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THE TITAN
hart contingent it was looked upon as nothing short of diabolical.
The newspapers, directed by such men as Haguenin, Hyssop, Ormonde Ricketts, and Truman Leslie MacDonald (whose father was
now dead, and whose thoughts as editor of the Inquirer were almost
solely directed toward driving Cowperwood out of Chicago), began
to shout, as a last resort, in the interests of democracy. Seats for everybody (on Cowperwood’s lines), no more straps in the rush hours,
three-cent fares for workingmen, morning and evening, free transfers from all of Cowperwood’s lines north to west and west to north,
twenty per cent. of the gross income of his lines to be paid to the city.
The masses should be made cognizant of their individual rights and
privileges. Such a course, while decidedly inimical to Cowperwood’s
interests at the present time, and as such strongly favored by the majority of his opponents, had nevertheless its disturbing elements to
an ultra-conservative like Hosmer Hand.
«I don’t know about this, Norman», he remarked to Schryhart, on one occasion. «I don’t know about this. It’s one thing to
stir up the public, but it’s another to make them forget. This is a restless, socialistic country, and Chicago is the very hotbed and center of it. Still, if it will serve to trip him up I suppose it will do for
the present. The newspapers can probably smooth it all over later.
But I don’t know».
Mr. Hand was of that order of mind that sees socialism as
a horrible importation of monarchy-ridden Europe. Why couldn’t
the people be satisfi ed to allow the strong, intelligent, God-fearing
men of the community to arrange things for them? Wasn’t that
what democracy meant? Certainly it was — he himself was one of
the strong. He could not help distrusting all this radical palaver.
Still, anything to hurt Cowperwood — anything.
Cowperwood was not slow to realize that public sentiment was
now in danger of being thoroughly crystallized against him by newspaper agitation. Although his franchises would not expire — the
large majority of them — before January 1, 1903, yet if things went on
at this rate it would be doubtful soon whether ever again he would
491
THEODORE DREISER
be able to win another election by methods legitimate or illegitimate. Hungry aldermen and councilmen might be venal and greedy
enough to do anything he should ask, provided he was willing to pay
enough, but even the thickest-hided, the most voracious and corrupt
politician could scarcely withstand the searching glare of publicity
and the infuriated rage of a possibly aroused public opinion. By degrees this last, owing to the untiring efforts of the newspapers, was
being whipped into a wild foam. To come into council at this time and
ask for a twenty-year extension of franchises not destined to expire
for seven years was too much. It could not be done. Even suborned
councilmen would be unwilling to undertake it just now. There are
some things which even politically are impossible.
To make matters worse, the twenty-year-franchise limit was really not at all suffi cient for his present needs. In order to bring about
the consolidation of his North and West surface lines, which he was
now proposing and on the strength of which he wished to issue at
least two hundred million dollars’ worth of one-hundred-dollarsix-per-cent. shares in place of the seventy million dollars current of
ten and twelve per cents., it was necessary for him to secure a much
more respectable term of years than the brief one now permitted by
the state legislature, even providing that this latter could be obtained.
«Peeble are not ferry much indrested in tees short-time frangizes», observed Mr. Gotloeb once, when Cowperwood was talking
the matter over with him. He wanted Haeckelheimer & Co. to underwrite the whole issue. «Dey are so insigure. Now if you couldt
get, say, a frangize for fi fty or one hunnert years or something like
dot your stocks wouldt go off like hot cakes. I know where I couldt
dispose of fi fty million dollars off dem in Cermany alone».
He was most unctuous and pleading.
Cowperwood understood this quite as well as Gotloeb, if not
better. He was not at all satisfi ed with the thought of obtaining
a beggarly twenty-year extension for his giant schemes when cities
like Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and Pittsburg were apparently
glad to grant their corporations franchises which would not expire
492
THE TITAN
for ninety-nine years at the earliest, and in most cases were given in
perpetuity. This was the kind of franchise favored by the great moneyed houses of New York and Europe, and which Gotloeb, and even
Addison, locally, were demanding.
«It is certainly important that we get these franchises renewed
for fi fty years», Addison used to say to him, and it was seriously and
disagreeably true.
