Chicago City (part 9 of 57)

While there were many candidates for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, the one who developed the most surprising strength was Grover Cleveland of New York, a man entirely new in national politics. He had been Mayor of Buffalo and Sheriff of his county, and his political record was deemed irreproachable by his friends. This was considered a strong point in his favor, especially since the opponents of Mr. Blaine were making persistent attacks upon his record as a public man. The Independents of the East were satisfied with Mr. Cleveland's record as a reformer, and he was besides advantageously located in the state having the largest number of electoral votes. These various considerations, coupled with the fact that his friends in New York numbered some of the most astute managers within the party ranks, gave him greater prominence than any other candidate just prior to the convention. The leading spirits of the party, who gained control of the convention, believed that if the Democrats after twenty-eight years of defeat hoped to elect a President they must adopt a decisive platform, nominate at the head of the ticket a man representing the living issues of the day, and relegate the fossils and dead-weights to the rear. Blaine beine an avowed Protectionist, it was believed that Mr. Cleveland would not refuse to run on a "tariff for revenue only," or a tariff reform platform, which the controlling element of the Democracy desired. The convention was to assemble July 8, and the tariff reformers were on the ground early, and gave notice of their determination to force the convention into a vigorous and definite expression upon this important and all absorbing topic. The preparation of a plank in reference to the tariff to be presented for adoption was undertaken by such avowed Free Traders as William R. Morrison, Henry Watterson, Frank Hurd and Francis Kernan, and their views with but slight modifications were embodied in the platform upon its adoption. The Republican convention in June had been prolonged beyond the expectations of many far-sighted politicians, and the excitement ran high in the convention hall, the hotel lobbies, and in the streets, where mass meetings and processions were of hourly occurrence, but the Democratic convention, notwithstanding the hot and sultry July weather, far outrivaled the Republican gathering in point of excitement, enthusiasm, fireworks, the music of brass bands and speeches of agitators, who endeavored to create and control local feeling. The New York County Democracy, 1,500 strong, headed by county and city officials, put in an appearance first and began work for Cleveland ; John Kelly and the Tammany Hall organization came next, and immediately opened the fight in opposition to Cleveland. Local political organizations and reception committees were busily engaged for several days in the work of receiving and providing for the entertainment of political clubs from all the chief cities of the country. Benjamin F. Butler, who had already been nominated for the presidency by the Anti-Monopolists and Greenback party in the East, and who had accepted in a letter dated at Lowell, Mass., June 15, was present as a delegate in the Democratic convention and a recognized candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. On the evening of July 5 the local labor organizations held a Butler demonstration. There was a procession in which about 3,000 men participated, and it was viewed by not less than 50,000 spectators along the line of march. Gen. Butler attempted to address the multitude at the Palmer house, but the uproar was so great he could not make himself heard, and was forced to retire. It was known that the New York delegation was divided, and that forty-nine delegates were for Cleveland, the remaining twenty-three being for Flower, Bayard and Slocumb, and that John Kelly, Senator Grady and Gen. Butler would make a united and bitter fight to defeat Cleveland's nomination. All of this added to the excitement and the intense interest everywhere manifested as to the probable outcome of the convention. The Illinois delegation organized as follows : John M. Palmer, Chairman ; W. H. Barnes, Secretary ; A. J. O'Connor, Credentials ; W. A. J. Sparks, Permanent Organization; William R. Morrison, Resolutions; S. Corning Judd, National Committeeman; A. E. Stevenson, Notification ; Anthony Norton, Vice-President ; Harry Rubens, Convention Secretary.

The convention was called to order at 12 o'clock July 8, and the first division occurred on the question of enforcing the unit rule as to the New York delegates in accordance with the instructions of the Saratoga convention. During the debate Carter Harrison spoke in opposition to the enforcement of the unit rule. The National Committee presented a resolution providing for the government of the convention by the same rules as those that governed the convention of 1880, which recognized the unit rule. Senator Grady of New York, offered an amendment providing for the recording of the votes of individual delegates. The amendment was lost, and the unit rule adopted by a vote of

The Committee on Platform met in the rooms of the Iroquois club and found themselves in a dead-lock on the tariff question, the vote on chairman being eighteen for William R. Morrison, Tariff reform, to eighteen for George L. Converse, Protection. A compromise was made on Malcolm Hay for temporary chairman of the committee. The committee was addressed in behalf of the Irish National League of America in opposition to absentee landlords in this country by Alexander Sullivan of Chicago, President of the League.

William H. Vilas of Wisconsin, was made President of the convention. July 9 another test vote between the two elements in the convention was taken on a motion to lay on the table a motion to proceed with the nomination of candidates. When New York was called Chairman Manning announced 72 votes no, and was sustained by the Chairman of the convention in voting his delegation as a unit under the instructions of the New York State convention, and the vote of the convention as recorded, stood: Ayes, 282; noes, 521. The convention proceeded to the nominations, brilliant speeches being made by many eminent speakers in favor of Senator Bayard, Senator McDonald, Senator Thurman, John G. Carlisle, Grover Cleveland, Samuel Randall and George Hoadley. Mr. Lockwood of New York, presented Cleveland's name, and the nomination was sec- onded by Carter Harrison. Senator Grady dissented and charged that the laboring men and the Irish Catholics would not support Cleveland. Mayor Harrison repelled this statement. The name of Benjamin F. Butler was not presented. July 10 Mayor Harrison denied the accusation made by certain speakers that he had packed the hall with a clique to applaud his speech for Cleveland. On the evening of July 10, when the Committee on Platform had reported, Gen. Butler made a minority report in favor of a protective tariff. A, vote was taken on the adoption of Gen. Butler's substitute, and it was rejected, yeas 97%, nays 714^, and the majority platform was adopted.

The first ballot for a Presidential candidate was taken at 12 o'clock midnight, resulting, Hoadley, 3; Carlisle, 27; Randall, 78; Thurman, 88; McDonald, 56; Bayard, 170; Cleveland, 392. Illinois cast 28 for Cleveland, 11 for McDonald, 2 for Bayard, 1 for Thurman, 1 for Randall, and 1 for Thomas A. Hendricks, the latter vote being that of Alderman E. F. Cullerton of Chicago. On the morning of July 11 it early became apparent that the Indianians and local friends of Hendricks were present in the convention in large numbers. On the second and last ballot the voting had proceeded in the call of states as far as Illinois, and when the Chairman of the Illinois delegation began to announce the vote as, Hendricks 1, there suddenly broke out a scene of wild and enthusiastic tumult, the cheering drowning every other sound, and continuing for fifteen minutes. It was too late to stampede the convention, however, and the further announcement of 38 votes from Illinois for Cleveland somewhat lessened the Hendricks enthusiasm. It was seen that Cleveland was nominated. Illinois first changed to 37 for Cleveland, Hendricks 1, Bayard 3, McDonald 3, and then to 44 votes solid for Cleveland. On the official record Illinois stood, Cleveland 43, McDonald 1 ; and the vote for each candidate as formally announced was, Cleveland, 683; McDonald, 2; Bayard, 8ij^; Thurman, 4; Hendricks, 45^ ; Randall, 4.

The convention adjourned until evening, when candidates for Vice-President were placed in nomination. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, Joseph E. McDonald, Gen. John C. Black of Illinois, George W. Glick and Thomas A. Hendricks were named. Gen. Black declined to allow the use of his name, saying he had pledged his allegiance to Senator McDonald so long as the latter's name was before the convention. A number of spirited speeches were made in favor of nominating Mr. Hendricks by acclamation, Delegate Wallace of Pennsylvania, saying he had been once chosen Vice-President and was despoiled of the office. The clerk proceeded to call the roll of the states, and Mr. Hendricks was nominated unanimously.

The Prohibition National Convention convened at Pittsburgh, July 24 ; criticised the Republican convention for ignoring the Prohibition petition of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union ; adopted a national Prohibition platform and nominated John P. St. John of Kansas, for President, and William Daniel of Maryland, for Vice-President.

Benjamin F. Butler formally accepted the nomination tendered him by the Greenback and Anti-Monopoly convention in a letter containing eleven thousand words in condemnation of the action of the Democratic convention on the tariff, and bidding for the support of the labor element of the country. This letter was dated August 12, and published August 18. The idea became prevalent that Butler in reality favored the election of Blaine, and that his candidacy was but a ruse to draw off Democratic votes, and thereby bring about the result desired. He received but few votes in Chicago.

The Independents enrolled under their standard many anti- Blaine Republicans and a large percentage of the floating vote, and this important influence was thrown in favor or Cleveland. The leaders were called bolters and "mugwumps," and were bitterly assailed by the Republican party organs on every hand. In Chicago there was a strong local organization and the Chicago Daily News was the medium through which independent sentiment found expression in the Northwest. A majority of the Independents were tariff and civil service reformers. There was an active local Executive Committee composed of Franklin Mac- Veagh, Gen. A. C. McClurg, W. T. Baker, E. G. Mason, George C. Clarke, James F. Claflin, Henry A. Gardner, Slason Thompson and Edwin Burritt Smith.

