ROOSEVELT, KENNY STIR NATION BY DEFEATING TAMMANY, HAGUE
JAMES, DANIEL & Brown, Bernard
Roosevelt, Kenny Stir Nation By Defeating Tammany, Hague Hague Out Not Machine By Bernard Brown 'jr? BANK HAGUE'S reign as pen .jp litical boss of Jersey City has | ended, but Haguelsm is...
...Eisler apparently Was considered worth thie $23,000 bail potted by the Commuhist-controlled Civil Rights Congress and Which was forfeited when he stowed away on the Polish ship Batory...
...Under the Hague-Eggers dynasty, city employes annually kicked back 3 per cent of their wages to the Democratic party...
...He was one of th* early organisers of th* American Newspaper Guild, CIO...
...He was accused by Hague spokesmen—never by Hague himself— of entering into an alliance with Republican State Attorney General Walter Van Riper to replace Joseph, Buckley, Hudson County Penitentiary Warden, with Kenny's own son-in-law...
...c ••?./• ¦-yr~vr ' 1 How much Eisler is worth to jthe Soviet Union is farther indicated by the risks the Poles were willing to take on his behalf...
...During all this time he loyally followed the big boss...
...Although Kenny has promised honest and efficient government, he is no crusading enemy of machine politics...
...publicized his long pre-campaign record of action on housing, labor and civil rights...
...So the victory over Hague also represents a gain for the free labor movement...
...While from the outset it was evident that Roosevelt forces were drawing the greatest and most enthusiastic crowds— often snarling traffic for blocks—seldom could it be said that Shalleck, Mclntyre or Rubinstein soapboxers did not get a good hearing...
...Kenny had made too much money to worry about politics...
...They accused me of trying to get Joe Buckley's job...
...Known for their political sophistication, independence and liberalism, 20th District voters listened with patient and deep interest to what everyone had to say...
...V{ 2. Made the Liberals the dominant party in the district (with 31,000 votes recorded on their line...
...BANK HAGUE'S reign as pen .jp litical boss of Jersey City has | ended, but Haguelsm is not quite finished...
...JONATHAN 8TOUT...
...For what'took place during the quadrennial Jersey City elections, May 10, may best be described as a "palace revolution" rith popularywertones...
...If ever proof were needed of the resilient power of the democratic mind, the people of the 20th District demonstrated it with dramatic finality by the manner in which they discussed, absorbed and reacted to the personalities and issues which faced- them...
...In Dally Worker and ALP propaganda FDR'Jr...
...There was complete cooperation between Washington and London over the transatlantic phone in charting: all the legal steps and moves that preceded Elsler's removal from the ahip...
...Kenny mad* m* all sorts of promises if only I would drop out of th* race...
...And Spence, the lone Republican, was to give the slate a non-partisan appeal...
...Kenny's saloonkeeper father gave Hague his start in politics in 1317...
...The ALP made.Roosevelt the chill butt of an hysterical "peace" campaign...
...and presented arguments for the Marshall Plan and the Atlantic Pact...
...THE PRO-ROOSEVELT FORCES were varied, vocal and vigorous...
...Although President Truman remained silent during the campaign, most observers believe that FDR Jr.'s election —happening during a crucial period for the Administration's Congressional program—will be interpreted as a further manifestation of the popular liberal upsurge which elected Truman himself last year...
...Perhaps with Spence, the Republican, as one of the five city commissioners, Kenny will watch his step...
...While his enemies ridiculed him ("Junior" was their favorite epithet), he hammered away at Tammany's underworld connections and Republican and Communist reaction...
...ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, after months of public "speculation about his future, Kenny announced he would he,ad the Freedom .ticket against Hague in May, with Louis Ijiessano, James F. Murray, Sr., Charles Witkowski and Donald Spence as his running mates...
...NIGHT AFTER NIGHT for four strenuous weeks the 20th has been treated to a display of political fireworks so unprecedented that it catapulted 58 per cent of its 138,000 registered voters to the polls—a national record for a by-election...
...Traniradio Press Service and International News Service...
...riThe king is overthrown, buUiot "mdna^hisrn...
...When he quit as a Freeholder in 1941, he wanted to remain merely a ward leader...
...They were also, despite natural differences, staunchly united and determined...
