The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-06-14

l Bx RAYMOND '. FITxPATRTCK
 Rumhiings of discontent heard in cities and towns about the state since the adjournment of the Gen. eral Assembly make it clear that both Democrats and Republicans will have many fences to repair before their parties can approach anything resembling real solidar- 1ty. The situation means that the leaders of the two parties will have many Q headache before the next state election rolls around in le42, headaches even more severe than those which anyone in politics must take for granted.
 Republican organizations in many communities feel that they were "sOld out" in the minor court patronage deal, which gave Democrats court jobs in towns where it is hard to find . Demo- crat who will admit it. Demo- cratic organizations meantime are protesting that the party was "too soft," that 1t should have left all judgeships to the g0ver- nor and let him appoint 100 per cent Democratic courts.
 That is only part of the picture, though the most timely part. Many Republicans are claiming that the party hurt its 1942 chances by op- posing many liberal and social measures, arguing that such proce- dure will do little to help the C.. Q. P. reach it's announced goal of capturing the states large cities from the Democrats. Others, in the rural districts, complain that the party was outsmarted by Gov. Hur- ley in the milk control act and that enactment of the legislation, amended though it was, will win the Democratic chief executive many normally Republican votes next year. There are protests also against the common pleas court bill, the juvenile court bill, savings bank life insurance and other peasures.
 On the Democratic side there Are complaints that too much patronage went to Fairfield County, that other parts of the vtate were ignored, as well as krotests against the failure to &se ''pressure" to force through pet party bills.
 Both parties face criticism for failure of the General Assembly to enact a state labor relations act and have already been roundly con- @e1nned by both the A. P. l.. and the 0. I. o. not only for this failure but also for the rejection or side- tracking of other labor legislation. Tn fact, leaders of the 0. I. O. labor wing have finally come out with their often rumored plans to form a Farmer-Labor party for next years election.
 With the international sltua- ton lon which even such s0me- times minor things as state eiec- ti0ns may rest) as it Is, it would be fOOlhardy to venture predic- tiOns; yet 1t seems to this Ob- server that principal gainer by the l041 General Assembly session was Mayor Jasper McLevy of Bridgeport. Jasper almost upset the major parties with the vote that he boiled as Socialist cam didate for governor in 1888 and unless he is eclipsed by the war he may have 8 lot to say about the election in the fall of next year. It will be duck soup for Jasper to take the stump in 1942 and tell the voters what both major parties failed to do in the General Assembly and, if these were normal times, anyone with 8 stray bob or two might have made good investment by talk ing odds against him in the next state election. In fact, if the odds were good enough, 1t mightn't be . bad bet in spite of the war.
 We have a healthy respect for Jasper as a politician but we are not among those who subscribe to the theory that Gov. Bob" Hurley lost prestige during the 1941 ses- sion. To our way of thinking, the governor won a great deal of re- spect and support by staying aloof from the scramble for jobs in which legislators almost knocked each other down during the clos ing weeks. He held steadfastly to his early announced declaration that legislation was to come before patronage.
 Looking back at the legislative record, you will find that the gov- ernor achieved a lot more than probably even he hoped when he took office in January. The major part of his legislative program was enacted into law, with the labor relations act as the outstanding exception. Others of his bills were softened by amendments, but their basic principles remained.
 In judIng the governors suc- cess in the legislative field, 1t should be kept in mind that he faced suspicious, almost openly hostile, Republican House, that the leadership in the Democratic controlled Senate was not at all strong, and that the leadership of the minority Democratic bloc in the House was often almost nOn-existent.
 A main reason for the general impression on the part of the public that the governor didn't do too well during the assembly session Is the fact that excellent publicity opportunities were lost. Aa axa muOtnaaP and Q 0HnAPv Mfr.