To Republicans and Independent Voters : - The nomination of James G. Blaine for the presidency by the Republican National convention of 18S4, has precipitated a question of great difficulty and supreme moment upon the American people. By this action the voter's attention is forced away from the consideration of party principles and policies, to the scrutiny of party candidates and the duties of citizenship. It is all the more deplorable and dangerous because Mr. Blaine's nomination was made with all the outward forms and circumstance of popular party choice. But those who were on the spot know how fictitious is the claim, that it was the irresistible demand of the great body of Republicans of the Northwest. They are not oblivious to the necessity of honor, integrity and a pure record in a presidential candidate, however noisy and bawling politicians may misrepresent them.

We know that Cook county was represented in the June convention by at least two men who were elected to oppose Blaine and voted for him. One of these men deliberately betrayed the trust reposed in him by his district. We know not how many others were brought to Mr. Blaine's support as he was, nor the means used to accomplish this man's conversion. Living in Chicago, some of us remember the spirit of liberty that animated the Republican convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln in i860, and we saw the political vultures who dominated the convention which nominated James G. Blaine in 1884. The men who had been fighting to keep on the outside of a jail in Washington fought for the nomination of James G. Blaine in Chicago. No unknown man was nominated. His record is notorious. Its "magnetic brilliancy" cannot hide its utter lack of principle, unselfish purpose, or public good accomplished. As a Member of Congress his voice was never raised, his vote never cast, for a measure to protect the public domain from the raids of land-grabbers and corporate plunderers.

As Speaker of the House of Representatives, he did. not scruple to prostitute a judicial decision to personal gain. As United States Senator, in the words of Senator Edmunds, "he jumped up, musket in hand, from behind the breastworks of Jay Gould's lobby to fire into the backs " of those Senators who were endeavoring to make the Union Pacific railway company keep its contract with the government. As Secretary of State, for a brief period, he made the United States ridiculous in the eyes of foreign powers of the first rank, while indulging in a questionable interference with the affairs of minor nationalities. His appointment of a disgraced officer of the army, to represent this country as Minister to Peru, in order that he might bully that distressed power into the recognition of a private claim, is not forgotten in Illinois, where that officer was known. As a private citizen of national influence he has not shrunk from advising the distribution of the surplus in the treasury among the states in such a way as to afford a vast corruption fund in the hands of the dominant party. The public standards and methods of Mr. Blaine are thoroughly corrupt and demoralizing. He treats public office as a private acquisition. He makes use of its opportunities to enrich and advance himself. He prostitutes its powers to reward his friends and to punish and proscribe those who oppose him. What has been accomplished toward administrative reform has been effected without his aid. In fact, he and those closely associated with him, have been conspicuous anions those to be reformed. His late profession of acceptance of the reformed system must be viewed with great suspicion by those who are familiar with his career, and do not now overlook the- methods of himself and his friends in the present campaign. Those who stand behind the Washington Committee and receive its "collections" cannot be trusted with the execution and improvement of the Civil Service Act. Our opposition to Mr. Blaine is based upon the evidence furnished by the candidate himself, and the public records. The strength of our position is exactly measured by the force of that evidence. Everything now known against Mr. Blaine was known when he was nominated last June. In the conventions of 1876 and 1880, a healthy respect for the honest sentiment of the country defeated him. But in 1884 the corrupt influences which he represented, in defiance of repeated warnings, forced him upon the party.

Believing that popular indifference to dishonesty and corruption in office is a menace to good government ; that a party nomination cannot cleanse a sooty record ; that when party action ceases to respond to the pure and honest sentiment within it. it becomes party tyranny ; that it is the duty of all intelligent citizens to look on parties as the aids to good government, not the idols for individual worship ; that to accept inevitably the offerings of a party convention, good or bad, deprives the voter of his inalienable rights ; that Blaine's nomination has compromised the Republican party, and his election would dishonor the nation, and believing that its defeat now may be the salvation of that party, that through the valley of tribulation it may come into a purer life, we declare our unalterable opposition to the election of James G. Blaine. Whether we shall support Grover Cleveland, must be left to individual choice. Of him we have this to say : His nomination was made by the Democratic party in response to the call for a man whose official life in sterling integrity and unwavering honesty should afford the strongest possible contrast to that of James G. Blaine. He has been thoroughly tried and found firm and able to withstand the worst elements of his own party. The manner of his nomination commends him to us. No malignant assaults upon his past private life have weakened his public record, or can alter the just and high aim of the convention which nominated him. The present is a good time to rebuke the insolent arrogance of unprincipled politicians who put up their chief and invoke party leaky to make him ruler of 55,000,000 people. The pernicious doctrine that the act of a convention, if it nominate Beelzebub, binds the consciences and votes of the party, is the issue in this campaign. Shall it prevail ? We firmly, honestly, sincerely believe not. To elect Blaine is to set him up as a model for the youth of America. To defeat him is to make his course a warning for all time. Therefore all Republicans and Independents who believe that the interests of good government, official honesty, efficient public service, purity at the primaries, and the honor of the American people, demand the defeat of James G. Blaine, are invited to place their names upon our rolls and aid us in every honorable way to prevent his election as President of the United States."

The state campaign was also replete with excitement and interest, and close contests were waged between rival candidates for Congress. In the First Chicago district the Republicans renominated R. W. Dunham, and the Democrats named as his opponent William M. Tilden, a cousin of Samuel J. Tilden. In the Second district the Democrats offered to nominate John F. Finerty, who two years before, as an Independent Democrat, had defeated Henry F. Sheridan, the regular Democratic nominee, providing he would support the National Democrat ticket; Mr. Finerty, however, resolutely refused to thus pledge himself, and he cast his fortunes and the influence of his paper, The Citizen, an Irish National weekly, with Blaine and for a Protective tariff. The Democrats thereupon nominated Frank Lawler, Alderman from the Eighth ward, who had a strong following among the laboring element of the district. In the Third district the supporters of George R. Davis and William E. Mason were divided by the result of the primaries. A contest ensued as to who should stand as the Republican candidate, which was carried to the National Committee for arbitration A decision was rendered in favor of Mr. Mason, and Mr. Davis apparently withdrew, but upon his return from the East, his supporters placed Gen. James Fitzsimons in the field against Mr. Mason. The Democrats in this favorable emergency nominated James Ward as their candidate in the district. In the Fourth Chicago district, the Republicans re-nominated George E. Adams, and the Democrats nominated John P. Altgeld.

Chicago, Cook County, And Illinois. 32 I.

In their State convention the Republicans nominated Richard J. Oglesby for Governor, and the Democrats, as has been shown, nominated (garter H. Harrison, Mayor of Chicago, as their candidate. Both candidates made a personal canvass, and stumped the state from end to end, addressing some of the greatest meetings ever held in Illinois.

The Prohibitionists also ran a full state ticket, with J. B. Hobbs of Chicago, for Governor, and the ticket received an important, but not excessively large, vote. Blaine's plurality for President, in Cook county, was 8,169 I Harrison's for Governor, 348. Oglesby's plurality in the state was 12,192, and Blaine's 26,399.

State Ticket For Governor

In this election Jacob Gross, Rep., of Chicago, was a candidate for State Treasurer against Alfred Orendorff, Dem., of Springfield ; Copp, the Prohibitionist candidate, and Goodhue, the Anti-Monopoly. The vote in Cook county was : Gross, 69,033; Orendorff, 61,018 ; Copp, 1,049; Goodhue, 669. Gross' majority, 6,297.

The Republican Electoral ticket received 18,180 majority in the state, and Oglesby's majority was 1 1,532 in the state. The popular vote in the state was, for Blaine, 337,586; for Cleveland, 312.314, making Blaine's plurality 25,272.

County Commissioners

The State Senators* and Representatives elected at this election, together with the vote received by the various candidates, were as follows :

*A complete list of Senators and Representatives elected in Cook county districts since the organization of the General Assembly will be found at the close of this volume.

f The vote as canvassed was reversed, Brand's apparent plurality being fraudulent, Gov. ernor Hamilton issued the certificate of election to Leman.

At the general election, November 4, 1884, a vote was taken in the city on the proposition to authorize the Council to appropriate $100,000 from the saloon license fund for the purpose of increasing the police force. The proposition was carried by a vote of 64,802 out of a total of 100,978 votes. It was charged by several newspapers that this appropriation was illegally carried by means of the many frauds entering into the election ; 243 Judges were arrested, charged with making false returns, but all escaped punishment by pleading ignorance of the law.

