The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-08-12
Fiery italian Throws Down
Gage to Tammany in
Bitter Vote Fight.
BY PAUL HARRISON
NEA Service Writer

NEA Service Writer
NEW YORK, Aug. 12.-The Tam
~ many Tiger is at bay in the
! labyrinthine jungles OF New York
City politics. And fiery little Flo
relic La Guardia, fusion candidate
for mayor, is getting ready to go in
after him.
Whichever way the tide of victory
! turns. it should be an exciting en-
counter, for the champion Of the
united enemies of Tammany is
crashing in with dynamite as well
as fancy fireworks.
Gotham knows its La Guardia
scarcely better than does the rest of
the nation, for he spent sixteen years
in congress as a live-wire liberal,
an acid-tongued and tireless worker,
an arch-enemy of extravaganza and
the most vaudevillistic and colorful
figure in the house Of representa-
/ tives.
Knows No Master
Usually identified as Republican,
he has acknowledged no political
master. and has run for office as
Republican. a Progressive, Social
| list, and an independent. He was
Endorsed by both Republicans and
Democrats when the Socialists nomi
mated Scott Nearing to oppose him
for congress. He was elected alder
manic president here on an anti
Hylan ticket.
He returned from the war to plead
for the League of Nations. In 1924
He bolted his party to support La
Toilette.
The most consistent thing about
him has been his hatred of Tam
many. Not even his enemies-and
he has plenty of them in every
party-ever have accused him of
compromise with the Tiger. La
Guardia ran for the presidency of
the board Of aldermen only to
strengthen woefully weak ticket,
and surprised every one, including
himself, by winning.
Beaten by Walker
In 1929 he opposed Jimmy Walker
for the mayoralty because nobody
else dared to run. La Guardia was
/ licked, but not until he had put a
couple Of knots in the Tigers tail
Last election. running for re-
election to congress, he was de-
feated again.
Friends Of La Guardia. seeking
to prove that his opposition 70
Tammany isn't dictated by person.
al ambition, cite the following
facts: When the fusion movement
began to get under way, he first
offered to back Aldermanic Presi-
dent Joseph V. Mckee for mayor
specifying. however, that he first
must be convinced that Mckee had
obtained IAN absolute divorce from
Tammany, without alimony."
Next he proposed fusion ticket
headed by Alfred E. Smith, Robert
Moses and Norman Thomas. But
Smith refused to run. Then he
backed Samuel Seabury. hero of the
New York city reform element. But
Seabury also declined.
Not until then did he threaten to
run himself, as an independent if
necessary. unless a strong fusion
candidate was found.
Persistent Tiger Chaser
There was. announced the dyram-
ic little politician, only one issue
to chase the Tiger out Of the city
hall And only one major task-to
rehabilitate the credit of city now
on the ragged edge Of bankruptcy,
TO govern it efficiently and honestly,
and TO aid the national recovery
program.
La Guardia. by the way. seems to
have been definitely slated for a
high post in the national recovery
administration had he not been
picked to make the local fight.
When the fusion leaders gravely
were considering various hopeless
nonentities TO carry the reform
banner, La Guardia proceeded to
cut his G.. o. P. ties by charging
that the party leadership in city and
state were unsatisfactory and in
effective, and that two county Re-
publican leaders had been picked
because Of their loyal support of
Tammany in 1929.
After that bombshell, nobody ex-
pected that The Little Flower"
chats the literal translation of his
name) ever would be Endorsed by
the Republicans. But he was.
Born on East Side
He was born on New Yorks east
side in 1882, the son Of Achilles La
Guardia, who became an army band
master. Fiorello was reared in
army posts Of South Dakota and
Arizona, learned 10 ride causes.
wanted to be a jockey. studied the
cornet (unwillingly) and got through
high school.
When the Spanish-American war
started, the boy joined his father at
Tampa. Fla. and got seriously i'll on
the rotten beef that was sold to
the government by some OF the pa
triots of that day.
Fiorello never forgot that beef.
When the United States entered the
conflict abroad. he offered a bill
making the fraudulent sale Of goods