Chicago The citizens of Chicago have this week elected a
Democratic mayor, Mr. Cermak, by a majority of 190,000 votes over the Republican ex-mayor, Mr. W. H. Thompson. The new mayor, who as a boy emigrated from Bohemia to the United States and has become a leading business man in Chicago, based his appeal to the electors on the need for a " clean-up " of the city and for a reduction of its heavy expenditure. His very large majority attests his foreknowledge of Chicago opinion. It would be unwise to accept literally all that a lively Press has said about Mr. Cermak's defeated rival. Mr. Thompson, in the heat of platform oratory, has made silly and offensive remarks about the King, but there is no reason to suppose that he is in any sense an enemy of this country, or that his defeat is a British triumph. Nor is it clearly demonstrated that Mr. Thompson had any special affection for the lawless elements who have made Chicago their prey for years past. Gangsters flourish there as elsewhere in the United States through defects in the legal system rather than in the police. Mr. Cermak's success was partly due, no doubt, to the Democratic party revival which was clearly marked last November. * *
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