A few days after the general election of November, 1884, it became generally known that the two Houses of the Assembly in joint session would probably be a tie, as between the Democrats and the Republicans, so that a r.ingle vote, either in the House or Senate might electa United States Senator. It has been charged that this situation brought about the famous Brand- Leman fraud in the Eighteenth ward of Chicago. The intense excitement attending the Democratic National victory had not yet entirely subsided when it was discovered and charged by the press that the ballots of the Second precinct of the Eighteenth ward had been tampered with, and the result in the precinct reversed, so as to give a fraudulent majority for State senator to Rudolf Brand, Democrat, as against Henry W. Leman, Republican. In justice to Mr. Brand it is necessary to say that there never has been the slightest suspicion that he was in any way cognizant of this fraud. Before even the magnitude of the fraud was known, Mr. Brand announced that he would not accept an election that was in doubt, and demanded a re-count. The excitement and indignation ran high, and a citizen's committee of safety was formed for the purpose of hunting down and bringing to justice the miscreants who had perpetrated the frauds. The leaders of this movement were E. Nelson Blake, A. A. Carpenter, Melville

F. Cragin, Erskine M. Phelps, M. W. Fuller and many other prominent representatives of both political parties. A. M. Day was made chairman of the committee.

tody of the County Clerk and was in the vault of his office the original ballots had been abstracted and a number of bogus or forged ballots, printed as facsimiles of the genuine ones, with the exception that they contained Brand's name instead of Leman's, had been substituted. The apparent motive for the crime lay in the fact that the General Assembly elect was to ballot for a United States Senator, and a careful canvass of the state had shown that the Senate and House were apt to be a tie between the two parties. To more completely carry out the fraud the entire tally sheet accompanying the ballots had been forged so as to correspond, and clever counterfeits of the signatures of the Judges and Clerks of election were afhxed. The Committee of Safety and Federal authorities co-operating, arrested the Judges and Clerks, except one, Sullivan, who decamped to Canada. An enterprising reporter of the Daily News discovered where the bogus tickets had been printed, at P. L. Hanscom's printing office on Madison street, and secured a proof-slip of the bogus ticket containing Brand's name. The Wright brothers, employes of Hanscom, stated that Joseph C. Mackin, Secretary of the Cook County Central Democratic Committee, Assistant Secretary of the State Central Committee, and Secretary of the Cook County Democratic Club, had ordered the tickets printed, and they had been delivered to him at his room in the Palmer house. Joseph C. Mackin, William J. Gallagher, a saloon keeper, and Arthur Gleason, a clerk in the County Clerk's office, were indicted by the Federal Grand Jury for this offence on several counts, Mackin for conspiracy, Gallagher for forging the tallysheet, and Gleason for having, as charged, connived at the substitution of the fraudulent ballots while the genuine were in his custody. This indictment was subsequently dropped, and the trio were proceeded against by information, A. M. Day being the complainant. The trial was a sensational one and resulted in the conviction of the defendants, and the indictment for perjury in their behalf, of Charles Emery Gilmore and Jeremiah Sullivan. The prosecution was conducted before Judge Henry W. Blodgett, by District Attorney R. S. Tuthill, Gen. I. N. Stiles and Gen. J. C. Hawley, and the defense by Judge Turpie of Indiana, and Frank Turner for Mackin; Henry Wendell Thompson for Gallagher, Swett & Groscup, and W. S. Young for Gleason. An appeal was taken by the defendants on a petition for a writ of error, which was argued in their behalf before Justice Harlan and Judge W. Q. Gresham, by Emery A. Storrs ; the writ granted and the case certified to the United States Supreme Court, the defendants Mackin and Gallagher being held in bonds of $50,000, and Gleason in bonds of $10,000. In the meantime a special grand jury had been impaneled in the Criminal Court of Cook county, before which Mackin was summoned. He refused to answer certain questions on the ground that he might incriminate himself, but denied having procured the spurious tickets from Hanscom & Co. The jury thereupon indicted him for perjury ; he was convicted and sentenced to serve a sentence of five years in Joliet. The Supreme Court was applied to for a writ of supersedeas pending an appeal to the State Supreme Court, and the supersedeas was granted by Justices Shope and Craig, Before the Supreme Court the case was argued by Emery Storrs and John C. Richberg, and the sentence of the Criminal Court was sustained. This was the last argument of the gifted and brilliant Emery Storrs, who died at Ottawa immediately after its close. The appeal from the conviction in the Federal Court has not yet been decided at the date of this writing. Mackin was taken to Joliet to serve the Criminal Court sentence, and Gallagher and Gleason remained at large on bail.

The detectives employed by the Committee of Safety unearthed many minor frauds, but the only arrests made in connection with any of these were those of William J. Clingen, Clerk of the Armory Police Court, Frank E. Owens and John Stearns, city employes, who were charged with the illegal registration of voters in the First and Second wards. They were brought to trial in the Federal court, the jury disagreed, and on the second trial the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.

The anticipated contest over the election of a United States Senator to succeed John A. Logan began with the election of members of the General Assembly in the fall campaign, as has been shown, and when the two Houses assembled at Springfield in January, 1885, every other matter of business was subordinated to this issue. William R. Morrison, an avowed Free Trade apostle and.leader in Congress, who was a rival to Carter Harrison for the nomination for Governor, in the preceding July, was made the Democratic caucus nominee for Senator, and John A. Logan received the caucus nomination of the Republicans. Other prominent candidates were, Carter H. Harrison, Judge Lambert Tree and W. C. Goudy, on the Democratic side, and C. B. Farwell on the Republican side. Neither Logan or Morrison, the rival caucus candidates, represented a moneyed interest, and both were made to appreciate that the corporation influence, usually so potent in choosing United States Senators, was against them. Both also had to deal with some uncertain elements in their own party. But here the parallel ended. Morrison was still a member of the House of Representatives, was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and had the backing of the Carlisle wing of the Democracy, whose support meant a political future, whether he captured the Senatorship or not. Logan's term in the Senate was drawing to a close. As one of the defeated candidates on the Republican National ticket, he had been put forward by his party in Illinois to show its confidence in his leadership as well in defeat as in victory.

The first test of strength between Logan and Morrison in the joint convention was had February 19. That day both parties had their full strength present - 102 to 102. In the balloting Gen. Logan received 100 votes and Morrison 94. Representatives Sittig and MacMillan voted for E. B. Washburne and Andrew Shuman respectively, while the Democratic members who refused to go on record for Morrison scattered. Afterward MacMillan voted for Logan on several ballots, and Morrison began to whip the Cook county Democrats into line, so that his vote ran up to 99. Besides the Cook county members he had much trouble with Speaker Haines and Senator Streeter, both of whom had their own lightning rods up, and when either of them voted for Morrison, it was certain the circumstances were such that he could not be elected. Matters ran along this way for a week, and then death broke the tie. February 26 Representative Robert E. Logan, of the Nineteenth district, dropped dead at the entrance to the House chamber. He had toiled up the stairs, and as he was suffering from heart disease, the effort had proved fatal to him. This was Thursday, and a truce was arranged till the following Tuesday. Representative Logan was one of the Republican members, and his death left that party in the minority. Though the Governor immediately issued the writs for a special election, it would be nearly four weeks before a successor could qualify, and the only thing for the Republicans to do was to keep from voting till their ranks were again full. Many, however, believed that a Democratic Senator would be elected before a successor to the deceased member could be chosen. But it was not written in the book of fate that 102 Democratic members of the Thirty-fourth General Assembly should ever again vote in joint convention. Senator Frank M. Bridges of the Thirty-seventh district was a broken-down man when he came to the Legislature. He had had one or two strokes of paralysis, and it was with difficulty that he took part in the convention long enough to vote for Morrison. Immediately after Representative Logan's death Senator Bridges was taken to his home in Carrollton by his family, where he died.

April 12 Representative Shaw, a Democrat, died. Senator Logan's managers went quietly to work and laid plans to carry Shaw's district. The special election had been set for Wednesday, May 6. That day a few hundred Democrats went unsuspectingly to the polls and voted for Mr. Leeper, their candidate. Some Republicans, out of personal regard for him, did the same in the early hours of the day, before they could be informed of what was to come. Between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon the Republican voters all over the district began flocking to the polls and voting for W. H. Weaver of Menard county. The Democrats were panic stricken at this move, and made frantic efforts to get out their votes. But they were too late. Capt. Weaver carried every county except Cass, and his majority was over 300. The following day Democrats throughout the country were shocked and Republicans delighted to learn that a Republican member had been elected in a district which had given 2,000 Democratic majority in the Presidential election.

