Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-25

York County by attending strictly to
the business Of politics. He has not
hesitated to battle with the leaders when
he believed there should be a tight, and
he has won to leadership in spite Of his
rebellious attitude. He has maintained,
his biographers insist, the principle that
the power Of Tammany Hail should be
in the hands Of the men who do the
work. He is against delegating this
power to prominent figures In the
Democratic party of New York--1o
matter who they may be.
The election of Mr.. Curry means the
dominance of New York City Demo-
cratic politics In the immediate future
by Mayor Jimmy Walker. unless Mr.
Curry dominates Mayor Walker. Mr..
Curry after his election declared him.
self for the denomination and reelection
Of Mayor Walker. On the other hand, It
is believed that Mr.. Curry owes in large
part his election to the stand which
Mayor Walker took In favor of the cleo
ton of a district leader Furthermore,
it is reported that Mayor Walker threw
his influence on the side of Curry In the
election of q Tammany leader. Curry
having declared for Walker for mayor.
and McCooey, the Brooklyn Democratic
leader, having done the same. the
mayors denomination seems assured.
And unless there is q real uprising on
the part Of the people Of the greater
city, backing Republican or an indie
pendent fusion candidate, the reelection
of Mayor Walker appears certain.
A month ago 1t might not have been
possible to bring about the election of
Mr.. Curry as leader of Tammany Hall
The mayor himself was not willing at
that time to show his hand. But the
decision of the Supreme Court Of the
United States, upholding the five-cent
street-car fare in New York City, took
that issue out Of the coming mayoralty
campaign and left Mayor Walker in
much more powerful position. Immedi-
ately it was published far and wide
that the mayor was assured reelection.
The executive committee in Tamnlany
Hall. composed of district leaders, had
turned. in their quandary over the Sc
lection Of a successor to Judge George
w. Olvany, to the so-called big four
former Gov. Smith, Mayor Walker, Sen
ator Wagner ard Surrogate Foley. 1t is
possible that the advice Of the big four
might actually have been given and
taken, If the big four themselves had
stood together. But they did not. Mayor
Walker was disinclined to offend the
district leaders by going along with Gov.
Smith in offering the name Of any out
slider, provided Gov. Smith had offered
such candidate. Mayor Walker must
have the support Of the organization
and its leaders in the campaign this
year. When the executive committee
turned to the big four for advice it was
hailed as victory for Smith. But
when the five-cent fare decision of the
Supreme Court was handed down Walk
er's star was in the ascendency. It was
evident that the mayor was the DOM
mating figure in the situation, demon
strating again the power which goes
with Office and patronage.
1t will be interesting to see how Tam
many Hall measures up to the control
Of Democratic politics in the greater
city under the leadership Of Mr.. Curry
Tammany has been in danger of becom-
ing a minority factor In the Democratic
vote of the city because of the enor-
nous growth of Brooklyn and other sec
tons of the city outside Of Manhattan.
One argument advanced for selecting a
prominent Democrat not necessarily a
district leader, but closely affiliated with
Tammany, was that such a dominant
figure would be needed to maintain con-
troll Of the party throughout the city.
In asking for a five-cent car fare for