Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 268, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1915 — Great Club Stands By Mayor Thompson in Crisis. [ARTICLE]

Great Club Stands By Mayor Thompson in Crisis.

Probably no effort ever made in the cause of law enforcement attracted wider attention than is being given at this time to the effort of Mayor William Hale Thompson to compel respect of the laws of Illinois in the Sunday closing of saloons. Great newspapers have failed to give him endorsement and doubtless many of his friends have lacked the courage to stand by him and say by their actions “We are wilftng to help.”

Preachers, to be sure, and many of the good people have applauded the act and fearlessly announced that they will stand by the mayor but counting room cowards have slunk away. It is encouraging to find that a great club like the Hamilton has the respect for law to give endorsement to the mayor and the November issue of The Hamiltonian says:

“Mayor William Hale Thompson is the republican mayor of Chicago. The Hamilton Club is a republican club, and its candidate for mayor last spring was william Hale Thompson. The Hamilton Club stands by Mayor Thompson and supports him in every step for law enforcement, and will always Stand by him in any movement to enforce the law, and to fulfill his obligations as mayor of Chicago.” In the news columns the magazine records that Mayor Thompson and some forty friends were entertained by Col. Charles E. Blayer, a life long friend and that at the dinner the “Sunday Closing Order” was discussed and that the speeches were all in favor of the mayor’s law enforcement plans. Mayor Thompson spoke not in his own defense but as regards his duty and he said: “Sunday closing was a serious step. I realized some of my closest friends would be injured and that it would injure some men who are doing a great work for Chicago. I did it not because I had any puritanical ideas, not because of any particular ideas on the wet or dry fuestion, but when the proposition was put up to me that this was the law and the laW was not obsolete, I had but one course to follow. * * .* It was called to my attention that when foreign-born saloonkeepers went to take out naturalization papers they were asked if they kept open on Sunday. If they said ‘yes’ the court said: ‘Your papers are denied; you are not fit to become a citizen because you are violating the law.’ “We don’t post-mqrtem any questions that come to the city hall on the basis of “Will it get votes for Thompson?’ or ‘ls it a good political move?’ Our basis is: ‘ls it the law and is it to the interest of the city?’ ”