The various lights of Cowperwood’s legal department, constantly on the search for new legislative devices, were not slow to grasp
the import of the situation. It was not long before the resourceful
Mr. Joel Avery appeared with a suggestion.
«Did you notice what the state legislature of New York is doing in connection with the various local transit problems down
there?» asked this honorable gentleman of Cowperwood, one morning, ambling in when announced and seating himself in the great
presence. A half-burned cigar was between his fi ngers, and a little
round felt hat looked peculiarly rakish above his sinister, intellectual, constructive face and eyes.
«No, I didn’t», replied Cowperwood, who had actually noted and
pondered upon the item in question, but who did not care to say
so. «I saw something about it, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.
What of it?»
«Well, it plans to authorize a body of four or fi ve men — one
branch in New York, one in Buffalo, I presume — to grant all new
franchises and extend old ones with the consent of the various local
communities involved. They are to fi x the rate of compensation to be
paid to the state or the city, and the rates of fare. They can regulate
transfers, stock issues, and all that sort of thing. I was thinking if at
any time we fi nd this business of renewing the franchises too uncertain here we might go into the state legislature and see what can
be done about introducing a public-service commission of that kind
into this state. We are not the only corporation that would welcome
it. Of course, it would be better if there were a general or special demand for it outside of ourselves. It ought not to originate with us».
493
THEODORE DREISER
He stared at Cowperwood heavily, the latter returning a refl ective gaze.
«I’ll think it over», he said. «There may be something in that».
Henceforth the thought of instituting such a commission never
left Cowperwood’s mind. It contained the germ of a solution — the
possibility of extending his franchises for fi fty or even a hundred
years.
This plan, as Cowperwood was subsequently to discover, was
a thing more or less expressly forbidden by the state constitution of
Illinois. The latter provided that no special or exclusive privilege,
immunity, or franchise whatsoever should be granted to any corporation, association, or individual. Yet, «What is a little matter
like the constitution between friends, anyhow?» some one had already asked. There are fads in legislation as well as dusty pigeonholes in which phases of older law are tucked away and forgotten.
Many earlier ideals of the constitution-makers had long since been
conveniently obscured or nullifi ed by decisions, appeals to the federal government, appeals to the state government, communal contracts, and the like — fi ne cobwebby fi gments, all, but suffi cient,
just the same, to render inoperative the original intention. Besides,
Cowperwood had but small respect for either the intelligence or
the self-protective capacity of such men as constituted the rural voting element of the state. From his lawyers and from others he had
heard innumerable droll stories of life in the state legislature, and
the state counties and towns — on the bench, at the rural huskings
where the state elections were won, in country hotels, on country
roads and farms. «One day as I was getting on the train at Petunkey»,
old General Van Sickle, or Judge Dickensheets, or ex-Judge Avery
would begin — and then would follow some amazing narration of
rural immorality or dullness, or political or social misconception. Of
the total population of the state at this time over half were in the city
itself, and these he had managed to keep in control. For the remaining million, divided between twelve small cities and an agricultural
494
THE TITAN
population, he had small respect. What did this handful of yokels
amount to, anyhow? — dull, frivoling, barn-dancing boors.
The great state of Illinois — a territory as large as England proper and as fertile as Egypt, bordered by a great lake and a vast river,
and with a population of over two million free-born Americans —
would scarcely seem a fi t subject for corporate manipulation and
control. Yet a more trade-ridden commonwealth might not have
been found anywhere at this time within the entire length and
breadth of the universe. Cowperwood personally, though contemptuous of the bucolic mass when regarded as individuals, had always
been impressed by this great community of his election. Here had
come Marquette and Joliet, La Salle and Hennepin, dreaming a way
to the Pacifi c. Here Lincoln and Douglas, antagonist and protagonist of slavery argument, had contested; here had arisen «Joe» Smith,
propagator of that strange American dogma of the Latter-Day Saints.
