TENNESSEE: Protector

In his 45 years in politics, Memphis' white-haired, 71-year-old Boss Ed Crump has toiled unselfishly to guide his subjects safely past life's pitfalls. He has discouraged the use of profanity, urged Memphians to love birds and mow their lawns, has sternly forbidden gambling, the blowing of automobile horns, and that ultimate folly —the election of candidates who have not received his blessing. Last week he prepared to defend his people against another dangerous institution—books.

The Boss (who roared like a cracked boiler after reading Lillian Smith's best-selling story of miscegenation, Strange Fruit) directed his city commissioners to set up a...

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