made our nation the moral leader of the world, early realized that if private corporations could obtain franchises that would enable them to establish monopolies in public utilities, such as street-railways, gas, electric lighting, etc., they would have both the cities and the citizens at their mercy and in effect become possessed of vast mines of wealth incomparably richer than the great bonanza goldclaims that had made millionaires, because every passing year would add greatly to the income, while through watering their stock and other practices familiar to the broadcloth gambling fraternity of Wall street they could levy extortionate prices on the multitude and manipulate their stocks so as to give the few Monte

Christo-like fortunes.

Seeing these enormous possibilities for acquiring unearned wealth, they were quick to act, gaining control of unscrupulous political bosses and pushing to the front men who would be responsive to their desires and who would permit them to select or pass on the persons who were to be chosen for the people to vote upon. In this way and by enormous corruption funds contributed for campaign purposes and other uses, it was not long before the great cities became the prey of highly respectable bands of moral criminals gentlemen in broadcloth who as presidents of banks, directors in insurance companies, railway magnates, express company officials and officers in other leading enterprises, stood as the very pillars in the business and social world. And these men, by the aid of the municipal and state bosses, reinforced by shrewd lawyers who received princely incomes, astute lobbyists supplied with enormous corruption funds, and hirelings in the city and state government, together with the pressure they knew so well how to bring to bear upon the press, pulpit and school, were able to secure for absolutely nothing or next to nothing grants and special privileges that are to-day diverting into a few scores of pockets hundreds of millions of dollars from public utilities which

in the hands of the American cities and operated by the people, as is the case in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and scores of other Old-World cities, would be to-day blessing the millions in our municipalities by giving better public service at greatly reduced cost, while the revenue, even after such reductions would substantially lessen taxes. This claim is no unfounded opinion. It is based on the actual results that have followed municipal-ownership and operation in Great Britain, Germany and other foreign nations, and of the public lighting plants of Detroit, Michigan, Duluth, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Florida, and other cities of the New World. Indeed, we believe such results have followed in every instance where public-ownership and operation has been fairly or honestly tried or where the backbone of private corporations operating public utilities has been sufficiently broken to enable the people to overthrow the corrupt machine and official tools whose presence in municipal life had been due to the publicservice corporations. In recent years the corruption in American cities has had its fountain-head in the criminal rich and not in the criminal poor. The latter were merely powerful by reason of the wealth and power of the master-spirits behind the scenes who rendered the bosses and their tools invincible and insured them from punishment for crimes. against the ballot and other corrupt and lawless practices.

The strength and power of Durham in Philadelphia. were due to the highly respectable moral criminals who had plundered the city of her street-car franchises, her gas rights and numerous other invaluable privileges. So in St. Louis, Boss Butler, like Durham, was able to make elections a farce and a by-word because of the enormous wealth he drew from the privileged interests and the princely bribes paid by the street-car officials and other public-service magnates for turning over to the corrupt grafters the enormously valuable public

franchises. And what has been made so obvious in Philadelphia and St. Louis has been true in greater or lesser degree of all the great American municipalities. Against this riot of criminality and extortion Mayor H. M. Pingree raised his voice in protest. He was a pioneer in the warfare for civic righteousness and in the battle against the great and powerful thieves who had filched from the cities their greatest wealth-yielding prizes. Detroit is far from being a free city yet, but the progressive steps she has taken toward civic emancipation were due to the moral awakening occasioned by the movement inaugurated by Mayor Pingree. Next came Mayor Tom L. Johnson, overcoming the great machine majority of Cleveland and calling a halt in the systematic raids of the plunderers. No city official in America has done more to arouse a healthy, honest civic spirit in municipal life or to demonstrate to the people the insane folly and moral criminality of turning over to private interests public utilities than has Cleveland's highminded, incorruptible and aggressively honest mayor; and no man in America has struck more telling blows against the debauching union of corrupt political machines and the criminal rich of the great public-service corporations than has Mayor Johnson.

After Mayor Johnson came CountyAttorney Folk, a veritable David in the camp of the Philistines. He carried the work forward by uncovering the nest of villains at work, taking them red-handed as it were by seizing over $100,000 of corruption money put up by the streetcar corporations to debauch the council and through this corruption rob the city of franchises worth millions of dollars. Mr. Folk secured evidence and confessions of criminality that enabled him to convict numbers of great rogues, from the boss down.

The revolt in Chicago and later in Philadelphia, in which the masses have rallied against the respectable but criminal rich for the honor of the city and to

secure honest government, is typical of the new awakening. The movement for municipal emancipation and the establishment of efficient public service under popular rule in the place of corrupt government in the interests of privileged classes, by machine rule, is spreading all over the country.

One of the latest and most striking victories won for good government has been achieved in the rich and populous city of Buffalo, where a civic leader who already looms large on the horizon of American life, having been elected as chief magistrate, has inaugurated a programme of progress and civic efficiency that reflects the highest honor and credit on the new mayor and the people who are so enthusiastically holding up his hands.

II. J. N. ADAM, THE MAN.

The Mayor of Buffalo, up to three years ago, had been for many years the head of one of the largest dry-goods department stores in Buffalo. He was born in Scotland in 1842. His father was a Scotch clergyman, and his early education was obtained in Edinburgh. When twelve years of age he was apprenticed in a small tin-ware and notion establishment, receiving one dollar a week for the first three years and $1.50 a week for the fourth year. The fifth and last year of his apprenticeship he earned two dollars a week. a week. He began as a delivery or bundle boy but afterwards became a clerk. Later with a friend he established a business for himself, but in 1872 he came to Buffalo, New York, at the suggestion of his brother Robert, who wrote from that city describing the superior opportunities offered in America to young men of push, business ability and integrity. Mr. Adam soon displayed a remarkable aptitude for managing large concerns. He was industrious, temperate, honorable, alert and progressive; hence he soon achieved a pronounced success in business. He learned to love America without losing