At the First Turn

With all of New York State's politicos in an uproar about labor racketeering and shakedown at harness-racing tracks (TIME, Oct. 5-12), it was a foregone conclusion that the issue would be dragged into the New York City mayoralty campaign. Last week Robert Wagner Jr., the Democratic candidate for mayor, grabbed the scandal and tried to throw it all the way to Washington.

"That Boy." In an "emergency" broadcast, Wagner charged that "one of the most important men in the U.S." had attempted to spring Joey Fay, a notorious labor extortioner, from Sing Sing Prison. Said Wagner: "I call on the governor to deny that one of the men who tried to get Fay out of jail was--and is--one of

Dewey's closest political associates on the national scene . . ." With a typical retort, Governor Thomas E. Dewey promptly accepted the challenge. Said he: "Apparently Wagner is trying to charge that some member of the national Administration appealed to me unsuccessfully in the interest of Joseph Fay. I always thought the boy was stupid, but never before that he was crazy. No such appeal has ever been made to me by anyone connected with the national Administration."

That tossed the ball back to Wagner, who said: "Who is Governor Dewey trying to kid? I never said the appeal was made to him. I said it was made to the State Parole Board, which had refused to parole Fay last January." Alfred R. Loos, chairman of the parole board, challenged Wagner to make public the name of his "most important" man. Although the board's records are confidential, said Loos, he and other members would get to the facts after they got the name and would make a public statement.

"Put Up Promptly." This was a signal for Harold Riegelman, Republican candidate for mayor, to put Wagner on a really hot spot. Said Riegelman "Wagner could not go far in this campaign without revealing a reckless dishonesty and cowardice . . . He had better put up promptly or be forever branded as totally untrustworthy and unfit." This week Governor Dewey's counsel George M. Shapiro, wired Wagner: "Name . . . the alleged person or publicly retract . . ."

The loud-voiced argument might or might not have an effect on the campaign for mayor. But the man with the most at stake in the whole mess is not a candidate for mayor. He is Tom Dewey. His eleven years as governor of New York have been generally free of scandal. How he handles the current uproar, regardless of whether any national figures are involved, may have a great impact on his personal and political future.

Characteristically, ex-District Attorney Dewey started off forcefully, was running hard at the first turn. He 1) appointed a commission to investigate the race-track operations, and 2) moved for (and probably will get) the removal of Republican Leader Arthur Wicks of the state senate, who was a five-time caller at Joey Fay's Sing Sing cell. After his investigating commission reports. Dewey is expected to propose new laws to cut down the opportunities for shakedowns at the race tracks and also for labor racketeering anywhere in New York.

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