Brass-Knuckle Fight

In New York City, for twelve years and three elections, hen-shaped old Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had ruled the political roost. He had been able to beat any & every combination of political bosses solely on the vote of the people, who loved him. Last month he had quipped: “I can run on a laundry ticket and beat these political bums any time.” But the people had grown tired of his wham-handed whims, his snooping, his ranting. “The Hat” bowed out—or said he did.

The minute he had, the bosses of all parties, sniffing the winds of power, put on brass-knuckle fights to pick their candidates. Democrats, with a handsome candidate handed them on a platter, roiled and boiled for weeks before they finally chose him: Brooklyn’s District Attorney William O’Dwyer, onetime cop, hod carrier, onetime student for the priesthood, an ex-brigadier general, and the man who broke up Brooklyn’s Murder, Inc.

Republican bosses, out of power so long that they could not find a dyed-in-the-wool GOPster, were confronted with a choice between two Democrats. They picked one Judge Jonah J. Goldstein, onetime secretary to Al Smith. In so doing, they lost the services of the top Republican in city politics, Council President Newbold Morris, a patrician socialite who believes in government as a career. Cracked Newbold Morris: “[Judge Goldstein] thinks he can buy the good government label like a new collar. You’ve got to earn it through the years. It comes after trial by fire.”

Through all this, Mayor LaGuardia went smilingly about his business. He jeered at the three Irishmen (Boss Flynn of the Bronx, Boss Kelly of Brooklyn and O’Dwyer) who had patched together the Democratic ticket. Said The Hat: “It looks to me like a case of rape by acquiescence and consent, and a good time was enjoyed by all.”