in February a county grand jury under Judge Southern returned 93 indictments of county officials and other machine workers, including the presiding officer of the county administration, Judge David E. Long, and the county prosecutor, W. W. Graves.

In the meantime the United States Treasury Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been looking into income tax evasions. In April a Federal grand jury indicted Pendergast himself on charges of tax evasion in the sum of $443,500. In May Pendergast pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 15 months in the Leavenworth penitentiary and a fine of $10,000. His total indebtedness to the Government, in taxes and penalties, was computed at $841,000. At the same time the State Superintendent of Insurance, R. Emmet O'Malley, was indicted on the same charge, in the sum of $62,500, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to a year and a day in Leavenworth.

The indictment of both men grew out of disclosures that a group of fire insurance companies, seeking a rate increase of 16 per cent, had to submit to this increase being impounded by the Federal court. The impounded fund of nearly ten millions was finally divided, 20 per cent to the policyholders and 80 per cent to the companies; but a "consideration" of some half million was involved, most of which went to Pendergast and part to O'Malley. Neither man made an income tax return on his share.

In April the city manager, H. F. McElroy, resigned his office after 13 years' incumbency. In June he was indicted on a technical charge of embezzlement — misuse of public funds. Ill health prevented his trial, and in September he died.

In March Governor Stark recommended to the State Legislature a measure which would put the Kansas City police department under the control of a state board to be appointed by him. In June this measure became law; an anti-machine board was appointed; in July it selected Lear B. Reed, a former FBI agent and attorney, as chief of police; and the department was established on the merit system.

Police Chief Reed now requires all police officers to take oath that they are not paying political contributions to anyone.

Charges were also made during 1939 that machine men were using WPA (Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal 'Work Projects Administration') control for political purposes. In October Matthew S. Murray, deposed state director of the WPA, was indicted on charges of income tax evasion and Chas. G. Haake, head of the Kansas City district WPA, was forced to resign. In the meantime efforts of the anti-machine groups to recall the machine-elected mayor and councilmen had begun in August with a plan to secure signatures to petitions for a special election. The council temporarily blocked this effort; the city clerk (since indicted) threw out numbers of the petitions, and locked the rest in a safe, which later had to be forced open. In November new petitions, to amend the city charter and vacate the mayoralty and councillorships, were circulated, the necessary signatures were secured and certified, and the election was set for Feb. 13, 1940.

During the spring Pendergast lieutenants had tried desperately but in vain to win help from Washington. Attorney General Murphy and FBI Chief Hoover gave active aid throughout the year to District Attorney Milligan. The investigations and prosecutions which brought about the final indictments and convictions were conducted by the FBI, the income tax division of the United States Treasury Department, and three other Federal agencies.

The demolition of the great Pendergast machine has made Governor Stark and District Attorney Milligan men of the hour. Stark is an Annapolis graduate who served four years in the Navy, became a battalion major of artillery in the A.E.F., and survived heavy action in the Argonne. He is now being popularly mentioned as presidential timber; meanwhile he is a candidate for the United States Senate. Milligan is freely discussed as the logical successor of Senator Harry S. Truman.