The General and Holy Joe

On Nov. 2, New Yorkers will elect a Lieutenant Governor. A Republican victory would be a vote of confidence in Governor Thomas E. Dewey's administration, might prove that the Governor's grip on pivotal New York is strong enough to swing the State in a Presidential election. But the Governor would be reluctant to give up his job--even to campaign for the Presidency--if it meant turning over the State to the New Deal through a Democratic Lieutenant Governor. Last week the two candidates stepped gingerly into a four-week campaign.

> Republican Joe R. ("Holy Joe") Hanley, 67, ex-jockey, ex-Chautauqua lecturer, ex-Methodist-Episcopal preacher, has served for 17 years as a legislator from Perry, N.Y. (pop. 4,468). Candidate Hanley sidled into his campaign with a mighty shove from Dewey's potent state machine. Said he: "Tom Dewey has said he is not a candidate [for President] . . . I have no reason to doubt his word. . . . If such a thing does happen, however, it is very vital that you have a Republican to go in there. . . ."

> Democrat (and American Labor Party-endorsed) Lieut. General William Nafew Haskell, 65, was launched by the Independent Citizens' Committee. Bluff, ramrod-stiff General Haskell is a veteran of the Philippines (1902) and St. Mihiel (1918). Said he: ". . . Presidentially ambitious Tom Dewey wants his own hand-picked successor."

Because political observers rate the General's chances as dim, the New Deal high command seemed reluctant to go all out on a test case against Dewey. At week's end the General was still waiting for the mighty shove from Washington.

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