The Big Fellow

Sober citizens of Chicago sometimes say: "Capone? Yes, it's amazing, isn't it? But you have to hand it to him. Why, he'll probably be mayor of Chicago before he's through. Seriously--and he'd probably be a darn good one, too."

Further evidence of the eminence which the No. 1 underworldling of the U. S. has been allowed to attain in the free and breezy No. 2 city of the land came out last fortnight. Newspapers on election morning contained this story: Chief Justice John P. McGoorty of the city's criminal court, in charging the November Grand Jury, had revealed that "overtures" had been made both to him and to the State's Attorney's office by an emissary of Capone. The proposition was that if the police would promise not to interfere with Capone's liquor trade, Capone would withdraw from his labor union rackets; more, he would surrender himself on a vagrancy charge, if the charge would be dropped immediately, and thereafter leave town, conduct his business by remote control.

Judge McGoorty said he declined the offer. "Such a truce is unthinkable," he told the grand jury. "There must not be any compromise with lawlessness."

The Capone emissary, one Michael J. Galvin of the so-called Teamsters' and Chauffeurs' Union (one of Chicago's 33 "racket" unions), was not, however, detained. Instead he was "invited to leave the judge's chambers."

Chicago's newspapers yammered indignantly, of course, at the "insulting and revolting" proposal, this "outrageous evidence of arrogant municipal gang rule." But in private their hard-boiled editors made remarks like the one quoted at the beginning of this report.

A few days later the newspapers had another Capone story to play up, this time with Capone as the Hero. Searching the apartment of Gangster Terrence Druggan, police found a letter conspiring to kill Capone. Excerpt: "I am in a position to take care of the big fellow. I can do anything you want me to." Ignoring other items of news-interest in the Druggan raid, editors headlined CAPONE ON SPOT.

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