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By J. Owen Grundy
Edge was succeeded by Governor Alfred E. Driscoll. Driscoll, a young, clean Camden County "reform" Republican, had been a classmate of Judge Carey's son, Bob, and was Judge Carey's Camden campaign manager, back in the old days. He had, also, managed Bob Hendrickson's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign against Edison, (when Edison had Hague's backing,) in 1940. With Driscoll's triumph for Governor over Lewis G. Hansen, a Hague Judge from Jersey City, by a plurality of 221, 418, Hague saw that his days were numbered -- so did his enemies.
Driscoll implemented the new state constitution. With it came new efficiency for the New Jersey state government. Driscoll appointees filled many of the new offices, formerly occupied by Hague Democrats and Hague Republicans.
A new judiciary was established. Hague's old foe, Arthur T. Vanderbilt, architect of the new court system, was selected to head it as Chief Justice. At last, the courts were free. The prosecutors were now under the immediate supervision of the state attorney general. Formerly, the prosecutors were relatively autonomous. The judges were now directly accountable to the Chief Justice; and Vanderbilt was a hard task master.
Voting machines were adopted throughout the state. No longer could corrupt politicians know how voters voted or give a false count to a candidate. Of course, the possibility of fraud was not entirely obliterated, but it was reduced to nil.
Hague decided to quit. He called an extraordinary meeting of the City Commission in Dickinson High School; and there in 1947, before a cheering crowd, he formally resigned. That same night, the remaining four commissioners elected Hague's nephew Frank Hague Eggers as the new Mayor. In a few days, the old boss took off on an extended vacation.
Times had changed. There was even a "strain" between Hague and his long time friend, A. Harry Moore. Moore had been governor for three terms (longer than any of his predecessors), but refused to run for a fourth, when Hague needed him. World War II was over and the "boys" had come home full of new found freedom. Had they not trounced the tyrants of Europe and Asia? Who was Hague, that half-pint dictator?
This was the Jersey City political environment. Hague retired in 1947 and appointed his nephew, Frank Eggers, as Mayor. "Behind the scenes" Frank Hague remained the boss. This move infuriated those who saw it as a the establishment of a dynasty, laying the ground work for the successful Kenny "Palace Revolt" two years later. (It has been proved, time and again, that even the most powerful of dictators
cannot transfer power to a successor.)
In utter desperation Hague booted John V, Kenny out of the Democratic Party, charging that he a been secretly dealing with Republican Attorney General Van Riper. This may have been true, since Kenny retained Van Riper to represent him, years later, when Kenny found himself under federal indictment. But, the main reason was that Hague sensed that Kenny was getting ready to revolt, and Frank Hague, in characteristic aggressive style, decided to head it off. "The best defense is a good offense" is an old aphorism among fighters.
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
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