No. 3 Man

(See front cover) It is sometimes said that for prestige and power, for responsibility and reward, the three "biggest" elective offices in the U. S. are: 1) President of the U. S.; 2) Governor of the State of New York; 3) Mayor of the City of New York. Job No. 2 sometimes leads on to Job No. i (Van Buren, Cleveland, Roosevelt). Sometimes it does not lead there (Hughes, Smith). From Job No. 3, however, since the rechartering of New York City (1898), no man has advanced from it to No. 2.

Job No. 3 is now, and for three years has been, occupied by James John Walker (48). Mayor Walker (he is addressed never as "Your Honor" but as "Mister Mayor," like ''Mister President") last week laid a public school corner stone at Coney Island, broke ground for a new subway, endorsed National Hospital Day, held his 6-year-old nephew Paul Burke on his knee at City Hall while the lad was publicly immunized against diphtheria to the boom of flashlights, prepared to attend the Kentucky Derby. Also, he pondered this question: Should he take an eagerly-offered renomination from Tammany in the primary next September, and be faced with the certain prospect of four years more in New York's antique City Hall or should he, at the peak of his political success, step grandly out of Job No. 3 and cash in on what he calls his "commercial value" in a big way?

New York's "Jimmy" has a growing fondness for things money can buy. As William F. Kenny was ready to give his last of a multi-million nickels to help his friend Alfred Emanuel Smith, so Publisher Paul Block (Newark Star-Eagle, Brooklyn Standard Union, Toledo Blade, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Duluth Herald) seldom counts the change where his friend. Mayor Walker, is concerned. The Mayor spends more nights and mornings in the Block suite at the Ritz than he does in his personal bed on St. Luke's place.

The City of New York pays its mayor $25,000 per annum--not much, considering the requirements of a sprightly person like Mayor Walker. In addition he gets a leather-lined Locomobile town car bearing the license plate Wi. Last week he ruminated more or less confidentially to a trusted group of newsmen to this effect:

He does not enjoy being Mayor any more, so he has not made up his mind about accepting renomination. Run for Governor? Not on a bet! Senator? Ah! (Here his twisted smile)--there is a nice job. But New York already has two Democratic Senators firmly embedded in their red-leather chairs at Washington. He has business offers (here his feline pacing), plenty of them. William Randolph Hearst wants him to write a syndicated daily article in the manner of Will Rogers. Though a late riser and no outdoor sportsman, he is ready to endorse anything from alarm clocks to golf balls, for proper inducement per endorsement. The talkies have been seeking his glib services. Big concerns have sought him as their publicity man. He has offers that would make him a millionaire. His friends tell him (here a straightening of his slim shoulders) that he is as popular as Edward of Wales. . . . Really, he has not decided yet between his party and his pocketbook.

For three years the City Hall has seen Mayor Walker, seldom before the pigeon-splashed city clock has marked noon. Since the day Governor Smith singled him out of the State Senate for Job No. 3, much water has gone under political bridges. But Mayor Walker, though he was once president of Silver King Water Co. ("A Good Mixer"), is not the kind to care where the water goes.

For three years Mayor Walker has given the people "out front" a good show. New Yorkers still call him "bright," "witty," "clever," "simply screaming." He still dresses like a vaudeville man.

Politically Mayor Walker has a beautiful stage setup. The Brown Derby has gone over the hill in defeat and, with it, the influence of a "New" Tammany in New York Democratic politics. No longer are there fatherly scoldings from Albany, stern advice to "cut the nonsense and get to work." Mayor Walker, in full command, has placed his own man, John Francis Curry, at the head of Tammany Hall (TIME, May 6). Only one issue has really stirred the sluggish depths of New York's electorate--the price it must pay for a subway ride. Mayor Walker won that issue when the U. S. Supreme Court rejected a 7-c- fare plea, upheld the nickel (TiME, April 15). He has the support of the Hearst papers (American, Evening Journal). Criticism of him as a flibberty "do-nothing" by other, more respected Manhattan journals carries small political weight. The arch-Democratic New York World expressed a preference for Mayor Walker over "some wholly mediocre Republican candidate," but warned that "if the Republican Party gives us a man of real stature and demonstrated ability, we shall be glad to give him all the support we can muster in the next election."

What augurs best for Mayor Walker as a candidate to succeed himself is the almost complete absence of a cohesive and well-directed Opposition. New York City Republicans are at a loss for a suitable nominee, are even ready.to fuse with independent Democrats if they have a man to offer. The only Democrat who stands forth seems to be John Francis ("Red Mike") Hylan, twice Mayor before Walker. Republicans were last week actually, quite seriously considering allegiance to Hylan, whose vote-following is unquestionably larger than the outstanding Republican possibility, short, swart Representative Fiorello H. La Guardia.

The average New York voter bothers himself but little as to the manner in which his city is governed. The sins of an administration fail to register, except as dollars and cents out of his pocketbook. Graft of $100,000 was lately uncovered in the County Clerk's office. No public outcry followed. A favored group, through special fire regulations, controlled the sale of tank trucks for gasoline distribution in the city. Even the charge that this monopoly had chiseled $2,500,000 from the public left the voters cold. Arnold Rothstein, famed gambler, was murdered last autumn (TIME, Dec. 24). His murderer still remains unapprehended. Most New Yorkers have heard that the "inside story" of this crime involves so high a Tammany official that the Walker administration had to switch Police Commissioners, as a sop, to divert popular attention from the unpleasant subject by a great display of traffic-controlling in the midtown districts. But nobody cares deeply. The subways are still hideously crowded, but even Wall Street millionaires still ride on them cheerfully. Additional busses have never materialized because, with the Mayor's consent, a franchise was awarded to a worthless company. These sins of omission New York's millions of voters are ready to forgive, owing chiefly to inertia, other diversions, and the persuasive good-fellowship of Tammany Hall.

The renomination and election of Mayor Walker would mean that the City of New York would continue to be run by Charles F. Kerrigan, his able "assistant." This onetime newsgatherer absorbs all the technicalities of municipal government, digests heavy reports, arranges backstage decisions, plants in the alert trial-lawyer mind of the Mayor the few essential facts on which to base his official acts. The Mayor's secretary, Charles Hand, another newsgatherer, serves chiefly as the Walker stage-manager for social and political events.

With academic issues above the interest and comprehension of the average New York voter, Mayor Walker will run on his "record," will win on his "popularity"--unless he decides to take up a new line of business.