These words, spoken by the Son of the carpenter, came to our mind when the coroner's jury recently found that the mayor of Chicago was implicated in the death of 599 people in the fire at the Iroquois theater. The words were called to our mind as an irresponsible press burst into demonic glee at the news that the chief of our city had met with such difficulties. We thought of the words, as members of the clergy, full of hatred, sentenced the mayor from hundreds of pulpits, before the jury had come to a verdict.

[Whether the mayor is] guilty or not guilty--should the religious leaders and the social leaders exult over the misfortune of an official and thoughtlessly judge him when they know quite well that their judgment is not impartial?

All this impulsive jubilation over the verdict by the coroner's jury has its orgin in vengeful souls. That this is so is shown by the fact that no daily 2[newspaper]and no minister expressed joy when one of those who were--we dare to say it--really guilty was also found by the jury to be responsible [for the fire]. The press and the clergy mentioned the name of K. J. Davis only in passing, and there would probably be but little opposition if he had been exonerated--as long as Carter H. Harrison was sentenced.

What guilt, then, falls upon the mayor in connection with this murderous fire? After his reelection as mayor, he appointed the heads of the various departments under his supervision. When he named Mr. W. H. Musham as fire chief, no opposition was voiced--quite the contrary. The mayor was lauded for him selection; a comparison between Mr. Musham, Who had been a member of the fire department for thirty-seven years, and his competitor for the position, the feed-merchant Badenoch, revealed the superiority of the former.

After the fire at St. Luke's Home, in which thirteen people died, the mayor discharged Mr. Kiolbassa, the building commissioner at the time. He then searched long and diligently for a man who would be competent and at the same time faithful to his duties. The Builder's Club, an organization consisting 3of the foremost building contractors in the city, recommended Mr. G. Williams, a contractor, for the position. Upon this recommendation, mayor Harrison appointed Mr. Williams as building commissioner. The fact that Mr. Williams belonged to a different political party than Mayor Harrison is proof that the mayor was more intent upon the welfare of the community than upon that of his political friends.

A man is not omniscient, not even when he becomes the mayor of Chicago. Mayor Harrison does not lay claim to omniscience; he does not even profess any technical knowledge in the fields of construction and fire protection. In view of the high praise given Messrs. Musham and Williams at the time of their appointment, is it to be wondered at that the mayor felt safe in leaving the departments in question in the hands of the chiefs who had been praised so highly?

As we mentioned earlier in the editorial, Mr. W. J. Davis, one of the directors and part owners of the theater, was cited for manslaughter by the coroner's 4jury. The question naturally arises: Why did the hand of judgment fail to reach out to Director Harry J. Powers, and to Max Klaw and Abe Erlanger, part owners [of the theater]? It seems to us that the whole plame for the terrible disaster rests with this quartet. By their orders, the side doors of the theater had been locked and bolted; by their orders ropes of hemp were employed instead of wire ropes, so that the screen did not work; by their orders the air and smoke vents had been nailed up; by their orders several hundred tickets for standing room had been sold. If these things had not been done, all the people in the theater could have reached safety...The men we have named knew the law, but out of pure meanness and covetousness they circumvented the law in order to cut expenses. The blame for the tragedy ought to be placed upon them.