...f. Thus, the defeat of the arrogant dictator who once declared, "I am the law," represents a step toward regaining the rights of free democratic citizens which Jersey City surrendered to Hague thirty-two years ago...
...On the right, Republican candidate William H, Mclntyre-himself never a .serious factor—centered his fire on Roosevelt as a Fair Dealing liberal who favored increased taxes and other Administration proposals...
...Fair / 1 1 -x Daniel James is Managing Editor of The New Leader...
...The people listened to discussions of the Atlantic Pact, Tammany corruption, Taft-Hartley, civil rights, housing, communism, war and peace to the point of supersaturation...
...Nearly, half of the town's 300,000 population turned out at jthe polls...
...Buckley and I have always been good friends...
...Just as the Tammany Tiger has shown itself to have-as many lives as an alley cat, having repeatedly risen from the ashes of innumerable "defeats," so too may the Hague machine show surprising vitality...
...Bernard Brown has been on th* editorial staffs of the Brooklyn Eagle, Long Island Star-Journal...
...Ak0NG THE FORCES ARRAYED jigainst the boss were the very same unions—CIO and AFL—which he attempted to suppress a la Hitler not so many years ago...
...Hague Republicans" put up a half-hearted slate of theip-own...
...Murray had fought Hague unsuccessfully in 1929...
...As he himself has admitted: ^, , ¦~ "Hague goaded me into running...
...They were preponderantly youthful...
...ss^e C^sT^A^ss^t 9k •^^s^^r asU^tsi e^OffflA&^ai^Sss^^^ liberal-labor coalition which can be decisive la two forthcoming elections, —for Mayor la 1149 and for Governor in 1150—in a city and stats which jure';' pivotal la asdcaal politics...
...Whether or not it is typical, the 20th Congressional District voted unreservedly for a thoroughgoing liberal program...
...Roosevelt's 41,146 votes—to Shalleck's 23,352^represcnte4^ 5Q$ per cent of the vote cast...
...We shall see whether its citizens are capable of achieving full democracy...
...Mareantonlo, accused of being closely allied with the Tammany-underworld "group, commuted from Washington almost daily to supervise the ALP campaign...
...JOHN LONGO, who received only 9,626 votes on his "Clean House" ticket, ' declares that Kenny is no different from Hague...
...In a campaign whose, many unique features will be studied by political analysts for a long time, the Roosevet forces also— 1. Cut the Communist-controlled American Labor party in the 20th to one-third its 1948 strength, and indirectly threatened its whole New York County organisation at well as the personal machine of Representative Vlto Marcanlonio...
...But last year rumblings were heard of serious differences between Kenny and Hague...
...Under international...
...In the last days it even brought into the district its onetime boss, former associate of the notorious Dutch Schultz, and exconvict, Jimmy Hines...
...Mayor William O'Dwyer kept cagily mum...
...Denied the Democratic nomination for the late Sol- Bloom's seat", Roosevelt—as the candidate of the New York State Liberal party and the newly-formed Four Freedoms ticket—retaliated by soundly thrashing the Tammany clique which chose Judge Benjamin Shalleck as its standardbearer...
...Thai's a joke...
...maritime legal statutes the Batory itself is now,forfeited to the United States as a result of the Polish line's refusal to turn over Eisler to U.S...
...Hague reciprocated by giving the saloonkeeper's son his political start...
...Witkowski, a youthful lawyer, was in- . eluded to attract the large Polish vote...
...Most of the New York press — from Hearst's Journal-American to T. O. Thackrey's new fellow-traveling Daily Compass — opposed FDR, Jr...
...Like" Europeans who have suffered under dictatorship, Jersey Citizens will have to become re-educated to the principles of...
...If Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alfred E. Smith, and;Herbert H. Lehman were unable permanently to reform Tammany, is it likely that an admitted machine politician like Kenny will alter basically the nature of the organization Hague built, a powerful faction of Which elevated Kenny to office...
...Coming on the heels of Hague's defeat in Jersey City, the Tammany upset may cost its leader Hugo E. Rogers control of the organization as well as re-nomination to the Manhattan Borough Presidency...
...Personally, the 53-year-old Mayor of Jersey City is a nice, affable little man, with none of the spleen of the sour, granite-visaged Hague...
