The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1908-09-25


contact with vari-
Gus members of the city council. This
body had for some years previous to
my sudden elevation to Office enjoyed
the reputation of being "out for the
stuff. Not that there were no honest
men in the council-far from it-but
mere was clique of men in it who
managed, one way and another, to put
over ordinances which carried with
them the strong suspicion of being
crooked BY cajolery, by party lean
ings, by straight-out bribery, by trick
cry and by many other methods there
had been "smooth work. done, with
out doubt. But that day had passed
In my official existence the council
had an honest majority. OF course
when I say honest, I do not mean to
accuse each individual alderman of be.
ing honest. But one thing can be said
for every individual of them, they
were as honest as their constituents.
They suited their wards, and if an al
derman would not hesitate to take
his bit whenever he got a chance, you
were Of the same caliber
1t was intensely interesting to watch
the different methods they employed
to gain a favor if they wanted one
and they usually did. Sometimes it
was the hail-fellow-well-m salutation
Of Hello, b." or How are you, pal?"
from the free and easy kind, or the
pouter-pigeon assumption Of impor
lance of others as they stated their
wishes. Occasionally a cigar was
handed out, but when they found /
did not smoke, this avenue of approach
was abandoned.
There was leaven in the council of
aldermen of genuine ability, lawyers,
business men, politicians, who really
made up the backbone of the body
They were usually the heads Of the
most important committees, and were
not only good takers, but men of af-
fairs, executive ability, thinkers and
workers. But these men could be
numbered within a score of the 20
MEMBERS
1t spoke we'll for the frankness Of
the predatory class among the alder
men that they thoroughly respected
ability, steadfastness and honesty You
could hear one alderman who was sup
posed to be mo better than he should
be- break out into praise of some 9TH
er alderman whose reputation was
nawless. | remember my amusement
on one of these occasions. One of
the aldermen, giving vent to his feel
ings about honesty. remarked: Yes,
sir, | like an honest man. Give me
an honest man. Give me one that will
stay honest. don't mean merely mon
ey honesty, but outside and inside hon
esty." Then he added rather irrelevant
ly: 'There's SO and so, referring to
a certain well-known and justly hon
Ored alderman he's the only honest
man in the council"
The business men were not at all
above getting all the fayors they could
from their respective aldermen, even
when they knew these favors violated
some ordinance. Many of these bust
ness men belonged to organizations
whose business it was. self-constituted
to weed out the bad" aldermen and
put in good ones. Yet the inconsis-
tency of getting illegal favors never
seemed to strike these pillars of COM
merce and society 1t makes differ
ence, you know, as to whose OK is
gored. Men want what they want
when they want it, and most men are
rather Indifferent as to the methods
employed to gain their ends.
Aldermen were very dissimilar as
to calling and station in life. A de-
scendant of the signers of the Dec
laration of independence might be
sitting next to a colleague who was
over a few years from Russia or Italy
The first man who arrived at the may
Ors office in the morning might meet
YOU with the glad hand and the ever
ready cigar, anxious and happy to
know the secretary The next mar
might be some leader of the ger
man. in what is cynically termed "po-
lite society" and this party might be
as of1ish as a strange bird dog And
then there would be the ward lead
ers,'' the regulation politicians, always
smiling, successful, happy. radiant.
The business men Of the council came
and went in businesslke way, and
wasted no compliments nor time in
their matters.
Very ignorant and generally newly
elected members of the council had
an idea that everything was graft"
hot fvo oil
open sesame of the city hall, and that
the mayors secretary was a person
age of secretly great power-which he
was not, in my time. So they might be
expected any time to drag in a Wild
eyed looking 'constit," ask for me, shove
cheap black cigar into my hand, in
troduce the "constit' as most par
ticular friend, and then ask to have a
city ordinance violated, or a state
law abrOgated. or the constitution of
the United States set aside for the
benefit of the said "constit" AS for
the mayor. these fellows did not be-
lieve there was anything on earth he
could not do if he wanted to-
In the council you could hear more
varieties of oratory than Demosthenes
ever dreamed Of Some of the alder
men were wind jammers.' making a
believing, frothing harangue, such as
they were in the habit of making in
their campaigns, but outside of their
admirers in the gallery, they never
amounted to anything. This body of
20 men, mind you, was shrewd as the
very devil. They knew hot air." when