"Tony" v. "Big Bill"

A two-to-one victory was what newspaper straw polls last week indicated Anton Joseph ("Tony") Cermak, Democratic nominee for Mayor of Chicago, would win over Republican Mayor William Hale ("Big Bill") Thompson in next week's municipal election. But three factors put a discount on this political forecast: 1) the straw-polling journals (the Tribune and Daily News) were noisily campaigning for Nominee Cermak; 2) Thompson henchmen would not fool with ballots that did not count; 3) the city's "best people" now supporting Nominee Cermak might go golfing on Election Day.

At stake was a real prize: the mayoralty during Chicago's World's Fair in 1933. Nominee Thompson, seeking a fourth term, charged that Nominee Cermak had defrauded the U. S. on income tax payments. "When all the royalty comes from Europe to Chicago's World Fair, it will be embarrassing if they have to go to jail to meet the Mayor of this town and that's where Tony will hold office if he's elected."

Nominee Cermak as an individual aroused no great enthusiasm among the electorate. He was just somebody to "beat Thompson." From a mule boy in Illinois coal mines, he had climbed up through the trucking business to be Chicago's Democratic boss. His campaign was quiet, dignified, uninspiring. He always referred to Thompson as "His Honor," used no epithets, refused to stunt for the crowds. Behind him he had a unified Democracy and uncounted thousands of Republicans sick of "Big Bill."

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