Curley Has Edge in Boston Election

Quiet since 1948, 'the Parker House is busy again. Banquets and teas and youth rallies fill the ballrooms, red-faced men in chalk stripe suits, with homburgs and cigars fill the lobby, smoke fills a dozen rooms from the eighth floor up. Across the street, a sound truck blaring MacNamara's Band disturbs the Puritan graves in the Old Granary Burying Ground. The vacant sides of buildings are plastered with candidates faces, and every gutter has a collection of campaign propaganda. It's election time in Boston, again.

On November 8, the people will choose a mayor, a city council, and a school committee. Five candidates are in the race for mayor, only three of which are serious contenders. For the School Committee, nine persons are seeking two positions, while the grand total of 87 contenders are fighting to represent the 22 wards in the city council.

The beating odds favor the re-election of James Michael Curley as mayor. Running for his seventh time, Curley has had four previous terms as mayor as well as one session of the Massachusetts governorship and two terms as Congressman in Washington. His past term as mayor was unique in that he passed five months of it in the federal penitentiary at Danbury, Conn. Curley has built up a large personal following, though hardly a machine, that will remain solidly behind him next Tuesday. The minimum estimate of his vote is around 80,000 while, if he wins, he will probably poll over 110,000.

Hynes' First Attempt

City Clerk John B. Hynes is Curley's chief opponent. As interim mayor when Curley was in jail, Hynes has established a good record for himself in city administration. Like Curley, Hynes is running on the Democratic ticket, but, unlike the present mayor, this is the first time that Hynes has ever run for political office. To beat Curley, Hynes needs 105,000 votes or roughly the total that Curley was beaten by before in 1937. As a newcomer to the Boston political scene, Hynes popularity is untested; he, personally hopes to get a majority of the age group, 21 to 28. Among all the candidates, he has the best youth organization working for him.

The other serious contender for the mayor's office is Governor's Councilor Patrick J. (Sonny) McDonough. With a history of ward leadership and prominence in the State Democratic party, McDonough conducts a vigorous, personal campaign, often spending whole days shaking hands with everyone he meets on the street; his goal is 85,000 handshakes before election day. Behind him, McDonough has a large block of South Boston votes plus the backing of a number of CIO unions. Though he would like to match the vote that Hynes hopes for, McDonough's unfamiliarity with the voters in large areas of the city will probably keep him from getting much more than 40,000 votes.

The minority candidates, George B. Oakes and Walter J. O'Brien, are not running as Democrats and therefore, in the pattern of Boston elections have very little chance of winning. The last non-Democrat that was mayor took office in 1918. Oakes, a Republican moreover, has already lost the support of State GOP leaders. In 1948, Oakes was connected with the Plan 10 Committee that attempted to change Boston's charter. O'Brien, a progressive, was a Wallaccite in 1948, and was beaten, then, by Congressman Christian Horter. O'Brien has campaigned among the unemployed especially the longshoremen.

Curley or Not

Generally, the election issue is whether or not to re-elect Mayor Curley. An extravagant administrator, Curley has spent every cent he can get his hands on plus some of the future tax money, to employ everyone he can. He has, too, allowed even fostered sources of flagrant graft in the city's government. On the other hand, he has accomplished a number of worthwhile projects--housing, recreational facilities, reads. His opponents accuse Curley of keeping the tax rate at a sky-high $56.80; of maintaining high assessment valuation; and of abating assessed valuation discriminately. Yet, Curley can point that his philosophy of high spending has primed the pump of the city's economy very effectively.

Each of these minor issues requires a more detailed explanation. First of all, the city's main trouble cannot be attributed to Curley or to any other single person. It is a municipal disease caused partly by the city's antiquity, partly by the large immigrant groups, even more by geography. The city's real problem is one of the decreasing value of land, Since 1906, the assessment valuation of properly in Boston has remained very close to $2000 per capita. As the cost of living has risen, this valuation which normally should follow the trend of the owner's prosperity, has remained steady; the land is so poor for industry and residence that even in good times it cannot command a reasonable price on the real estate market. The facts that so much of Boston is filled land and that so many of Boston's streets were planned without regard for the modern commercial world are the big reasons why this land cannot bring a higher price.

Rising Tax Rate

Since the city cannot get enough money to run itself from valuations it must turn to the tax rate for a source of income. The assessment valuation plus the tax rate gives an index figure which a city must maintain to operate properly. Thus, throughout Curley's administrations, the tax rate has been going up and, if the valuation were to drop to the real value of the land now, the tax rate would be even higher.

Comparisons with other cities don't mean too much either. Though New York City has a tax rate of only $29.00 it gets 54 per cent of the New York State revenue which is possibly the highest State revenue in the country; New York also has a two percent sales tax which places some of the tax load on the people who buy in the city. In New Jersey, the municipal tax rates range up to $100 per thousand but, just the opposite of New York, New Jersey has only tiny income and corporation taxes.

