POLITICAL NOTES: Outside Lane

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It was hard to believe, folks in Massachusetts' Seventh Congressional District said, that Congressman Tom Lane was really in prison. Ask for a favor at his office in Lawrence, and his staff saw to it that the request got the same prompt, courteous attention it had in the past. Let there be a funeral or a wake in the Lawrence-Lynn area, and one of his aides was sure to attend, delicately dropping the word that he was there as Lane's personal representative. Even though he was serving a four-month term for evading $38,542 in income tax (TIME, March 19), Democrat Lane, 58, kept his fences in order. Last week he walked out of the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Conn, and announced that he will seek re-election to the House seat he has held since 1942.

Everything was in apple-pie order for Lane's campaign. His ever-efficient staff had rounded up the signatures for and filed his nominating petitions, even posted, two weeks before he left Danbury, plenty of Lane billboards. The candidate himself was in fine condition for the race: four months of work in the prison power plant had taken off 20 pounds, left him trim and fit at 180. He was as confident as ever. "I have built up a record," he said, "of working assiduously on behalf of my constituents. And I think no one can criticize my record as far as my service to the people of this district is concerned."