After receiving for two votes the entire strength of his party, 101, William R. Morrison's name was withdrawn on May 14, and Hon. Lambert Tree of Chicago, received most of the party strength. Finally on May 19, after the successors of all the deceased members had been seated, the 120th and final joint ballet was taken, and Senator Logan was re-elected to succeed himself for six years, ending March 4, 1891. The vote was as follows :

There were a greater number of prospective Mayoralty candidates in Chicago in the spring of 1885 than ever before known in the history of the city. The campaign practically opened early in March, and it was not known at this date whether Carter H. Harrison would be a candidate for re-election or not. One of the leading issues was "election reform," for the prevalence of election frauds in the fall preceding had led to unusual precautions on the part of the Committee of Public Safety and the press to secure a fair election. The leading- journals printed the registry lists in full, and showed where illegal registration had been carried on to a large extent. This had the effect of preventing frauds somewhat, but in several precincts the scheme of swearing in votes by affidavit and destroying the affidavits subsequently, was resorted to. The Republicans had three leading candidates shortly prior to the holding of their convention - George R. Davis, ex-Congressman from the Third district, Frank M. Blair, a prominent business man, resident of the North Division, who had been Chairman of the City Finance Committee under a strong Democratic administration, and who possessed an enviable record; and Sidney Smith, Judge ©f the Superior Court, a man of sterling qualities. The last named was taken up as a compromise candidate, in an effort to harmonize every Republican element, and it was believed, as well, that he would secure a large floating vote that had become hostile to Mayor Harrison. Judge Smith was nominated by acclamation ; John F. Finerty was nominated for Treasurer; C. H. Plautz for City Clerk, and Hempstead Washburne for City Attorney. The Democratic city convention was held in the Palmer house, March 24, and Carter H. Harrison was nominated by acclamation for re-election ; William M. Devine for Treasurer, John G. Neumeister for City Clerk, and Peter J. Ellert for City Attorney. The result of the vote on the city ticket as finally canvassed by the Council June 1, 1885, was as follows :

City Attorney

Hempstead Washburne, Rep., - - - 43»959 The Prohibitionists had a city ticket in the field at this election, which received for Mayor, Bush, 221 votes; City Treasurer, Speight, 261 votes ; City Clerk, Catlin, 249 ; City Attorney, Christian, 290. Harrison's plurality, 375.

It having been charged by certain newspapers prior to the canvass of the returns that a number of the ballot boxes, together with the ballots used at the city election, had not been delivered into the custody of the City Clerk, the Council on April 13 appointed a committee composed of Aids. Noyes, Hull and Dixon, two Republicans and one Democrat, to investigate the matter. The committee after full investigation reported that boxes sufficient in number to correspond with all of the precincts, and pur-' porting to contain the proper ballots, were in the City Clerk's vault, but that many of the boxes were without numbers, improperly sealed, and generally in an insecure condition. At the same meeting of the Council resolutions were offered by Aid. Cullerton denouncing the statements of a "partisan press" in reference to the late election, and pledging the Council to a fair, honest, and careful canvass of the returns, and by Aid. Ryan, directing the Mayor and Chief of Police to use every effort within their power to bring to justice persons guilty of fraud, intimidation, or other offense against an honest, free and fair election. Both resolutions were referred to the Committee on Elections. The latter committee at the next meeting of the Council recommended the passage of the resolutions, together with an ordinance authorizing the Mayor to draw upon the contingent fund for the purpose of procuring funds to assist an investigation of the facts, and of bringing the perpetrators of such frauds to justice.

The ballot box containing the ballots cast in the* Third precinct of the Third ward was stolen from the office of Howland's livery stable on Twenty-second street, at night, after the judges had finished their count of the returns. The only arrests made by the police were in connection with this affair. "Dutchy" O'Keefe was finally convicted of participation in this bold effort to thwart the voting franchise of the people, and he was sentenced to a term of five years in the penitentiary at Joliet.

The Judges of this precinct, Isaac Howland, Dr. Quinlan and George Todd, having preserved an abstract of the returns, forwarded the same to the Council. The Democratic majority in the Council refused to receive, these returns, and by a vote of 17 to 13 passed an order requesting of the Corporation Counsel an opinion as to what constituted legal returns.

April 23 the Council took action in reference to the election troubles, passing a resolution by a vote of 19 to 10 directing the Mayor and Chief of Police to use every effort within their power to arrest and bring to justice any and all persons guilty of fraud, intimidation or any other offense against an honest, free and fair election, and an honest and correct count of the votes cast by citizens at the late election. The following resolutions were adopted by a party vote, of eighteen Democrats in the affirmative, and ten Republicans in the negative.

Whereas, The city is at present in a state of alarm and excitement over the result of the recent election, produced by the utterances of certain partisan newspapers, and rash millionaires, who have been disappointed by the defeat of their candidates at the polls, and

Whereas, In their wild and inconsiderate statements, the fair name of the city has been traduced and vilified, and the impression has been spread abroad that Chicago is not only a sinkhole of iniquity and corruption, but infested with thieves, bummers and ballot-box stuffers and disreputable characters generally, and

Whereas, A great many people of intelligence and general information have come to regard these libels through repeated utterances of them, as a correct representation of the true condition of affairs in Chicago, and

Whereas, The tendency of all these misrepresentations has been, not only to injure the fair credit and standing of the city, but drive away trade that has its natural market here, therefore be it

Resolved, That the City Council hereby most vehemently denounce such utterances, and characterize them as malicious and unfounded, pure fiction of disgruntled and disappointed office-seekers and partisan fanatics, and challenge the proof to show that Chicago is not as orderly, peaceable and law-abiding as any city in the country. We can most confidently and truthfully assure people in all parts of the country, that not only are the lives and property of our citizens perfectly secure and safe, but also that our city is less infested with crime and lawlessness than any city in the United States in proportion to its population. Statistics show that never in the history of Chicago, was there less pauperism, a less number of the vicious class, and a less dominancy of crime and disorder than at present. The contrary exists only on paper, in the partisan journals of the city and among wild orators, and be it further

Resolved, That the election which these defamers of the city declare was carried by fraud, was one of the most quiet and orderly ones ever held in Chicago, and* that when a calm and sober second thought succeeds the passions of disappointed partisans, this fact will be apprehended* and conceded ; to the establishment of which result this Council hereby pledges itself by a fair, honest, and careful canvass of the returns of the recent election.

ward, between Charles F. L. Doerner and Charles A. Monear, and the Council, owing to the delay in the canvass of the general returns arising from the uncertainty attending the legal status of the returns of the Third precinct of the Third ward, neglected to accord Monear a recount until threatened with mandamus and contempt proceedings by Judge Anthony. The election committee did not finally report the outcome of the recount to the Council until October 19, 1885, when they reported as the result of the recount that Aid. Doerner had received 1,519 votes; Monear 1,446, a majority of 73 votes in favor of Doerner. Wenzel Kasparek, another aldermanic candidate in the Sixth ward subsequently brought contest proceedings against Aid. Doerner, which were finally dropped for lack of prosecution.

April 30 the Council by a vote of 19 to 15 amended the ordinance authorizing the Mayor to draw upon the contingent fund for the expenses of the election contest, by authorizing him to employ necessary clerks and experts, and to pay all expenses out of the secret service and contingent funds.

It having been charged that John G. Neumeister, the Democratic City Clerk, desired to hold on to the office and intended to contest the election of C. H. Plautz, his Republican opponent, on June 1, 1885, he sent the following communication to the Council.

Gentlemen, - For some time I have rested supine under the accusation that I desired to retain an office to which I was not elected, and that the delays to declare the result of the election were due to my craft and intrigue. This I deny, and in this connection state, that as I was not elected by a majority of the votes cast, I will not rest my claims thereto on a technicality.

The Democratic party to which I owe allegiance, demands that the Third precinct of the Third ward shall be counted without further delay. To this let me add my own earnest request that this and all the returns be counted, and the result declared. Very truly yours, John G. Neumeister, City Clerk.

The legal authorities consulted in reference to the Third ward returns declared that judges of election were allowed by law to correct errors in their returns ; that the returns certified by the Judges as the returns must be accepted as such by the Council in its canvass of the returns.

A contest of the Mayoralty election between Smith and Harrison, owing to the closeness of the vote, appeared inevitable, and it was speedily entered upon by the filing of an information in court by A. A. Carpenter. Mr. Smith was represented by John N. Jewett and A. W. Green, and these gentlemen also represented the Republican City Central Committee, while A. C. Story looked after Mayor Harrison's interests. The contest was an exciting one, made doubly so by sensational reports in the newspapers chronicling phenomenal gains first for one candidate and then the other, the narrow majority given Mayor Harrison on the face of the returns being apparently wiped out at times, if the ratio of gains for Judge Smith could be made to continue through all the wards. The proceedings finally settled into a dogged and expensive routine, and dragged along until January, 1886, with a final result of a gain for Judge Smith of less than 50 votes in all of the precincts of the city. The contest was in charge of commissioners, appointed by Judge Richard Prendergast of the County Court, who attended to the settlement of legal questions arising. Toward the close of the contest, when the plaintiffs were about to depart from the face of the returns and attempt to prove up certain alleged fraudulent votes, Judge Prendergast made a ruling which made it obligatory upon the contestants to prove up each fraudulent vote seriatim if they wished to pursue the contest beyond the face of the returns. Judge Smith's friends thereupon abandoned the contest, and the suit was dismissed. Two days before the attorneys for the contestants made known their decision to drop the contest Judge Smith sent them the following letter:

Chicago, Dec. 30, - A. W. Green, Esq., Dear Sir: - In relation to the election contest of Carpenter and others vs. Harrison I desire to say that developments in its progress up to this time convince me that there is no reasonable probability of .reaching any final termination of the litigation before the expiration of the term of office.

