Evening star., 1949-11-06

11dS ut, WCllC A1dAC A1dttC1o "oAcO
by merely saying that he recog-
nized Kenny as the county
leader" and would consult with
him on local patronage.
Shortly thereafter appeared
large white buttons on the lapels
of Democratic leaders in the urban
communities which were inter-
preted to mean, Vote Republi-
can" They bore the simple
legend: Kenny for State and
County Leader"
Split Vote Expected
The word as it comes to WASH
ington from political writers In
the State is that Kenny will see
that his own ward, the second.
turns up huge vote, for Wene to
show his party regularity, but that
in the IL other Jersey City wards
the Democratic vote will be pared
to the lowest level consistent with
party discipline.
The political writer's say that
the Hudson County, or, more spe-
cifically. the Jersey City. vote will
decide the election. In the old
Hague days, before the voting ma
chimes, the county could be conf
IDENTIFY counted on to bring in at
least a 100000 Democratic ma
jority for any candidate having
the machines blessing. The i'm
partial forecasts are that this may
be cut to $4,000 or as low as $4,000.
If that happens, the experts say,
Driscoll is in and Kenny will be
the State Democratic boss.
The Truman administration, In
contrast to its active work for
Herbert H. Lehman and Mayor
ODwyer in New York. is giving
Wene a taste of the absent treat
ment, partly because Boss Hague
refused to get on the Truman
bandwagon at the Philadelphia
convention last year. Only Labor
Secretary Tobin has spoken in tho
State. 1t was rumored for q while
that Archibald Alexander, Assis-
tant Secretary of the Army, who
comes from New Jersey, was sup
porting Driscoll, but this week he
told reporter that he would vote
for Wene.
-. Although Democrats of cabinet
rank are participating in other
State campaigns, Archibald said
that his announced support Of
Wene did not mean he was max
ing any speeches for him.
II feel" he said, that as A.
sistant Secretary Of the Army I
should not take an active part IN
any political campaign"
The organized labor vote will bs
divided between Driscoll and
Wene. The State AFL organiza-
ton. representing 175,000 trade
unionists, has indorsed Wene but
the CIO-PAC has come out for
mally for neither candidate. II
will be recalled that Hague made
his famous II am the law" pro-
nouncement during his attempt
in 1878 to drive the CIO out
Of the State. Although the CIO
has not come out for Driscoll,
whom many Of Its leaders regard
as liberal" the political arm Of
the organization is distributing
its compilation of Wene's voting
record during his three terms a.
q member Of Congress and as .
State Senator. From the CIO
viewpoint, a majority Of Wene's
votes on issues in which organized
labor was interested was bad"
The CIO claims q membership Of
250,000 in the State and although
the leaders of the Amalgamated
Clothing Workers and the United
Automobile Workers have an
nounced for Wene. political OBJ
servers predict that most of the
CIO vote will 60 to Driscoll.
Driscoll and Wene have both
had full careers in public service.
DriScoll was born in Pittsburgh,
but his family moved to Haddon-
field. N. j., when he was young.
He went to the local schools and
then to Williams College for his
A. B. degree. He obtained his
law degree from the Harvard Law
School in 1928.
After his graduation from law
school he prospected for oil near
the Arctic Circle He and his
associates found oil, but it was
too. far from transportation to
make exploitation practicable.
Succession Law Changed
In 1929 he was elected to the
Haddonf1eld School Board and
became its president a few years
later. He was elected to the State
Senate in 1898 and advanced to
majority leader. He defeated for
mer Gov. Harold G. Hoffman for
the Republican gubernatorial
nomination in 1946 by a majority
of $1,000 and was elected Gov
|ernor over Democratic Lewis q.
Hansen by a plurality of 22l 900
the largest margin any New Jer.
sey Governor had ever received.
The term was for three years.
The new constitution made the
term four years and allowed q
Governor to succeed himself.
Wene was born in Vineland. N.
j., and built up a large business
in the raising and distribution of
baby chicks after taking a special
course in agriculture at Rutgers.
He was president of the Interna-
tional Baby Chick Association in
1888. He was first elected to Con-
gress in 1895, was defeated in 1899
and was reelected in 1910 and
1912.
Driscoll's election would put
him in the national spotlight for
the 1852 presidential campaign
for first or second place. In 1912
and 1916 there was a successful