THE PHENIX CITY STORY, 10 YEARS AFTER:
SCHEDULE DIAL: 1499 DAILY W.M.M.H. PROGRAM
Can A City Stay Clean Of Crime?
By ROBERT W. BROWN
Pulitser Prise Winner for Article!
on Phenii City
Phenix City, Ala
Ten years ago the name of this
little east-central Alabama town,
nudging: the border of Georgia,
was synonymous with civic cor
ruption. Worse, it was related to
crime, organised and open, from
murder through gambling, prostitu
tion, dope peddling and even ba
by selling.
Many readers will recall this.
A motion picture baaed on the
"Sin City" is still being shown
about the country. A newspaper
in Columbus, Ga., just across the
Chattahoochee River, was award
ed a Pulitzer Price for its reve
lations on the outrageous condi
tions that had existed here. And
just a decade ago PARADE mag
azine published a report on Phe
nix City which posed the ques
tion: "Can it happen in YOUR
City?"
What had happened here was
that citizenry literally had become
enslaved by a political-criminal
combine which, in the inescapable
analysis, it had largely encour
aged through inaction. What had
started off in the 1930's as an eye
winking expedient by a "liberal"
government to permit revenue
producing shady goings-on had
become the classic monster. Ille
gal drinking, small-time gambling
and other relatively petty activi
ties had become major ones. By
official sanction and general ac
ceptance, crime had become in
stitutionalized. Among those accepting these
appalling conditions were "good
citizens" who profited by a low
tax system which revenue from
fines and forfeitures and licenses
permitted. There were reform
groups, but until near the end of
an inglorious era, they were in
effective. The gossip mills and
ridicule not to mention physic
al assaults, and in one case, the
dynamiting of a leader's home
were designed to keep the "do
gooders" quiet.
But few could have known the
fall extent of the enslavement
until after June 18, 1954. On that
night in an alley at bis office
building, Alabama Attorney General-nominee
Albert L. Patterson
was assaasinated. Re bad just
been nominated (in Alabama then,
tantamount to election) in the
Democratic primary a few weeks
before, after campaigning on a
state-wide basis on the sole pledge
that he would clean up Phenix
City. Two days before he was
shot to death from close range
as he sat in his car, Mr. Patter
son had predicted that he would
never live to take office and car
ry out his promise.
Alabama limited martial law
was declared, and the succeeding
disclosures of vileness and corrup
tion, of stolen elections and lit
erally "blind" justice shocked ev
en tough and hardened Maj. Gen.
Walter J. Hanna, the adjutant
general sent in from Montgomery
for the cleanup. "You name it
(crime)," he commented, "they've
got it here;"
And indeed' they had, as one
sensational development after an-
3
other disclosed. All local law en
forcement was ousted or super
seded. So was the judiciary. The
Russell County Jury Commission
was dismissed and a new one ap
pointed. The recent municipal
elections were voided'. A new
grand Jury within weeks had call
ed 8,000 witnesses and returned
more than 550 indictments of per
sons ranging from gambling ball
hangers-on to elected officials.
One of them . was Chief Deputy
Sheriff Albert L. Fuller, who for
a week was in charge of investi
gating the assassination. He still
is in Kilby State Prison, convicted
of slaying Mr. Patterson.
So much for history. The ques
tion is, what is Phenix City like
today ? The record of reformed
cities has not been too good. More
often than not they slip back into
the old ways after a few broad
sweeps by new brooms. Has Phe
nix City slipped beck, or is it in
danger of retrogression? PARADE
wanted to know, and here, a de
cade after its first report, is Phe
nix City Revisited. Now, as then,
nn evaluation couW be meaning
ful for your town.
FIVE POINTS TO WATCH
In examining factors that had
gone into making of a "Sin City"
a decade ago, PARADE found five
sensitive points in government
which constantly must be guard
ed against erosion. A breakdown
at any one could have disastrous
results, with a chainlike effect.
These points are:
THE VOTER LIST. It must be
purged regularly according to 'aw
to prevent vote padding or "tomb
stone voting." (Phenix City had
out-of-state residents on its lists
as well as deceased, yet thei
names were voted at election
time.)
a
existent)
Clearly the last is the key point.