...That makes m* laugh...
...When I interviewed Kenny in his clubhouse about seven weeks before the election, I asked him the real reason for his split with Hague...
...Unique Liberal Victory Augurs New York Political Changes By Daniel James FRANKLIN O. ROOSEVELT JR.'S TRIPLE VICTORY over a patent combination 6ll regular I^c«!ra*s/ Republicans 'and th« communistic American Labor party in Manhattan's 20th &m|rrts§to«al District, May 17, was one of the most astounding in the history of American politics...
...i Further, Hague's downfall spells a return to some semblance of the twoparty system—for Hague's long rule was made possible by repeated, local Republican sell-outs to the Hague machine...
...During th* war h* served on th* OWL He is now Associate Editor of a photographic trad* magasin...
...You'll have to ask Frank Hague that," he replied with what was meant to be a disarming smile...
...Almost without warning, on Hague's order Kenny was deposed as Second Ward leader for alleged disloyalty...
...custody as soon as they found him on board...
...Also', nobody in Washington believes the stowaway act was an unaided effort on Elsler's part...
...democracy before it can be truthfully said that tyranny, corruption, regimentation, ignorance, racketeering, and all the other evils of Hagueism, havV been finally .abolished...
...I had no political ambitions, . .. If ha bad not thrown ma out, I probably would still be a member of the miebhle...
...Russia la preparing a huge propaganda campaign in Germany in an effort to win over West Germany...
...Under Hague's benevolent influence, Kenny rose from a lowly Erie Railroad bookkeeper to his present position as a bigtime contractor who supplies labor to that same road...
...But Kenny could always be found on his favorite street corner dispensing political favors in the manner of the old-line politician he basically is...
...J admit it" . Kenny has served Hague since the beginning of the letter's career...
...Long before h* announced1 his candidacy, he knew I was going to run against...
...He became a Hudson County Freeholder...
...So did Democratic National Chairman J. Howard McGrath, State Chairman Paul Fitzpatrick and James A. Farley...
...Other reports say that the real reason for the Hague-Kenny split was Hague's high-handed appointment of his nephew Eggers as Mayor instead of Kenny, who presumably wanted that job for himself...
...THE JOB STILL TO BE DONE must be accomplished by Jersey City voters themselves...
...Now K*nny says he's going to clean house...
...Now 73 years old, it would not be surprising if Hague soon ceased to be Vice Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, especially since he reportedly does not rate highly with President Truman, whose nomination Hague opposed in favor of Eisenhower...
...Americans for Democratic Action supplied most of the youth and drive which typified the Roosevelt campaign...
...Elsler's destination was Leipzig, where he would have played a leading role in the Communist campaign...
...was pictured as a greater menace to society than Tammany HalL Finally, the Tammany 'machine expended Its resources to discredit the victor as a "playboy," an "interloper" in the district, and an unconscionable exploiter of his father's name...
...1-:-_/ Deal and other independent Democrats active in Roosevelt's behalf contributed further, to Tammany's disorganization...
...For ajl practical purposes, a quasi-totalitarian state has existed in Jersey City...
...To read much more into the election returns at this time would be to entertain high illusions., ^pl^/ • • ' JOHN V. KENNY, who led the Freedom ticket to smashing victory over the Hague forces headed.by the.boss' band-picked successor and nephew, exMayor Frank Hague Eggers, is no reformer...
...Inside the Eisler Case WASHINGTON, D, C. THERE IS MORE TO THE EISLER CASE than has been published so far...
...In a statement to The New Leader, New York County Liberal Chairman Murray Baron declared: "A careful reaction to the election results dictates further integration of all good government-liberal forces to make certain that the Mancuso-Rogers-Marcantonio ring suffers further exclusion from the affairs of government in New York City...
...What impressed many voters with whom I talked — and I reached hundreds in my daily contact with the campaign —was the fact that he persistently refused to capitalize on his . name...
...and as a prosperous businessman he may be genuinely interested in reducing the Jersey City tax rate, now the highest in the country...
...Before he cam* out against Hague," Longo reports, "I had been fighting Hague and Kenny and th* rest of the gang for more than fifteen years...
...Unquestionably, Hague's one - man dictatorship has been broken...
