The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-27

"At any rate, the city is growing rapidly
Our factories are increasing in size ana
many new ones are going UP. We are in
healthy financial condition and our Dus-
mess is growing every year..
What is your population now, / asked.
cit is more than 100000" was the reply
1.-THE federal census gives us less, but the
postal census and the directory census
give us more. We have also estimate
based on the number of school children
which makes our population considerably
in excess of 100000 The federal census
is paid for by the number of names, and
in a population containing as many Tor
eigneTS as Chicago the enumerators have
probably skipped some because they would
not take the trouble to verify their state
ments."
l here asked Mayor Harrison several
questions as to order in Chicago with a
view to learning something of the wicked
ness of the city. He said:
Il do not think Chicago is any worse
than any other city of the United States.
1t is q good fair average, and its people will
grade up with those of any other locality.
One reason for the bad reputation which
the city has in some quarters comes from
their nonappreciation of our bigness. We
have now over 100000 people. If a city of
100000 has two assaults in a given time
ii attracts no attention, but if Chicago
which has 100000. has twenty assaults
they hold up their hands in horror, not
rejecting that this number is only proper
tlOnately the same as that or the 100000
town.
LAS to safety, 1 have been in Chicago
ABOUT lOIIy-LWO years ana nave DecD IfdN-
cling through all parts of it at all hours of
the day and night. I never carry gun
and have never thought that l needed one
mans property. life and person are as
safe here as in any part of the United
States"
A VAST FLOATING POPULATION.
There is one thing" continued the
mayor. that might make Chicago more
lively than other cities. This is it's vast
floating population. We are so situated
that we have tens of thousands of men for
the winter. We right the lake. and
a large part of the vast army of lake work.
ers come here at the close of navigation to
spend what they have earned during the
rest of the year. We have thousands of
railroad workers, including Italians, Greeks
and others. who labor in the spring. sum-
mer and fall on the various trunk lines,
going as far West as the Rockies, and we
have the men who work on the farms in
the summer. The result Is that we have
many men who are half idle during the
winter, and such men are always hard to
control"
what do you think, Mr.. Mayor" said l,
about the city ownership of great public
utilities, such as the street cars and light
plantS?"
Il believe in them,' said the mayor. but
/ think that all such matters should be
very carefully studied, and that nothing
has the capacity to manage them. | think
the day will come when Chicago Will own
such things. AS it is, we are now putting
a clause in all our new charters giving the
city the option of taking over the plant
after certain number of years.
II should like to ask a word about pol
itics, Mr.. Harrison" said /. do you think
the Democratic party has fighting chance
for success in the coming presidential cleo
tion?'
Il most certainly do. The Republicans
have by no means sure thin and | be-
lieve that they are losing ground to-day in
the State of Illinois,
'Who will be the candidates.
1T is foregone conclusion that Roose-
welt will lead the Republican party"
but / mean the Democratic candidate.
Who will lead your party?"
- can't say" was the reply.
"Will your"
NO" said Mayor Harrison. 81 have no
such ambition. / am not chasing rainbows
and that dream has not entered my head.
We have a congressman, j. r. Williams,
who will probably be the candidate of ILL
ncis. AS for me, am not anxious for any
thing but to do my work here and to retire
at the end of this term. The chief thing
that troubles me is to get enough
money to run the city.
How much do you want?'
I'VE want a lot more than we get,
but our charter and the state laws are
such that we cannot get what we ought
to have. We need just about $14,000.O00 for
the city alone"
THAT is not great amount for Chicago >
said L. 1T takes more than S9O,000,00O a
year to run New York
Il only wish we had one-third of it,
said Mayor Harrison. eve could use it
and use il well"
FRANK G. CARPENTER.
TCopyright 1904