5 NOVEMBER 1927, Page 3

The explanation of " Big Bill's " municipal power is

said to be that by his invective against Great Britain he conciliates all the other racial groups, of which there are many in Chicago. Yet even that .does not seem to be an adequate explanation. His determination " to put an end to King George " and ." make King George keep his snoot ' out of Chicago " sounds plausibly heroic until one asks what signs there are of British pene- tration of Chicago. Apparently the only sign is that the public schools, under the enlightened Mr. McAndrew, have adopted history books written by reputable American scholars who have weighed their evidence. These books are now to be replaced by " patriotic " histories written by a contractor and a proprietor of taxicabs. A convincing sign of penetration would be a large and clamorous gronp, offensively conscious of British origin, or a large group preaching pro-British ideas, but among all the interesting phenomena of Chicago it is just such a group that is lacking. * * * *