...Kenny has promised to change this, but whether he will or not is anyone's guess...
...Democrats' adhering to Robert B. Blaikie — Seventh Assembly District leader ousted from Tammany for supporting Roosevelt—accounted for roughly a fourth of the total Roosevelt vote...
...He is easygoing and friendly...
...Of these, 05,000 voted against Hague on four anti-Hague jtickets, with the largest number—81,295—going to ffohn V. Kenny, Mayor-elect and head P the successful Freedom ticket...
...Although the Roosevelt name and the Congressman-elect's own personal attractiveness undoubtedly favored him, young FDR made it a point to fight on the issues...
...s * -i The hem of the iron curtain around Jersey City has been lifted...
...The ship and all its furnish' ings is worth more than the $23,000 put, up by...
...but a more genuine Republican group—adherents in the main of Governor Alfred Driscoll — coalesced with anti-Hague Desperate and through their Commissioner-elect, Donald Spence, can provide "a .much-needed counterweight to the new Democratic majority...
...Undoubtedly, most Jersey City voters were fed up with Hague and wanted «o get rid of him...
...Why didn't h* com* to m* than ahd propose a coalition...
...In short, he convinced a majority of the voters that he was sufficiently serious, sincere, energetic and well-informed to represent them in the House of Representatives...
...The nation, which followed this special election with unusual interest, will not soon forget its outcome...
...Messano, too, had served in the Hague organization...
...But-in this tense, noisy, and frequently confusing atmosphere, an electorate received an education...
...Kenny denied this and said he could not understand why he was ousted...
...he knows how to win and hold friends...
...The Liberal party, led by Alex Rose, Murray Baron and Ben Davidson, provided Roosevelt's only regular party line, a hard core of workers,, funds, and astute leadership and strategy...
...But to expect him to do a "reform" job of the kind, say, that LaGuardia performed after defeating Tammany in New York City, would be expecting too much...
...Added the successful candidate: "We have started something which all America will follow...
...Thirty years of {Hague's terrorism have paralyzed their capacity for acting like democratic, independentminded people...
...The tyghesi Hague vpte, was^o^ly-Jfcne...
...Actually Kenny had ^become too "hard to handle'—Hague has always required blind obedience from his subordinates...
...and thus a' strategic factor In city and stale politics) and sent FDR, Jr„ to Congress as the nation's first big "V Liberal...
...Wealthy and politically powerful, Kenny seemed satisfied...
...It-ma^lu^m^r a housecleaning of dominant Ipmants like-Francis X. Mancusd .which are reputedly in league with under word figure* headed by s^bler Fraa^CojH thv once-'dtposed 1ea*^W son and his chief aide, Robert m Blaikie, who played a key role in the 20th District special election...
...I wouldn't know...
...the Civil Rights Congress...
...But whether he will voluntarily quit as State Democratic leader is another question...
...Overwhelming CIO and AFL support-jfrom the ILGWU in particular—gave the late President's son a firm mass labor base which none of the other candidates possessed...
...The" lifting of the Berlin Blockade precipitated Gerhart Elsler's attempt to get out of the United States...
...4 0jw FEW CAMPAIGNS have been waged with the bltterneae ot this...
...HAGUE'S DEFEAT MEANS, to a large extent, that another machine politican will replace him as leader of what has for years been one of the most corrupt city machines in the United States...
...Because his 'reform' platform is Just so much bunk...
...This admittedly left-of-center coalition produced, according to Roosevelt himself, a twofold victory for "clean government and- liberal principles...
...For seventeen years he was leader of the Second Ward in Jersey City's Horseshoe section, the same slum area that spawned Frank Hague himself...
...Political fevers approached the breaking point as the exciting climax arrived...
...From impoverished Chelsea Park at the southernmost end of this city-size district, to the , tree-limbed avenues along the Hudson to the north, street corners never ceased - reverberating with lusty harangues from scores of orators and the streets themselves were a constant shambles of campaign literature...
...This is not the end of our tight, but only the beginning...
...Incidentally, there never was any question of the wholeheartedness of British cooperation in taking Eisler off the Batory...
...But those who'imagine he has smashed the Hague machine may be in for a rude awakening...
Vol. 32 • May 1949 • No. 21