A weakness at one of the others
can be overcome without fatal
damage to the entire civic struc
ture. But if rot has set in at the
citizen attitude, deterioration not
only is likely at other points, it
is inevitable. It was in such a
state 10 years ago that there was
little civic care left Students go
ing out of town and out of state
to school often gave their home
address as Columbus, Ga., across
the river. There was no library,
and little culture could exist in
the Saharan void. Recreation was
almost entirely of the for-hire or
for-pay kirld, often culminating
in a slugging with the victim toss
ed into the river. As pointed out
in 1954, there was not even a Con
federate monument, for whatever
that's worth, on the courthouse
square in the Ueep outh county
seat.
What is the attitude today?
One might stop a few citizens to
inquire in front of the new 15,000-
volume library across the street
from the courthouse, which Phe
nix citizens acquired at a cost of
$70,000. Or it might be in front
of the new civic center, which,
with 2 new firehouses, cost more
than $500,000. a sizable part of
which came from dtizens taxpay
ers. Or it might be in the vicini
ty of the ety's hospital, to which
35 beds recently were added,
along with 37 nursing home beds,
with local participating funds. Or
it could be anywhere up and down
the miles of new paved streets or
along the routes of a vast sewer
water system expansion.
BEATEN AT THE POLLS
THE JURY LIST. Urand jur
ors are watchdogs for counties
and communities, and the lists
from which they are dsawn should
be current and varied. (In Russell
County, grand jury after grand
jury not only could see no evil
but couldn't hear 'the clacking of
gambling machinery within
stone's throw of the courthouse.)
THE ELECTION MACHINERY,
Controlled or dominated by the
wrong persons, it works against
the voters, subverts their will
(Phenix City poll workers bad in
eluded known gamblers and strong
arm men ready to set upon vot
ers opposing gangsterism.)
TENURE OF OFFICIALS
There should be a healthy turnov
er in office, although officials
should be rewarded at the polls
for public service. (In Phenix
City, the same old hand-picked
candidates were elected time af
ter time, without regard to rec
ord or ability.)
CITIZEN ATTITUDE. Since an
active minority can overwhelm a
passive majority, a healthy and
forceful attitude of citizen par
ticipation in government and civ
ic affairs is paramount. (In Phe
nix City, few persons bothered to
vote: cultural opportunities were
lacking, civic spirit almost non
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Hugh Britton, in the carpet
business now and one of the foun
ders of the Reform Russell Bet
terment Association, could tell of
tremendous changes. He, along
with Hugh Bentley, Columbus
sporting goods retailer who then
lived in Phenix City, once were
beaten at the polls. They both
pointed out that whereas as few
as 20 per cent of the voters both
ered to go to the polls in the old
days, about 60 per cent; turned out
last May.
Jack Gunther, lively Jeycee
group reformer in the old days,
could and does become en
thusiastic about citizen participa
tion today. And Lamar Murphy,
the cleanup sheriff, will assure
you on the law-abiding attitude
the city enjoys now. "In fact, we
have very little crime of any kind
today." Across the river,, May-
nard Ashworth, publisher of the
newspapers which so vigorously
attacked and exposed the old re
gime, comments on "the solid.
sound, progressive spirit" of to
day's former Sin City. He has
backed his confidence in the city
anld its citizens by opening an of
fice here. Earlier, it was a risk
to send delivery trucks across the
river, and reporters parking their
care in Phenix City might return
to them to find tires or seat cov
ers slashed.
You might talk to Melvin Chad-
wick, the proprietor of Chad's
Rose Room, where youngfolk gath
er these nights to do the rug
and the Watusi, without fear of
untoward incident. The philosoph
ic Chad, whose place was not al
ways so decorous, remembers that
he made more money in the old
days.
But now? "I am more tran
quil,'" answers the soft-spoken pro
prietor, whose strippers and oth
er performers have been replaced
by a lone "exotic" dancer whose
gyrations on a recent weekend
hardly compared to the young,
unrehearsed contortionists on the
dance floor 10 years ago. Chad
likes the new Phenix City.
Others evidently like it, too, as-
measured by that infallible yard'
stick of hard-headed economics.
Two shopping centers have open
ed in a Phenix City which former
ly traded mostly across tit river
in HMgUi JpBt asw or fsJAP
ed industries have been added to
the measuring stick hi recent
years. Construction permit have
been avewwrine S3 million or awe
per year for several years, which
is sizable for a city now grown
to an estimated 80,000. Mas
paper null employing 400 has op
ened downriver, and Phenii City
confidently awaits a spurt ia man
ufacturing, service and distribu
tion industries when the new
868,000 state dock sad wars.
to-be - navigable Chattahoochee.
Citizens ooBsstively and individ
ually like it to the tune of around
81.2 million in city taxes per year,
which they pay willingly enough.
OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE
Will it last f Some observers
in other parts of the state think
it will as long as John Patterson
is on the political scene. John ,the
former governor, is the son of the
late Albert L. Patterson, and be
fore becoming governor he was
state attorney general with a
keen eye always trained on his
home town. He is expected to
run lor governor again, to suc
ceed Gov. George Wallace. Closer
to the scene, the realistic view is
taken that constant wariness is
necessary, and the responsibility
rests with the citizens.
"Sure," says Sheriff Murphy,
"they (the oW-timers of the crime
heyday) have tried and they will
try to come back crime never
quits trying." And Hugh Bent
ley, the reformer whose close
friends say spent $50,000 out-of-pocket
in his years of fighting
for good government, is cautious.
He now lives across the river in
Georgia, but speaking softly
across his desk he assures you he
has an abiding interest in Phenix
City. "They will try again," he
asserts, mstter-of-factly.
Still, Phenix City's new image
seems secure. A new spirit per
vades the community. A Colum
bus businessman long pessimistic
over the outlook said recently: "I
think they'll make it; in fact
they've made it." A United Giv
ers official in the joint Columbus
Fort Benning-Phenix City effort
was Jubilant that the community
exceeding its campaign goal well
ahead of time and said, "They are
marvelous." And a member of
the Phenix City Commission un
ag'jijjterently commented of his
town that progress can be "as
contagious as corruption." Under
this analogy, most of the citizens
are infected.
And now there remains the ques
tion for pie: What is the citizen
attitude to YOUR town?
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Hot Sprinps News
R. C. KIRBY, Correspondent
a a
a
tttES EXAMINED
GLASSES FITTED
by
DR. LOCKARD
8 A. M. to 12 Noon
FRIDAYS
to
THE L. P. ROBERTS
BUILDING
MARSHALL. N. C.
At long last, all the red tape
proceedings pertaining to our
Public Housing Project have been
eliminated. Contracts have been
signed and returned by the suc
cessful bidders and approved by
the Housing Authority. Ground
will be broken for the new pro
ject in the near future.
Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Krrby have
returned after a 10-weeks stay in
Florida. Mrs. Kirby is much im
proved in health.
The home demonstration club
meeting was held in the basement
of the Methodist Church Monday.
Mrs. Velma Reeves was hostess.
Mrs. Marvel Feldtmose has re
ceived word that her sister inf
Tampa, Fla., is dangerously ill.
She had suffered a stroke Thurs
day.
Mr. Paul McFall underwent mi
nor surgery in St. Joseph's Hos
pital last week. He has returned
home, much improved.
Mrs. E. J. Barnwell was hos
pitalized last week for several
days.
A family dinner was given at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hoke
Reeves Sunday. The occasion was
the birthday of her daughter, Mrs.
Bettie Woody, and her daughter,
Teresa Woody of Morris town,
Tenn., and grandson, Dwain
Reeves.
Rev. and Mrs. Harry Sellers
left Wednesday for a visit with
Harry's grandparents in Stark,
Fla.
Mrs. Matilda Dockery was pain
fully injured Thursday in her liv
ingroom. Reaching for a key, she
lost her balance, and fell back
wards, injuring her back. X-Ray
show a crracked vertebrae.
Mr. T. A. Russell is on the sick
list this week.
Dr. Mahy occupied the pulpit
at the Presbyterian Church Sun
day. Received into the church
were Wesley Lankford, Everett
Shelton and Mr. and Mrs. Blue
and children; Johnny Roberts was
ordained a deacon, and John Van
Nest ordained as an elder.
Mrs. Vera Sumerel and sons,
Rennet hand Jimmy visited her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Buckner, in
Mars Hill.
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Burgin
and Mrs. Maud Long attended' the
funeral Thursday of Mr. Roscoe
Lankford in Middlesboro, Ky. He
formerly resided in Hot Springs.
Mrs. Vic Cantrell is in a John
son City hospital. Reports are she
is recovering rapidly and will be
Mars Hill High
WILDCATS
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Feb. 12 Hot Springs away
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Mr. Pat Gentry went to St. Jo
seph's Hospital Tuesday for a
tooth extraction.
Mr. and Mrs. John Van Nest
have as their guest their daugh
ter, Mrs. Glenn on Engleman, of
St. Louis, Mo.
Henry Sisk, a highly respected
colored man of our town, bad the
misfortune of losing his house and
contents by fire two weeks ago.
His many friends of both races
have come to his rescue, sad are
busy building him a cottage to
replace the one destroyed.
HOLD EVERYT
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