I have resumed the practice of law, and to that I intend to devote my entire time and attention, unembarrassed by any implied understanding that I should in any event consent to accept a mere remnant of the term of the Mayoralty. I say this much in justice to myself personally.

a non-partisan movement in favor of a new election law, that would have the effect of repressing and preventing these boldly perpetrated and easily accomplished frauds. The leaders in this movement were Marshall Field, A. A. Carpenter, M. E. Stone, I. N. Stiles, S. Corning Judd, A. F. Seeberger, John A. King and others. A bill known as the ''Citizens' Election Bill " was drafted, submitted to the Legislature, and passed. There was some doubt about the constitutionality of the measure and the manner in which it should be submitted to the voters for adoption, and in the movement to have it submitted to the voters at the fall election in November, 1885, for County Commissioners and Supreme and Superior Court Judges pending a decision by the Supreme Court as to its constitutionality, representative citizens and leading members of the bar, without reference to party convictions, united in petitioning Judge Prendergast to issue an order directing the County Clerk to submit the law at the county and judicial election. The order was issued, the law submitted, and it received a majority in every ward in the city, the total vote in the city being 31,984 for the law, and 14,557 against it. It was also adopted by the voters of the Town of Lake. After its adoption Judge Prendergast appointed Francis Hoffman, Jr., Daniel Corkery and Samuel B. Raymond Election .Commissioners, and these gentlemen, in compliance with the provisions of the law, engaged a clerical force, redistricted the city into precincts containing not over 300 voters each ; located new polling places and selected lists of judges, preparatory to the town and aldermanic elections of 1886. The question of the constitutionality of the law was argued before the State Supreme Court by Messrs. John N. Jewett, Jas. W. Beach and A. M. Pence in the affirmative and opposed by A. C. Story, Adolf Moses, F. S. Winston, Jr., and Frank Hurd, and its constitutionality was affirmed January 19, 1886.

During 1884-5 Mayor Harrison made appointments as follows : Inspectors House of Correction, E. S. Albro, E. W. Blatchford ; Members of the Board of Education, Rudolf Brand, Thomas Brennan, John M. Clark, Frank H. Collier, Daniel M. Corkery, Adolph Kraus ; Directors of the Public Library, W. J. Hynes, Thomas C. McMillan, Arthur Swazey, William H. Wells; City Attorney, Clarence A. Knight vice Julius S. Grinnell, resigned ; General Superintendent of Police, Frederick Ebersold vice Austin J. Doyle, resigned.

To the Honorable, the City Council of the City of Chicago: - Gentlemen, - In completing my third and entering upon my fourth term as Mayor, it affords me pleasure to convey to you assurances of the continued prosperity, excellent credit, and high standing of the municipality. It goes almost without saying" that never in the history of Chicago has its administration been as fiercely assailed by partisan newspapers and politicians as during the past few months, but fortunately the motives of these attacks have been divined by the thinking masses to such an extent that the effect has been to only temporarily injure the fair name of our city. The shafts, pointed and poisoned by selfish interests, fell harmless at the feet of a party conscious of rio-ht and fidelity to the interests of the people, and the outside world has come to recognize the fact that the citizens of Chicago can rise superior to petty malice, and renew their confidence in an administration whose policy has been persistently in the direction of honesty and economy. It has been remarkable that while the bitterest denunciations have been hurled at the head of the administration, the partisan papers have been forced to concede great merit in the heads of each and every department of the city government. They have constantly spoken of one or another of these heads as performing their duties admirably, thus evincing their ignorance or forgetfulness of the fact that the Mayor performs few duties himself, but runs the city. through his several appointees. The people, however, have been able to read between the lines, and to do justice. They recognize that the administration has been honest, painstaking and economical. But, as I said, the fair name of die city has been thoroughly established, and outside people who had been temporarily alarmed over newspaper reports of riots, mob violence and general lawlessness, have had their eyes opened to the utter groundlessness of these reports, and their faith renewed in the general peaceable character and disposition of our inhabitants. Nothing can better illustrate this renewed confidence than the report of the bank clearances of Chicago. These clearances are the thermometer of the commercial prosperity of a city, and as we all know, nothing so affects business investments, enterprise and credit, as a widespread fear of general lawlessness. During the heat of the late municipal campaign, when political orators were inflaming the people with the most false assertions, the bank clearances for the week ending March 28 showed that there was in this city a decrease of 19. 1 percent, as compared with the corresponding week of the previous year, while for the week ending April 25, the clearances had increased 5.1 percent. ; or, to more pointedly indicate the variation in the commercial situation, while the clearances amounted to $33,771,000 for the week ending March 28, they rose to $43,525,000 for the week ending April 25, a gain of $9,754,000. So far as the financial credit of the city was involved in the contest, it remained intact. Financial men throughout the country have come to regard the management of the finances of the city of Chicago as one of the best among the cities of our land, and so long as our obligations are met as promptly in the future as in the past, no venomous assaults upon the administration can in the least affect the city's credit. The Comptroller has fully set forth in his annual report the operations of his department, and it will therefore be unnecessary for me to more than allude to it, and refer you to its detailed statement of the city's finances A reference to it will show that the debt per capita of this city is the least of any of the thirteen leading cities of the country, and that during the year ending December 31, 1884, over fifty miles of buildings were erected at a cost of $20,689,000, or $3,189,000 more than that of the previous year.

The sanitary condition of the city will compare favorably with that of any other large city. The winter has been a long and very severe one, and there were necessarily large accumulations of garbage in some localities. With the appropriation made by your honorable body the work of removing the accumulations has been and is being rapidly prosecuted under the Department of Health as well as the Department of Public Works. With these precautions there need be no apprehension of any general epidemic. The fact that the city shows a less annual death rate than any other city in proportion to population, ought certainly to make Chicagoans feel more secure than people in other metropolitan cities. The creation of the department of tenement-house and workshop inspection a few years ago was a wise measure, and the work performed by it has all tended to put these places in excellent sanitary condition. Overcrowding and defective ventilation have been obviated, and the wage-workers placed in less jeopardy of their health by a foul atmosphere. This character of work and inspection will continue to be pushed with increasing energy. It may be claimed to have been a Chicago invention - indeed, the invention of this administration. Proud of what it has done for the manual laborer, we hope to carry it onward to perfection. The Police Department has been ably and energetically managed. The report of its superintend- ent shows that the police have rendered good service in the suppression of crime and lawlessness. The total number of arrests for the year ending December 31, 1884, was 39,434 I m J883, 37,- 187; in 1882, 32,800, and in 1881, 31,713. The total value of property reported stolen for the past year was $149,837 ; in 1883, $144,802; in 1882, $121,929 ; in 1881, $147,144. The value of property recovered in 1884 was $112,943; in 1883, $90,792; in 1882, $91,265 ; in 1881, $118,508. The patrol wagons responded to 23,921 alarms, made 14,521 arrests, attended 1,188 fires, and traveled 56,087 miles. This system is being extended, and has proved itself a most valuable adjunct of the Police Department. In fact, if this administration had no other hold upon the popular estimation, the invention and perfection of the police patrol system should entitle it to the gratitude of our people. The Fire Department has also admirably looked after the property interests of our people. The number of fires during the past year was 1,278; the valuation of the property involved amounted to $22,685,601 ; insurance involved, $12,048,683 ; estimated loss by fire, $968,229; average loss by fire, $756; loss per capita of city's population, $150. The increase in the number of alarms attended over that of the previous year was 177. The department also attended to 37 alarms outside of the city limits. The result of the faithfulness and vigilance of the department has been to keep down the loss to a minimum, and a comparison with the returns of other cities will show that Chicago has a fire force unequaled by any in the world. The Department of Public Works has rendered excellent and efficient service in carrying forward public improvements. Its work has covered a large territory where improvements have been needed by the constant increase of population, and the upbuilding of large vacant tracts of property and the future growth of the city will call for still further improvements, which the department, under your guidance and directions, will fully meet. But for the immediate future there are two things that seem to me to be essential to meet the wants of the people of the city and the needs of property-owners along the river. The first is the construction of two or three bridges across the river, leading to the West division, of similar width as the Rush street bridge, so as to admit of the rapid transit of vehicles and other conveniences from one side to the other. The double-width bridge between the North and South divisions has been of incalculable advantage to the intramural commerce of the city in that direction, and any one at all familiar with the immense traffic between the South and

