The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-05-01

d D6dI-plI. GTduDy SnOSL Is rdlSln
hell" said he
But 1 had no impulse to laugh or
glOat. Good night" said I TO Roe
buck, and fastened away.
It was the end of the attempt to
mine the foundations Of my power
But I did not neglect its plain warn
Ing. AS soon as the legislature as
sembled, l publicly and strongly adj
vocated the appointment of a joint
committee impartially to investigate
all the cities of the state, those ruled
by my own party no less than those
Of the opposition. The committee was
appointed and did its work so thor
oughly that there was a popular
clamor for the taking away OF the
charters of the cities and for ruling
them from the state capital. 1t is
hardly necessary to say that my leg
islature and governor yielded to this
clamor And so the semi-independ-
ent petty princes, the urban bosses,
lost their independence and passed
under my control; and the ''collec-
tons" which had gone directly to
them reached them by way of Wood
ruff as grants from my machine, In
stead of revenues of their own right.
Before this securing of my home
power was complete, l had my coun-
ter-attack upon the Burbank-Goodrich
combine well under way Immediate
ly on my return to Fredonia from the
disastrous dinner l sent for the at
torney general of the state, Fergu-
son. He was an ideal combination
of man and politician. He held to
the standards of private morality as
nearly as it is possible for a man In
active public life TO hold to them
far more nearly than most men dare
OF, after they have become Injured,
care, to hold He always maintained
with me a firm but tactful independ
ence; he saw the necessity for tie
sordid side of politics, but he was
careful personally to keep clear Of
smutching or besmutching work. He
had as keen an instinct for popular
ity as bee has for blossoms; he
knew how to do or to direct unpopu-
lar things on dark nights with dark
lantern, how to do or to direct popu-
lar things in full uniform on white
horse. Ihave never ordered any man tOa
task that was not morally congenial; and
I was careful to respect Ferguson's
notion of self-respect. l sent for him
now, and outlined my plan-to bring
suits, both civil and criminal, in the
federal courts in the name of the
state, against Roebuck and his asso-
ciates of the Power trust
When he had heard, he said: Eyes,
Mr.. Sayler, we can break UP the Pow
er trust, can cause the indictment and
conviction of Mr.. Roebuck. 1 can
prevent the United States attorney
general from playing any of the usual
tricks and defending the men whom
the people think he is vigorously pros
ecuting. But"
"But?' said I, encouragingly.
rs this on the level? If l undertake
these prosecutions, shall 1 be allowed
to push them honestly? Or will
there be q private settlement as soon
as Roebuck and his crowd see their
danger?"
No matter what happens" 1 re-
piled, you shall prosecute at least
the civil suits to the end. give you
my word for that"
He thanked me warmly, for he ap-
preciated that 1 was bestowing upon
him an enormous opportunity for ma
tional fame.
And your" askedL 'If you succeed
IN this prosecution, will you remain
in the public service or will you &C
cept the offers the interests will make,
and remove to New York and be
come rich corporation lawyer"
He reflected before answering.
THAT depends" said he IF you are
going to stay on in control Of this
state, I shall stick to public life, for
1 believe you will let me have what
I call q career. But, If you are go
Ing to get out and leave me at the
mercy of those fellows, certainly
shan't stay where they can fool the
people into turning on me-"
4 shall stay on" said I; "and
after me, there will be Woodruff-un-
less, of course, there's some sort Of
cataclysm"
"A man must take chances" he an
swered. TIL take that chance"
We called Woodruff into consulta-
ton Although he was not . lawyer,
he had a talent for taking a situation
by the head and tail and stretching
1t out and holding it SO that every
crease and wrinkle in 1t could be
seen. And this made him valuable
at any conference.
In January we had our big batteries
loaded, aimed and primed. We IN
masked it. and Ferguson fired. I had
expected the other side to act stupid
", but l had not hoped for such stu
pidity as they exhibited. Burbank's
year of bathing in presidential fatter-
les and of fawning on and bringing
to the u1ulfJ-u1t1liOuafres and their