What a state, Cowperwood sometimes thought; what a fi gment of
the brain, and yet how wonderful! He had crossed it often on his
way to St. Louis, to Memphis, to Denver, and had been touched by
its very simplicity — the small, new wooden towns, so redolent of
American tradition, prejudice, force, and illusion. The white-steepled church, the lawn-faced, tree-shaded village streets, the long
stretches of fl at, open country where corn grew in serried rows or
where in winter the snow bedded lightly — it all reminded him
a little of his own father and mother, who had been in many respects suited to such a world as this. Yet none the less did he hesitate
to press on the measure which was to adjust his own future, to make
profi table his issue of two hundred million dollars’ worth of Union
Traction, to secure him a fi xed place in the fi nancial oligarchy of
America and of the world.
The state legislature at this time was ruled over by a small
group of wire-pulling, pettifogging, corporation-controlled individuals who came up from the respective towns, counties, and cities of the state, but who bore the same relation to the communities
which they represented and to their superiors and equals in and
495
THEODORE DREISER
out of the legislative halls at Springfi eld that men do to such allies anywhere in any given fi eld. Why do we call them pettifogging
and dismiss them? Perhaps they were pettifogging, but certainly
no more so than any other shrewd rat or animal that burrows its
way onward — and shall we say upward? The deepest controlling
principle which animated these individuals was the oldest and
fi rst, that of self-preservation. Picture, for example, a common occurrence — that of Senator John H. Southack, conversing with,
perhaps, Senator George Mason Wade, of Gallatin County, behind
a legislative door in one of the senate conference chambers toward
the close of a session — Senator Southack, blinking, buttonholing
his well-dressed colleague and drawing very near; Senator Wade,
curious, confi dential, expectant (a genial, solid, experienced, slightly
paunchy but well-built Senator Wade — and handsome, too).
«You know, George, I told you there would be something eventually in the Quincy water-front improvement if it ever worked out.
Well, here it is. Ed Truesdale was in town yesterday». (This with
a knowing eye, as much as to say, «Mum’s the word».) «Here’s fi ve
hundred; count it».
A quick fl ashing out of some green and yellow bills from a vest
pocket, a light thumbing and counting on the part of Senator Wade.
A fl are of comprehension, approval, gratitude, admiration, as though
to signify, «This is something like». «Thanks, John. I had pretty near
forgot all about it. Nice people, eh? If you see Ed again give him my
regards. When that Bellville contest comes up let me know».
Mr. Wade, being a good speaker, was frequently in request to
stir up the populace to a sense of pro or con in connection with
some legislative crisis impending, and it was to some such future opportunity that he now pleasantly referred. O life, O politics, O necessity, O hunger, O burning human appetite and desire on every hand!
Mr. Southack was an unobtrusive, pleasant, quiet man of the type
that would usually be patronized as rural and pettifogging by men
high in commercial affairs. He was none the less well fi tted to his
task, a capable and diligent benefi ciary and agent. He was well
496
THE TITAN
dressed, middle-aged, — only forty-fi ve — cool, courageous, genial, with eyes that were material, but not cold or hard, and a light,
springy, energetic step and manner. A holder of some C. W. & I. R. R.
shares, a director of one of his local county banks, a silent partner in
the Effi ngham Herald, he was a personage in his district, one much
revered by local swains. Yet a more game and rascally type was not
to be found in all rural legislation.
It was old General Van Sickle who sought out Southack, having remembered him from his earlier legislative days. It was Avery who conducted the negotiations. Primarily, in all state scheming at Springfi eld, Senator Southack was supposed to represent
the C. W. I., one of the great trunk-lines traversing the state, and
incidentally connecting Chicago with the South, West, and East.
This road, having a large local mileage and being anxious to extend
its franchises in Chicago and elsewhere, was deep in state politics.
By a curious coincidence it was mainly fi nanced by Haeckelheimer,
Gotloeb & Co., of New York, though Cowperwood’s connection
with that concern was not as yet known. Going to Southack, who
was the Republican whip in the senate, Avery proposed that he, in
conjunction with Judge Dickensheets and one Gilson Bickel, counsel for the C. W. I., should now undertake to secure suffi cient support in the state senate and house for a scheme introducing the New
York idea of a public-service commission into the governing machinery of the state of Illinois. This measure, be it noted, was to be
supplemented by one very interesting and important little proviso
to the effect that all franchise-holding corporations should hereby,
for a period of fi fty years from the date of the enactment of the bill
into law, be assured of all their rights, privileges, and immunities —
including franchises, of course. This was justifi ed on the ground
that any such radical change as that involved in the introduction of
a public-service commission might disturb the peace and well-being of corporations with franchises which still had years to run.
