Just how this was impressed upon the men from Illinois let the minutes
show. The chairman recognized "the gentleman from Chicago."
MR. CUMMINGS (of Chicago): "Gentlemen, I don't believe there is a
single delegate to this caucus who would be so unfair as to impugn the
patriotism of 650,000 men who rallied to the colors of this country
by saying: 'Because Chicago had a mayor of which they are all ashamed
that they are not patriotic.' Had the men who were serving the colors
in France been in Chicago, they would have had no apology to offer for
their mayor. (Applause.) He was elected in a three-cornered fight
where he did not receive a majority vote in Chicago, but had the
opposition to him been solidified he would have been snowed under, for
Chicago is patriotic. I consider that an insult has been handed to
every man in Illinois who rallied to the colors.
"The Tank Corps of which I am a member, and an enlisted man
originally, gave from Chicago 11,250 enlisted men, volunteers in the
most hazardous branch of the service. They gave 11,250 men as against
11,000 which the rest of the country contributed. If that doesn't
bespeak patriotism for Chicago, I don't know how you are going to
gauge it. I am saying that in the invitation which was extended to you
we are speaking for the boys of khaki and blue who rallied to the
colors from Illinois, and who are here to-day, extending the
invitation to you notwithstanding the fact that we are cursed by a
mayor who is not our choice.
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