I trust your honorable body will take the necessary steps to carry out this greatly needed improvement. The other pressing need is the purchase or construction of a fire boat, to ply along the river in the emergency of a fire among buildings or other property contiguous to its sides. The necessity for such a boat has been frequently shown, but it was never more fully demonstrated than in the recent fire in the lumber district. You can not now appropriate for such a boat, but I have suggested that the lumbermen advance a part of the money for a boat, to be repaid them out of the next annual appropriation, and the Water Department could defray a part of the cost, for the boat could be used in winter for the protection of the crib, by keeping the ice in the river and harbor away from it. Under the department at the close of the year 1878, or the commencement of the present administration, there were 651 miles of streets improved or unimproved within the corporate limits of the city. Of this number 132 miles were improved - practically 20 per cent, of the whole. At that time not more than 15 per cent, of the pavements were in a passable condition. The total number of miles of pavements laid each year from 1879 to 1884 inclusive, was as follows : 1879, 6.83 miles; 1880, 16.84 miles; 1881, 24.52 miles; 1882, 24.95 miles; 1883, 22.49 miles; 1884, 34.52 miles; total, 130.15 miles; average each year, 21.69 miles. This statement does not include streets that have been curbed and filled, which might properly be considered as improvements. A very large portion of the streets improved prior to 1879 have been repaired during the past six years. At the close of the year 1884, there were 224 miles of improved streets within the city, or 34 per cent, of the whole, an increase in six years of 14 per cent., notwithstanding the large number of streets repaired, which does not increase the total mileage. The total number of miles of sewerage constructed in the city since the establishment of the sewerage system in 1856 up to and including the year 1878, a period of twenty-two years, is 294^ miles. The total cost of these improvements, including catch basins, etc., was $4,988,342.16, or $16,933.12 per mile. The number of miles of sewers constructed during the past six years was 1 19^3 , at a total cost, including catch basins, etc., of $1,390,250.04, or $11,682.77 per mile, making a saving over former years in the cost of building sewers of $5,250 per mile. The total number of miles of sewer in use under the city at this date is 414 miles. Of this number 34.5 per cent, was built during the past six years, over one-third of the total number in place. Prior to 1879, the largest sized sewer was 6% feet internal diameter. Since that time there have been constructed and in use a half-mile of seven-foot, a half-mile of eight-foot, and two and a half miles of nine-foot sewers. The total number of miles of water pipe in use in the city for the year ending December 31, 1884, was 543 in round numbers, of which there was laid since 1878, 126 miles. Last year the new West side pumping engines were completed, at a cost of $351,246.97, which have a capacity of adding thirty million gallons to the water supply of the city daily, making the total capacity of the West division works 130,000,000 gallons a day. The canal pumping works were practically completed in 1883 at a cost of $253,380.51, and have been in successful operation during 1884, with the result of giving clear water in the Chicago river. During the past year viaducts have been built at Centre avenue and Sixteenth street, at a cost of $201,917.34 ; at Chicago avenue and North Halsted street, at a cost of $323,115.58 ; at West Twelfth street and Beach street, at a cost of $31,861.14; and at Erie street and the Northwestern railroad tracks, at a cost of $41,625.87 - making a total cost of viaducts for 1883-84 of $598,519.93. Two swing bridges have been built, one at Ashland avenue, at a cost of $18,319, and the other at Rush street, at a cost of $130,000. The number of miles of streets cleaned last year was 2,225. Last year I called your attention to the inconvenient nomenclature of our streets. Since then the Postmaster of Chicago has notified you that great confusion arises from many streets having more or less near the same name, and asking that you take some action in the premises. I again repeat my recommendation that this entire question be carefully looked into. I suggest that north and south streets be called avenues ; east and west, streets ; diagonal ones, roads ; short ones, places or courts ; and that a new system of numbering be thoroughly perfected, so that any one would be able to locate at once, with approximate accuracy, any number to be sought. I suggest that you pass a resolution directing the Department of Public Works at once to prepare some plan for a thorough perfection of some scientific system. Probably it would be well to appoint a special committee to look into the matter in connection with the department. In conclusion, gentlemen, allow me to thank you for your kind courtesies shown me, both in my capacity as your presiding officer and as the Mayor of the city ; and with the incoming Council I trust the relations may be as pleasant and cordial. Carter H. Harrison, Mayor,

Chicago, Cook County, And Illinois. 34I

July 11, 1885, a special meeting of the Council was held for the purpose of taking action in reference to the death of Col. Dominick Welter. Alderman Burke, announcing the death of Col. Welter, offered the following preamble and resolutions which, on his motion, were adopted by a unanimous rising vote :

Whereas, This Council has learned with profound regret of the sudden death of Colonel Dominick Welter, late Inspector and Secretary of the Police Department of the city of Chicago ; therefore

Resolved, That we do hereby adopt the following memorial, and order the same published and a copy thereof engrossed and sent by the City Clerk to the family of the deceased.

Memorial

Dominick Welter was born in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, January 27, 1839, and came to this country with his parents in 1850. In 1856-57, he served as a private in the Seventh United States Infantry. During the war of the rebellion he was a member of the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, and a prisoner of war at Libby prison and at Columbia, South Carolina. By his intrepid courage and daring he rose during the war to the rank of Major, commanding his regiment. Returning to Chicago when the war was over, he engaged in business here up to December, 1882. In 1877, during the riots, Major Welter was made com. mander of Company A of the local cavalry and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In November, 1882, he was appointed Inspector and Secretary of Police, which position he held up to the time of his death. To the untiring zeal and excellent drill of Col. Welter is to be ascribed in a very large degree the efficiency of our present police. To his duties he brought a practical experience and knowledge, which rendered him invaluuable to the force. His advice and counsel were always in demand, and was ever found to be safe, conservative and wise. The city of Chicago is largely indebted to Col. Welter for the good work he has done, and it is but just and right that these obligations should be acknowledged. In his private character he was all that is admirable - ever genial and courteous in his intercourse with men, he was both respected and loved by those who knew him ; a staunch friend, an able and a faithful officer ; a brave man, his death is a loss to the entire community. We place on record this acknowledgment of our appreciation of his character as an official and as a man, and tender to his family our sincere sympathy upon the great loss which they have sustained.

The Chair appointed Aldermen Burke, Eisfeldt and Simons a Committee of Arrangements to make preparations for the funeral, which took the form of a public demonstration, with civic and military honors.

Gentlemen : - I herewith return to you without approval "An ordinance granting rights to The Equitable Gas Light and Fuel Company of Chicago." There are grave doubts as to the policy of granting rights to any gas company, however properly the ordinance granting such rights may be drawn. While conceding that competition is calculated to and tends toward holding in check corporations of this nature, yet all must acknowledge that such competition must be of a healthy character. A competition which simply produces warfare between companies ultimately ends in the larger corporations swallowing up the weaker ones, and finally leaving the public at the mercy of the cormorants. Healthy competition pre-supposes two elements. First, the demand of the public for the competition ; and secondly, capital willing to invest and to hold its own. Is there such demand now? And is capital looking for the investment? There are now three companies in the city supplying gas. One of them has gone into a receiver's hands, and it is said the plant will be sold out to save the bondholders. Capital seeking investment would wisely take hold of this company's plant rather than to erect a new one. A fourth company will subject our streets to being torn up and force the people to the vast inconvenience such tearing up entails. Our streets are in many localities well paved over the pipes of these three companies. A new company will seek the same streets, and the city will again be in the confused condition witnessed during the past two or three years. The Council should be careful not to subject the people to this without the best of public reasons. Some persons may make money out of such company, but the public will pay the cost. We have no right to grant such rights to a company merely to help enrich any person or persons. We are the trustees of the people, and not the mere friends of speculators.

September 14 the Mayor sent a communication to the Council announcing the receipt of $700 from the Hon. Lambert Tree, to be used in conferring a medal annually upon the member of the Police or Fire Departments performing the most distinguished act of bravery, and recommending that a " Merit Roll " be kept, so that the names of those receiving the medal and a record of the deeds which entitled them to it, might be preserved. October 5, in a communication, the Mayor pointed out the difficulty involved in arriving at a decision as to what act of a member of the two departments concerned should be considered most worthy of recognition, and announcing that, in order to provide recognition for each branch of the service, he would establish a fund sufficient to provide a medal similar to the Tree medal.

Abstract Of The Law, Etc

Chicago never witnessed a more imposing demonstration than that which took place in July, 1885, on the day of the interment of the remains of General Ulysses S. Grant in New York City. A splendid catafalque was provided, and accompanied by the various veteran and Grand Army organizations, the militia and civic societies, and a vast number of organizations and citizens anxious to do honor to the memory of the plain citizen and great soldier, the procession moved at the same hour as the funeral procession moved in New York, the tolling bells and booming cannon making the demonstration an impressive and memorable one in the annals of the city. A committee of citizens was organized to receive subscriptions to a monument fund, and in a few weeks, by the assistance of the newspapers, which received popular subscriptions in small amounts, the fund reached $50,000, and a splendid memorial is now in process of erection in Lincoln park, under direction of the Grant Monument Committee. The City Council met in special session July 23, to take action suitable to the occasion, and were addressed by Mayor Harrison as follows :

