THE PEOPLE'S CHANCE

Probably no mayoralty contest in the United States has ever aroused more furor than the LaGuardia-McKee-Tammany struggle in the home of Broadway. From Times Square to the Pacific it is continuous front-page copy. But New York is not the only ostrich in the zoo. Boston, too, is witnessing one of the fiercest knock-down drag-outs of its history. And in both cases the reason for the excitement is exactly the same. A really able man, one who is neither crook nor incompetent, has a betting chance to be elected.

In New York the situation is unprecedented. Tammany, with its eggplant jowled O'Brien has cut its own throat and Fighting Major LaGuardia still looks to be a rabbit's foot ahead of Playboy McKee. Boston's prospects are problematical. The Beacon Hill minority that has been completely impotent in the past may find itself in the dizzy position of holding the balance of power. The bloc of votes which have meant victory in the past are now split, how closely no one knows. The Innes-Nichols-Goulston group is an excellent match for the Curley-Coakley-Foley combine. Parkman has the record of being a political giant-killer and his experience as a dock foreman combined with political astuteness make him a vote-getter among the working classes. Mansfield points justifiably with pride to his 90-odd thousand votes against Curley last election. Last minute dopesters say Foley's loss of the city employee vote to Nichols has killed his chances. Samuel Seabury's nephew is Parkman's manager and the Judge's support should spell more confidence among the Senator's supporters.

One thing, however, is certain. Even in Boston, there is a glorious opportunity to "turn the rascals out," to elect a man of vigor, honesty, and political intelligence. The Boston decision will be one of the closest in history no matter which way it goes. The politically-minded Irish, strange to say, are more than partial to the two best candidates, Parkman and Mansfield. If the voters use their chance stupidly or do not use it at all Boston will probably go bankrupt, higher taxes will drive still more large firms into the suburbs. More pathetic, welfare and city workers will become political slaves.

Yet if the worst comes true the political buccanneers will not be without their reply, their "mandate from the people," To any snivelled protests that may rise up there can always be answered, "Well, you suckers, you asked for it."