For the 33,000 inhabitants of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the burning post-election issue was: Who would be President Kennedy's choice for their new Governor? Last week they got their answer when the President appointed Ralph Paiewonsky, millionaire rum merchant. Although the announcement slaked everybody's curiosity, the political atmosphere surrounding it was as hot as the noon sun over Charlotte Amalie.
Smooth, quiet Ralph Paiewonsky, 53, is a scion of the islands' wealthiest family, whose empire has come to embrace shops, movies, insurance, banking and, more recently, a distillery in St. Croix that...