The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-27

cause they would not take the uouose 70 verify their statements" Not So wicked After All. here asked Mayor Harrison several Qiaesfions as to order in Chicago. with view of learning something or the WICK cdness of the city. He salds T do not think Chicago is any worse than any other city of the United states. IL is good fair average, ana us people will grade up with those or any otner locality. One reason for the bad repufa- ton which the city has in some guar ters comes from their on-appreciatio. of our birness. We have now over 2.OOo,- Ovg people. If a city of 2O0.ooo has two assaults in a given time 1t attracts no attention, but if Chicago. which has two millions, has twenty assaults, they hold uD their hands in horror, not renectlng that this number is only proportionateiy the same as that of the two-hundred- thousand town.
 "As to safety, have been in Chicago about forty-two years and have been travelling through all parts or It at all hours of the day and night. never carry a gun and have never thought that I needed one. A mans property, lifs 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 are right on the lake and a large part of the vast army of lake workers 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, in- clrding Italians, Greeks and others who labor in the spring, summer and fall on tha various trunk lines, going as far west as the Rockies, and we have the men who work on the farms in the sum- nner. The result is that we have many 1 mer who are half idle during the winter, and such men are always hard to con troll"
 Municipal owenership What do you think, MT. Mayor said I. about the city ownership of great rublic utilities, such as the street cars and light plants?" fl "I believe in them," said the Mayor. but I think that all such matters should be very carefully studied. and that noth- ing should be done until the city shows that it has the capacity to manage them. I 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"
 The Presidency. < -''I should liksr to ask a word about pol itjcs,' Mir. Harrison said I. Do you think the Democratic Party has fight ins chance for success in the coming presidential election?"
 "I most certainly do. The Republicans have by no means a sure thing, and I believe that they are losing ground to- day in the State of Illinois"
 "Who will be the candidatesT'
 Tt is foregone conclusion that Roose- veIs will lead the. Republican 1arty." But mean the Democratic candidate. Who will lead your partyf' 'I can't say" was the reply.
 "Will you?''
 ''No," said Mayor Harrison "I have no such ambition. 1 am not chasing rain- bows and that dream has not entered my heaa. We have Congressman, J. R. Williams, who will probably be the can didate of Illinois. As for me. I am not anxious for anything but to do my work here and to retire at the end of this term. The chief thing that troubles me now is to get enough money to run the city"
 How much do you want?"
 I've want a lot more than we can get, but our charter and the State laws are such that we cannot get what we ought to have. We need just about IA. 0Oo.00O for the city alone.'
 S"That Is not a great amount for Chi cago," said I. '-It takes more than $9O,- Oc0OO0 a year to run New. York. e, <
 T only wish we had one-tnird of it." said Mayor Harrison. ''We could use 1t and use 1t we'll"
 Frank G. Carpenter.