I. W. W.

Since the alacrity of Mayor Walker's political opponents to pooh-pooh the idea of their being connected with such underhanded operations as wire-tapping was matched only by the promptness with which the Mayor himself assured the public he cared not a whit if they did listen, one must conclude that some motive lying deeper than matters of state actuated the recent listening in on the Mayor's telephones.

It might be, of course, suggested that this eavesdropper was someone who dearly loved and trusted the Mayor, but who still preferred to make sure her suspicious were groundless just for her own satisfaction. Or again, perhaps the wiretapper's admiration for the Mayor's personality led him to take this opportunity to listen in to become more intimate with and perhaps to capture its secret.

But a little deeper consideration of the case will show these explanations to be fallacious. The man who would do so desperate a deed of wickedness was a man playing for highest stakes: he was trying to catch Jimmy at work. Notice too that this theory accounts for the nonchalance with which Mayor Walker treated the whole affair: his conscience was clear; he need fear no one.