497
THEODORE DREISER
Senator Southack saw nothing very wrong with this idea, though
he naturally perceived what it was all about and whom it was truly
designed to protect.
«Yes», he said, succinctly, «I see the lay of that land, but what do
I get out of it?»
«Fifty thousand dollars for yourself if it’s successful, ten thousand if it isn’t — provided you make an honest effort; two thousand
dollars apiece for any of the boys who see fi t to help you if we win. Is
that perfectly satisfactory?»
«Perfectly», replied Senator Southack.
CHAPTER LV
COWPERWOOD AND THE
GOVERNOR
A Public-service-commission law might, ipso facto, have been
quietly passed at this session, if the arbitrary franchise-extending
proviso had not been introduced, and this on the thin excuse that
so novel a change in the working scheme of the state government
might bring about hardship to some. This redounded too obviously
to the benefi t of one particular corporation. The newspaper men —
as thick as fl ies about the halls of the state capitol at Springfi eld,
and essentially watchful and loyal to their papers — were quick to
sense the true state of affairs. Never were there such hawks as newspapermen. These wretches (employed by sniveling, mud-snouting
newspapers of the opposition) were not only in the councils of politicians, in the pay of rival corporations, in the confi dence of the governor, in the secrets of the senators and local representatives, but
were here and there in one another’s confi dence. A piece of news —
a rumor, a dream, a fancy — whispered by Senator Smith to Senator Jones, or by Representative Smith to Representative Jones, and
confi ded by him in turn to Charlie White, of the Globe , or Eddie
Burns, of the Democrat , would in turn be communicated to Robert
Hazlitt, of the Press , or Harry Emonds, of the Transcript .
All at once a disturbing announcement in one or other of
the papers, no one knowing whence it came. Neither Senator Smith
nor Senator Jones had told any one. No word of the confi dence imposed in Charlie White or Eddie Burns had ever been breathed. But
499
THEODORE DREISER
there you were — the thing was in the papers, the storm of inquiry,
opinion, opposition was on. No one knew, no one was to blame, but
it was on, and the battle had henceforth to be fought in the open.
Consider also the governor who presided at this time in the executive chamber at Springfi eld. He was a strange, tall, dark, osseous man who, owing to the brooding, melancholy character of his
own disposition, had a checkered and a somewhat sad career behind
him. Born in Sweden, he had been brought to America as a child,
and allowed or compelled to fi ght his own way upward under all
the grinding aspects of poverty. Owing to an energetic and indomitable temperament, he had through years of law practice and public labors of various kinds built up for himself a following among
Chicago Swedes which amounted to adoration. He had been city
tax-collector, city surveyor, district attorney, and for six or eight
years a state circuit judge. In all these capacities he had manifested
a tendency to do the right as he saw it and play fair — qualities
which endeared him to the idealistic. Honest, and with a hopeless brooding sympathy for the miseries of the poor, he had as circuit judge, and also as district attorney, rendered various decisions
which had made him very unpopular with the rich and powerful —
decisions in damage cases, fraud cases, railroad claim cases, where
the city or the state was seeking to oust various powerful railway
corporations from possession of property — yards, water-frontages, and the like, to which they had no just claim. At the same time
the populace, reading the news items of his doings and hearing him
speak on various and sundry occasions, conceived a great fancy for
him. He was primarily soft-hearted, sweet-minded, fi ery, a brilliant
orator, a dynamic presence. In addition he was woman-hungry — a
phase which homely, sex-starved intellectuals the world over will
understand, to the shame of a lying age, that because of quixotic
dogma belies its greatest desire, its greatest sorrow, its greatest joy.
All these factors turned an ultra-conservative element in the community against him, and he was considered dangerous. At the same
time he had by careful economy and investment built up a fair sized
500
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