The Chicago Election, the American Ambassador's
Speech, and Mr. Eastman's Gift rIMIE ever-present question of the relations of the two chief sections of the English-speaking world has been much in our minds for three widely differing reaS011S. Within a few days the files of American news- papers describing the election of Mr. William Hale Thompson as Mayor of Chicago reached this country; Mr. Houghton, the American Ambassador, made an admirable speech on British-American relations at Manchester; and Mr. George Eastman's munificent. gift of 000,000 " as a mark of affection and admiration for the British people " was announced.
When thinking about the Chicago election Englishmen would do well to draw on their sense of humour and not to take American municipal politics au grand serieux. They must remember that there have been occasions io the past when " the potency of demagogy " has had free run in other countries besides the United States. hut when full allowances have been made it must be • ,(Imitted that there have been few occasions on which the iiei actor • in an election has indulged in so much baffoonery and has so thrown restraint to the winds. cannot recall such persistent twisting of the British , tail since the beginning of 1896, when time Venezuelan , ['kis was at its height. Nothing better illustrates the Jo:it change which has taken place in the American ,-eling for this country than the condemnation which Mr. Thompson's methods have aroused throughout the hilted States.
On April 5th, Mr. Thompson, Republican candidate, Mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923, sportsman, million- ;iire. son of an old family, and cowboy, swept the polls defeated the late Mayor of Chicago, Mr. William E.
(.1., by a large majority. Chicago has 1,146,000 tered voters and nearly 1,000,000 of them cast heir ballots, a remarkably high percentage. " Big Bill," a, Mr. Thompson is called in the American headlines, obtained 512,740 votes and Mr. Dever 429,668, a majority of 83,072. - How did he do it ? Simply by appealing to the mob-mind. After reading some of the platform oratory of the new mayor one is inclined to agree with Mr. Norman Angell's phrase, "time hope of democracy lies in fully realizing the truth that the voice of the people is usually the voice of Satan."
In his every address, Mr. Thompson urged the electors to keep the King of England out of Chicago." Some 4 the bon mots of the campaign were :— W011 make the King of England keep his snout out of iloeriea'; "• When I went out of office' (referring to his previous term as '•"1Yel)'Washington fell out and the King of England fell in ' ; -Mr. William McAndrews„ superintendent of schools, was accused permitting pro-British histories to be used in Chicago's schools, 1(1 he was designated as tho- stool-pigeon of King George ' ; cl those Americans who were advocating America's joining tho ,agoc of Nations or World Court were accused of upholding tho vies that • it takes seven Yanks to equal one Englishman.' " • however absurd the charges may seem to us, 4,000 'inks away, we must remember that Mr. Thompson understandi the Mob-mind ; his 'appeal was directed to ite extraordinarily cosmopolitan electorate of Packing- town - —a human Melting-pot. With the exception of the raid and Examiner —the entire Press of Chicago were against him and Warmly espoused the cause of his op- P"nent. " Highbrows and low-brows alike were hostile," Care UM, and in "he silk-stocking districts" he was defeated. It was to the big public full of prejudice that he appealed, and his " broad-brim hat and breezy air of the plains " proved irresistible.
Apart from the support of the foreign-born element, Mr. Thompson made a mass offensive on the Negro vote. Since the War the Negro population has largely increased by immigration from the South, and to-day the city contains 200,000 Negroes. Even the Chicago Tribune admitted that Mr. Thompson was " the only Mayor who ever had given the coloured people a square deal." He promised better times for the coloured man and said that they would make good postmen, policemen and street-ear conductors, and advocated the appointment of a coloured Captain of Police " in the coloured district." The local Negro paper, the Emancipator, enthusiastically took up cudgels on his behalf and wrote encomiums oh " Big Bill," Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, "America's greatest leaders in the people's fight for democracy and human rights." Mr. Thompson owed his victory, therefore, apart from his " America first " cam- paign, to foreign, Negro and " %Vet " support. On the subject of Prohibition enforcement he said : " I will break any cop I catch on the trail of a lonesome pint into a man's house or ear."
The new Mayor's tirades against. King George, his cowboy lint, and his introduction of live rats on the plat- form to represent his opponents were all part of his stock- in-trade. There were no lengths to which he was not pre- pared to go. Small wonder that the Press of almost the whole country deplored his election and said that Chicago had invited " the contempt and disdain of the nation." Believers in clean administration arc in despair and recall Mr. Thompson's previous eight years in office, when the forces of darkness held sway.
The cause of friendship between the English-speaking peoples is one for which the Spectator has always worked. There are moments when some ephemeral episode on either side of the Atlantic seems to retard its progress. Ripples there must be on the surface of the ocean of English-speaking inter-relations. They arc inevitable in the case of peoples bound so closely together as we are, and they leave no lasting mark. We have every right to be satisfied with the relations between our two Common- wealths when we compare them with t hose existing twenty-five years ago. The first essential to a good understanding is absolute frankness and plain-speaking. It is for that reason that we welcome the admirable speech of Mr. A. B. Houghton, the American Ambassador, at the Manchester Chamber of Commeree on April 22nd.
Mr. Houghton gave his reasons for believing that the future of the world, its happiness and general well-being depend largely "upon the existence of a solind and cordial understanding between the British and American peoples." Fundamentally, such an understanding is already in existence because of the identity of our outlook on world affairs. " But we both need," he told 113, " a little more patience, a little more belief in one aitother's good faith, and, above all, a little more individual effort to understand the difficult problems each people is facing." Then the 'Ambassador proceeded to explain why he is opposed, as we have always been. to an Anglo-American alliance. "To bring English-speaking peoples together," he said, and they are words which deserve to be remembered, "into an armed and exclusive group . . . would unite all the rest of the world against us." To draw up a written pact of co-operation between the British and American Commonwealths would be a fatal step, for it would appear to outsiders as if the English-speaking peoples desired to impose their will on the rest of the world, while in reality they have no such intention. That is not to say that one should not exert every effort to promote an understanding between our peoples, for without it the world outlook would be a dark one.
An increasing number of people in every part of the English-speaking world sincerely believes in the ncci.ssity of English-speaking co-operation, and while disapproving of a formal alliance maintains that a spiritual alliance already exists. Proof of American friendship for us is afforded by the splendid gift of Mr. George Eastman, the head of the Kodak Company, to establish an up-to-date dental clinic in London, identical with the wondern:i institution which he established at Rochester, New York. ten years ago. His gift comes at an opportune moincw. and the results of it will be visible in the improved (.)1._ dition of the health of Londoners when Mr. Thonips(,11 and his tub-thumping will have long been forgotten.
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