Inasmuch as Boston has an enormous greater metropolitan population, the city's tax rate reflects the cost of services for all the daily commuters. In Massachusetts, the low State revenue contributes only a taken share to the city of Boston's coffer. Thus many of the low tax rates in the surrounding towns and cities are the result of Boston's taking care of the big population most of the day.

The Abatements Racket

During Curley's term, however, there existed an "abatements racket," whereby certain property owners were given rebates on their assessment by dubious re-evaluations. If a landlord wishes to get an abatement on his assessment in Boston, he applies to the City Assessor's office and pays the fee demanded. Whether or not the abatement is granted, that fee is attached to the property owner's assessment from that year on; the money apparently goes directly to the Board of Assessors each year. That's one sources of excess intake in the Assessment Division. But, there is a further explicitly illegal way that the Assessors make money. By paying the price demanded, an owner could have his valuation cut down; even with exorbitant fees, the owners can still save enough to make the proposition worthwhile to them. about a month ago, the Little Building had its yearly tax could cut $300,000 on a dubious assessment rebate. Both Curley's strong opponents propose to eliminate this racket.

Has Curley give the city any real compensation for all his spending? To a certain extent, yes. The police and fire departments are efficient services as far as doing their job goes. Reports by an impartial group of observers hired by the Boston Finance Commission, indicate that the services rendered by these departments are adequate but that they are both run too extravagantly. Boston pays the highest rate per capita for its fire department of any city in the country.

Health Deficit

As far as health services go, the city is somewhat lax. For instance, the death rate at the Boston City Hospital, according to a Finance Commission report, has increased 27 per cent over the past six years; the death rate for premature babiesis nearly 70 per cent whereas the average death rate for such babies throughout New England is 35 per cent. Boston has a system of health units around the city that were established by Curley but, again, according to the Finance Commission, the pay is not high enough in those units to encourage the employment of competent personnel.

Housing and city maintenance are the two big departments in which the services rendered are far too little and the cost far too great for the city. The community could stand thousands more low cost housing units and still not thoroughly fill the demand for the slum clearance. Worse than this, the city is paying now on the average of $80 per month to subsidize each of the present units. Both McDonough and Hynes have constantly attacked Curley on the housing problem--accusing him of allowing privileged families who have incomes above the specified ceiling to remain in the units. Curley, on the other hand, has promised a million dollars in aid for housing in the city; only Curley has a habit of promising things in an election campaign that he has no intention of delivering.

The maintenance department is where Curley employs the mobs who make up his large following. For the numerous small jobs that the maintenance crews do, the payroll is enormously high. the opposition candidates claim that stream-lining this department can materially effect the city's bulget.

Registration Hits New High

One thing promises Hynes and McDonough a chance against Curley. This year, 405,000 voters registered--the highest registration in the city's history. Traditionally, such a fact would suggest the downfall of a machine; as has been previously mentioned, however, Curley's organization is not the listless machine thet preys on a low vote; rather it is a personal machine that is a vigorous as its leader. And Curley seems to have plenty of vitality left.

Curley's campaign strategy has been to hold his vote in every ward, while the opponents have tended to concentrate on specific wards. McDonough, digging deep into traditional Curley territory, is working in the South Boston and Charlestown wards. Hynes is more interested in the wards from 10 to 22, Brighton, the Roxbuys, Roslindale and parts of Dorcester. The fact that McDonouglf is working against Curley may very well help Hynes. But, to balance that, whatever votes Oakes takes will come from Haynes and probably not from the other two.

Of course the candidates have favorite theories about their opponents. Both McDonough and Hynes call Curley a jailbird and point out that he's too old to do a good job. The two, also, call each other some names: Hynes accuses McDonough of being a young Curley while McDonough thinks that Hynes is actually backed by Curley to defeat McDonough. Curley calls Hynes a fusion candidate, a political dupe of the Republicans on Beacon Hill.

The Battle of the Plans

On the ballot, too, will be the referendum to change the city's charter from Plan B to Plan A. Under the new plan, the city council would be reduced from 22 to 9 members and each election year a run-off primary would be held to reduce the field of candidates for mayor, councilman and school committeeman to two. Most important, the new charter would permit the council to override the veto of the mayor on all bills except loans and appropriations, by a two-thirds vote. Since this is the only referendum on the ballot, there is a very strong likelihood that it will be passed. Both McDonough and Oakes have come out in favor of Plan A.

Next Tuesday, it will all be over. There'll be a burst of applause for the winner, in the Parker House lobby. The sound apparatus will be taken off the trucks and the city will quiet down for another two years.