Gentlemen of the Council : - For several hours the atmosphere has been heavy, the clouds have been lowering, and we have known that the thunder might at any moment be heard, and the lightning be seen in its greatest vividness. Yet if a flash should come now and a peal of thunder strike upon our ears, we would be as startled and tremble as though it were unexpected. For weeks it has been known that one of America's heroes, one to whom the people are probably as much indebted as to any one of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was upon a bed of sickness, and that any moment the lightning might flash along the wires and tell us he was gone forever. Still, when the bells tolled this morning, bringing the news to us that Ulysses S. Grant was dead, there was a feeling of awe - aye, a shock came to all our ears, and probably to those of every man and woman in this broad land. I felt it was a duty to call this Council together - the Council of this great city, which had honored Grant and claimed him as one of her own citizens, to take such action as might seem to the members proper. Ulysses S. Grant occupied a position unique in this century. He was a figure standing out as boldly as any other has stood during this or any past century, and as we hope, any other will stand out for centuries to come. From the lowly walks of private life, he went forward to his country's defence, battling as a brave soldier, and guiding as a wise general. From Belmont, Appomattox, his sword was ever gleaming upon mighty battle-fields. It was under his leadership that the great war of the rebellion was brought to a close, securing the union of the states, and binding them together as one and forever inseparable. He occupied then a place that no other American citizen ever obtained - General of the American armies - for our noble Washington was only a Lieutenant-General. General Grant was called by his fellowmen to be President of the United States, and he served for eight years as the Chief Magistrate of America. «Then, when he laid down his official robes, as the representative of America he was welcomed in every land in the broad circuit of this globe, and treated with the courtesies and consideration that had previously only been extended to emperors and crowned heads. Thus, this man is a unique figure - a great general, who fought for his country, and possibly saved it ; the illustrious President, and the distinguished citizen, who is known in every land, on every sea, and in every clime ; he is a figure unique in American history, and as I say, we may well hope and earnestly pray that the great leader who assumed the responsibilities and brought about the close of that internecine strife will never need a successor in the work he performed. General Grant has for years been something else more than a successful general and an ex- President. He has been the representative throughout this broad land of one grand idea, the idea that he proclaimed at Appomattox, that the war was ended, and that this Union was absolutely cemented together, and this people's heart and sympathies and aspirations were inseparably linked. For months Providence has laid upon this brave hero the withering hand of disease ; the dread enemy of mankind has stood before him, sternly bidding him hence ; and the eyes of all Americans and the world have been turned toward his home (and lately to Mount McGregor) and it has been asked day after day, "How is it with our hero ?" Suffering, the world's sympathy went to him, and to-day I doubt if there is a single man or woman with any sort of humanity in the heart that does not feel a pang of regret. Southerners who had fought for the lost cause, Northerners who had fought for the Union, have shown equal solicitude and anxiety, and inquired anxiously and affectionately for him. Among his last callers was one he had met at Fort Donelson, where he gained his first glory. This man, whom our hero had conquered, met the dying soldier-statesman at Mount McGregor, and together they shed tears, and hoped for a perpetual union and friendship of the American people. His example has been to forever bury the animosities in one eternal tomb. General, President, and guest of nations, in his dying breath handing down the words of love and peace ! At Appomattox he pledged to his defeated opponents a nation's amnesty. He died to-day with that pledge upon his lips, a living promise of the nation he had helped to save. It is right that we should take action. What should be that action ? A nation mourns, and the nation will be anxious to tread silently after his body when it is laid in its eternal home. It would be impossible for Chicago to be fairly represented, or for her people to go in a body. I believe that in every city in America, and in every hamlet, whenever his remains are carried to their last resting place, a funeral cortege should move at the same stroke of the bell and march to do our dead hero homage. I shall suggest to the people, if it be agreeable, that we attend his funeral. It is proper that the people of this great city, the capital of this great state, of which he was a citizen, should pay just tribute. I have taken it upon myself to telegraph his wife and children this message :

Mrs. Grant, Mount McGregor, N. Y., - Madame: In the name of the city of Chicago, and on behalf of its municipal government and people, I tender to you and your children profound and most heartfelt sympathy. Yesterday General Grant, the honored citizen of Illinois, and of Chicago, was your loving husband and long-tried friend ; to-day his name and memory are the cherished property of the American people.

I did this because I knew I was only anticipating your wishes. I felt you would blame me if I did not do it immediately. We are met here now to take such action as you may deem proper. I want now to hear what you have to say, and I know the people of Chicago are anxious to hear what its representatives have to say. I also hope that what is said will be taken down and printed for future reference.

Whereas, This Council has heard with profound and solemn regret of the death of U. S. Grant, late commander of the American armies and President of the United States; therefore

Resolved, That as the death of General Grant is a calamity affecting the entire nation, and is so regarded by the people of Chicago, the Mayor is hereby authorized to take such steps in behalf of the city on this occasion as may seem fitting and appropriate :

Aid. Shorey - I am sure the Council will respond as one man to the eloquent sentiments which have just been expressed by his Honor the Mayor. For almost a quarter of a century now General Grant, by his conduct, character and achievements, has attracted the attention and regard of the world. He is an honor to his country and to the human race. He has added one more name to that select few who are inscribed on the roll of the immortals. America has indeed during the lasfrone hundred years acted well its part in giving to the world illustrious names ; but I think it is the unanimous voice that among all the distinguished names there is no one that is now held, or will in the future be held, in more grateful remembrance than the name of him whose death we are called upon to-day to mourn. Illinois has reason to be proud as well as sad to-day. When impartial history shall have made up its verdict, the name of Grant will be associated forever with the immortal name of Lincoln. Around the name of Grant there is such luster that any state or nation might be proud to call him its son. During most of the mature years of his life, he lived amid the fiercest contention, civic as well as military ; but it needs not now the charity which comes with death and the grave to remove the asperity which attended this contention, for I believe there is not from the far pine forests of Maine to the prairies of Texas so much as one man under the flag of the Union anywhere who would not bring laurel to the crave of our dead hero. When, a short time a^o, I was in London, nothing impressed me so much or gratified me more than the evidences that were everywhere apparent of the care England takes of the name and memory of her illustrious dead. Everywhere there was something to indicate that England was determined to transmit from one generation to another the glories of her heroes. So should it be here. Let this grand, simple and heroic life be perpetuated by every device of art, by painting, by sculpture and by monument ; and by literature - the most enduring tablet that man can create - as a lesson for the coming generations. Let his illustrious name and character be transmitted in undiminished luster through all the coming generations.

Aid. Hull. - I feel gratified that his Honor, the chief magistrate of the city, has taken the initiative on this sad occasion, for one of the world's greatest men has passed away. The death of General Grant is mourned by every man, woman and child throughout the civilized world. It is not for every generation of men to see in person the man who is, and who will continue to be, the colossal figure in the world's history. As children, they had read the history of the heroes of the Revolution, but in manhood they were given the pleasure of not only reading, but of gazing upon the greatest hero of the world. Comparison with the heroes of other nations will not dim the luster of his character, or of his achievements. Amid the severest struggle ever known for national life ; amid disorder and consternation ; he stood calm, a tower of strength. Although he is dead, his memory will be cherished by those who will take pride in doing honor to the silent soldier.

Aid. Clark. - I feel a hesitation in rising to address the Council on this occasion. The life of General Grant is known to us, and in the world's history it will fill a brilliant page. More eloquent tongues will pay tribute to his memory as a citizen and statesman, but as a soldier I would like to say a word of him. In the winter of 1S64, while I was serving on the staff of General Robinson, I met General Grant almost hourly, and then I was struck with admiration for his character as a man and a soldier. The life of Grant was so noble and chivalrous that future generations should be educated to emulate it. He was inflexible of purpose, and when in battle an object was to be gained, he bent all the energies of his great mind to secure it. From Donelson to Appomattox, there was not a single indication of hesitation in all his movements. An index of his inflexible resolution was found in his famous utterance, "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Where could there be found, too, a man more generous to an enemy? I know of no one in the history of the country more generous than U. S. Grant. What monument could man raise that would be as noble as the character of the man himself?

Aid. Hildreth. - We are present to pay a tribute to the memory of the greatest chieftain the world ever saw. I speak not now as an Alderman, although I enjoy my right to address this body from the fact that I am a member of this Council, but as a private soldier who served under the command of the great soldier who has now passed away. It is my privilege to represent the soldiers here, to talk here for the men who fought in the war of the rebellion. The news of Grant's death will go to the soldiers and cause them to stop and think overthe achievements of the great chieftain, who, by his power and knowledge, cemented this union of states. A soldier loves a soldier better than he does any other man on earth. Men who go to battle for their country's rights must be brave, and they must therefore be kind and forgiving. The soldier weeps when he hears of the death of his gallant commander. To-night, as the soldiers retire to their beds, silent prayers will be sent up to the Supreme Architect of the Universe, asking him to recognize the nation's chieftain, and to open the heavenly portals for him. As a soldier, General Grant has been all that the nation could expect ; as a statesman, he has been the equal of the most illustrious men this country has produced ; and as a citizen he was always a staunch advocate of measures that he believed were for the good of his land. The people of this city cannot do a greater service to our country's cause than by giving honor to the memory of this soldier and statesman, General Grant.

Aid. Dalton. - The life and career of General Grant calls to my mind the beautiful stanza in a " Psalm of Life," by Henry W. Longfellow, one of America's greatest poets :

America can point with pride to the long line of her distinguished statesmen, her Franklin, her Jefferson, Lincoln, Sumner, and a host of others. The death of General Grant to-day adds another to the blazing galaxy of distinguished names that are burning like bright stars in the front of the nation's sky. Illinois may well be proud as well as sad to-day. General Grant, although born in Ohio, and recently residing in New York, was a citizen of Illinois. It was here he spent the best days of his life ; and it was from this great state he was called forth to quell the rebellion and save the nation. It was his guardianship that saved the Union, and it was his sword that abolished human slavery, and compelled obedience to the nation's laws. In the ages yet to come, when the roll of those who aided in establishing and perpetuating our republican form of government shall be called, no name will be called before that of General Grant.

