Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-23
WALKER CONCEDED
( FOUR YEARS MORE
Fusion Against New York
Mayors Reelection Fails
to Materialize.
BY LEMUEL r. PARTON,
Special Correspondent Of The Star.

BY LEMUEL F. PARTON,
Special Correspondent OF The Star.
NEW YORK, July 23--Any we'll in
formed New Yorker is ready to bet
suit case full Of those new dollar bills
against a burnt match that James j.
Walker. the George M. Conan of Amer
lean officialdom. will find the forth
coming campaign just Summer stroll
and that he will be the mayor of
Greater New York for four years more.
With all the pulling and hauling by
civic organizations and supposedly dis
interested prominent citizens, the fusion
movement fails to get under way. No
one can be found worth sending in
against the debonair Mr.. Walker. For
mer Mayor Hylan, obsteperous and in
calculable, is the Joker wild" as the
cards are dealt, but it Is belived that
he would menace only a Republican or
fusion candidate. Tammany, with
Mayor Walker, holds pat hand, and
since the quiet and perfunctory inter-
ment of the new Tammany q few
months ago, the Sachems are resting
easy. quite content to let nature take
its course.
While all this may be due in part to
the rabbits foot which Mayor Walker
carries in his Deauville waiStcoat, 1t is
also due to the fact that, considering
all political factors, there is no par
ticular reason why Republicans and
Democrats should get into a hot
weather brawl over this mayorality
business. The Republicans get the
Federal patronage and the Democrats
get the city government. Tammany
interest rises and Federal Republican
interest sinks to the level of mild con-
tention in State politics, but the Re-
publican triumvirate. which Is just I'm
ishing up the allotment of jobs, has as
many has in national politics. While
the rising and descending arc of the
new Tammany disturbed this political
equilibrium for a while. things are now
as they were, and local Republican
leadership has shown no signs of max
ing an aggressive drive for city con-
troll.
Mayors Winning Cards.
The five cards in the Tammany-
Walker pat hand are the scent fare
decision Of the Supreme Court; Police
Commissioner Whalen'S success in draw
ing a red-white-blue herring across the
trial of the Rothstein killing and other
such happenings; the collapse of the
new Tammany, which had brought
various disrupting influences into the
Tammany organization; the elimina-
ton of AL Smith as a fusion possibility,
and the investigation of the failure of
the City Trust Co., under Commissioner
Moses, the State appointee.
The Republicans find meager politi-
no F1Ch SNr NVrN NtCcfF VNnF
Moses report. 1t had been limited that,
in his report to Gov. Roosevelt. he would
spare Edward F. Glynn, nephew of Gov
Smith; Judge Francis x. Mancuso and
others of local Democratic Affiliations,
but he did not do so. Justice Cropsey,
appointed by the governor as special
magistrate in the case, is jurist Of the
highest integrity, and no one suspects
that politics can enter into his conduct
of the hearings. On the whole, while
the Republicans have had ample am
munition in various city scandals dur
ing the last two years, there hasn't
been quite enough of it of high enough
caliber to make barrage.
Citizens Union Attack Ignored.
A month ago the Citizens Union
turned loose sizzling attack on Mayor
Walker, accusing him Of having ap-
the increase of crime; of maintaining
an increasingly expensive political ma
chine-setting up "fanatical' subway
policy and Of laxity and indifference
in the face Of increasing graft and cor
ruption.
Mayor Walker smiled whimsically,
and said, "Why should answer them?"
Nothing has happened since, and there
is no evidence m sight that the unions
0nyfNin0
than a few surface ripples. A veteran
Tammany adherent today gave this cor
respondent the following realistic, If
not cynical, version of metropolitan
politics in its relation to the national
scene:
There Is no reason whatever why
Tammany should be in the same party
as the Ku Klux Khan or why AL Smith
should be in the same party as Senator
son why Senator Reed of Pennsylvania
should be in the same party as Senator
Norris. We're better off minding our
own business in our town. If the DEM
ocrats can get together on a national
program, with something that will make
a real national party-all right. Well
be there to help.
Cites Democratic Hedging"
"But, as long as they are hedging
on the tariff and everything else which
might make a real issue, we'll just go
on doing the best we can at home and
let the Republicans take the Federal
patronage. I think lots of Republicans
see 1t that way, too, and they won't
bother us much If we don't bother them.
We believe Tammany is giving the city
good government. Traditionally. it hap
pens to be a Democratic organization.
but that doesn't necessarily throw 1t
into national politics"
This opinion is reflective Of marked
insularity in New York politics since
the last presidential campaign. Tam
many never really put its heart into the
support of Alfred E. Smith, and all in
dications are that, for reasons both Of
inclination and expediency. Tammany
activities and interests will be sub
merged in the next national election.
(Copyright, 1920
Error MAIZE IN REPORT