Aid. Simons. - The visible signs of grief for the death of America's hero will in time disappear, but the people will still continue to grieve in their hearts for the man, who, with his sword, preserved the Union. The land which he loved, and for which he risked everything but honor, will not forget him. His will ever be foremost among the names of those who have rendered valuable service to the world. Grant, the humble citizen, the mighty commander, the wise statesman, will never be forgotten in the land which, in times that tried men's souls, he served so faithfully and heroically.

A special meeting of the Council, called by the Mayor was held November 30, 1885, to take action concerning the death of Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States. Mayor Harrison addressed the Council as follows :

Gentlemen of the Council: - It is my painful duty to announce to you officially the death of the Vice-President of the United States. Alone in his chamber, perhaps sleeping sweetly, the shadow of death passed over him, and the great heart of Thomas A. Hendricks was silenced forever. This is a painful announcement for me to make to you here, because he was known to me personally as a man of pure heart, honest intentions, and above all, of perfect integrity. It is painful to some of us because the dead Vice-President had lately been called to the second place in the government of the people by a mighty party who believe the success of their party is for the good of the country ; indeed, we may acknowledge that the masses of both parties are honest in the belief that the success of their organization is for the country's good. We who are of the same party with him feel that this is a calamity to us. It is a calamity for all parties, for, thank heaven, the great American heart comes to the tomb with no partisan animosities, and the bitterest dislike is buried beneath the sod. There are some who believe this is a calamity because it is said it leaves but one life between the government and anarchy - between the government and an interregnum. 1 do not like this last word. The offspring of monarchical traditions, it has taken root in Europe, but in free America it can take no hold. No king have we ; the people's rulers are the servants of the people. When a ruler is taken the sovereign people live. The American government never dies. I, for one, have no fear of this thing called an interregnum. Without a fixed government for eight long years, the people fought in the last century for their freedom, and won. The spirit of '76 was then only a flower, but it has ripened into fruitage and lives to-day. The same spirit was with us through the internecine war. It saw one President laid low by a sensationalist and another by the bullet of a maniac. Yet in these trying times the people, although decrying the calamity, were equal to the occasion. There was no anarchy. If there was no President to-day and no Vice-President to succeed to the office, the mighty people would be right, and would await the course of the law to fill the Presidential chair. I fear no interregnum.

The Vice-President is gone. I knew him not intimately, but I knew him, I think, well. Many of you knew him. He was an honest man. He was a gentleman in all of'his instincts ; kindly to all, giving justice to all ; ready to extenuate no fault, except through kindness, and laying down naught from malice. Those who knew all the contests he passed through - Governor of a state, Member of Congress, member of the Senate, and United States Vice-President - noticed but one motive in hjs character, and that was to do well by his country. Partisanship has had its flings at him, but by the chivalry of the American character they have been hushed for the past few days, or, if uttered, are spontaneously silenced. I regret that timid counsels have persuaded the President to remain away from the obsequies of the Vice- President at Indianapolis. I wish the President had taken advantage of the warmth of heart that first prompted him, and gone there to join in the grand cortege that will follow the Vice- President to the grave, because I have no fear that the American people have dastards among them that would touch God's anointed - the people's choice for President now. The same eternal God who holds Washington in the hollow of His hand holds also Indianapolis, and I am sure the people would recognize the solemnity of the occasion and reverence the representative of their power in the President. I am proud to say that the first impulse of the President was to go to Indianapolis, and that he only yielded to over persuasion. The great founder of the mighty party to which Vice-President Hendricks belonged - Thomas Jefferson - had faith in the people. The President of the United States can have unbounded faith in them. The maniac may strike, but his blow only falls with horror upon the people, for no one desires to take advantage of the crime. The man now dead in Indianapolis had an abiding faith in the people, and they had faith in him, and to-day the nation mourns. I believe that this city should be represented in its municipal capacity at Indianapolis. For that purpose I have called you together that you may take action. If you send a committee, or you go in a body, regardless of party feelings engendered by the past, you will go there to drop a tear on the bier, to strew flowers upon the grave, and to utter what he would have said so grandly : De mortuis nil nisi boniim. Gentlemen, the Chair awaits your action.

Whereas, The City Council of the city of Chicago has heard with deep sorrow of the death of the Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States; and

Whereas, The Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, during his long, active and honorable life, rendered such service to his native land as to endear his memory to every citizen of the republic ; therefore, be it

Resolved, That this Council, to evince its profound respect for the eminent citizen and the distinguished statesman, the Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, attend in a body the funeral at Indianapolis, December i.

The resolutions were adopted by a rising vote. Aid. Noyes presented a resolution requesting his Honor the Mayor to appoint a committee of twenty-five citizens of Chicago to attend the funeral of the late Vice-President, and moved its passage. The motion prevailed.

The committee was duly selected, and together with a large delegation of city and county officials, attended the funeral services at Indianapolis.

The city Council, on November 2, 1S85, adopted by a vote of 25 to 10, a resolution introduced by Aid. Cullerton, providing for the closing of all city departments on November 3 (election day), and placing the Council on record in favor of the adoption of the new election law.

The appropriation bill for the fiscal year, January 1, 1886, to December 31, 1886, passed by the Council March 3, 1886, contained items aggregating $5,368,409.76. Mayor Harrison vetoed this bill March 8, and on the same date it was passed over his veto. In his message the Mayor had the following to say : " In a great, growing city like Chicago, increasing with almost unprecedented rapidity, the demands for municipal governments are so great that the whole of taxation, permitted by law, is required by the immediate demands of the city, and yet you are compelled to provide for improvements that your people to-day do not so much need as the people who will follow us will require. Our people show their faith in the future of their city by expending every dollar of their earnings in improving their property, and thereby enhancing the grandeur of the city. They demand that the public improvements should keep pace with their private improvements. Their demand is so exacting, and at the same time just, that you are compelled to build bridges, to build viaducts and sewers, to build engine and police houses of a size and character commensurate with the future growth of the city more than by the necessities of the day. To answer these just exactions of the people you are compelled to levy taxes, not only for this year's expenditures, but to be a nucleus for appropriations for expenditures to come in succeeding years. * * * A great many people who do understand these things carp at the members of your honorable body, calling you extravagant and wasteful, because the organic law of the land forces you to make appropriations in the interest of your respective constituents for improvements that ought to be built out of an equitable bonded system, and which, in every other great city of the world, are built out of the proceeds of a healthy bonded indebtedness. * * * One of the brightest features upon the past record of Chicago is its stern determination to pay all current debts and all honorable obligations with religious fidelity. When I first had the honor of being chosen Mayor of this city, I found in existence a large amount of scrip issued for current expenses. I endeavored to run the city with almost parsimonious frugality, and the people, proud of their honor, submitted to the deprivation of many almost imperative necessities, and justified me and aided me in wiping out the blot of scrip from Chicago's escutcheon. I also found that about $250,000 of certificates had been issued by one of my predecessors, which certificates the highest court of the land determined were absolutely illegal, and were not worth more than the paper upon which they were written. These illegal certificates, amounting with principal and interest to $270,000 odd, were paid faithfully, and not a man in Chicago but cried with pride that it was well done ; that the honor of

Chicago must and should be maintained, and that we should never repudiate any of her honest obligations. I cannot believe that a debt of honor is more sacred than a legal debt. The city of Chicago owes to-day a judgment indebtedness of $73,000, which is bearing 6 per cent, interest. The creditor wants and demands lus money, but you have appropriated only $8,000 to satisfy judgments - a little more than enough to pay the accruing interest upon this indebtedness. I earnestly ask you to put in this appropriation bill the full amount recommended by the Law Department to pay these debts, to wit, $73,000, thereby preserving the honor and the good name of the city. You may ask how this can be done, and still not run the risk of return to scrip. I find you have increased salaries of officers in existence last year to the amount of $43,790. * * *

"You have appropriated for lighting street lamps and tunnels with gas, $585,000. In 1883 you appropriated, in round numbers, $324,000; in 1884, $396,000; in 1885, $537,000. The necessity for this increase in the appropriation for gas was made against my solemn protests. The enormous increase in 1885 and 1886 was made necessary to some extent by the change of schedule for street lighting, and by the nominal increase of the size of the burners. * * * I believe you should take off from the appropriations for gas alone enough to cover the necessary appropriation for the satisfaction of judgments against the city, and then you should immediately pass an ordinance cutting down the price per lamp post throughout the city, thereby saving the difference. * * * I earnestly urge you, gentlemen, to take this bill and spend an afternoon over it, and remodel it. I believe, if you will do this, that you will be enabled to pay our honest debts, and will not encroach upon the general fund, which I hope you will continue to preserve intact. After an earnest discussion of the matter with the Comptroller, I think to encroach farther upon the general fund than you have already done would force us either to the issuance of scrip, or to the deferment of demands of some indebtedness which is honestly due. Both of these things should be avoided."