Ohio History Journal

Cleveland's Johnson: Elected Mayor

By EUGENE C. MURDOCK*

 

 

One day in the early fall of 1897 thirty friends of Henry George

closeted themselves with the great single-taxer in Tom L. Johnson's

New York offices. The question before them was: Should George

be a candidate in the approaching New York mayoralty election?

Some of those present observed that their leader's health was not

good and that an exhausing campaign could render permanent

damage to him. An eminent doctor had only recently advised that

the exertions of a political canvass might hasten George's death.

George himself admitted that he did not want to enter the lists.

Nevertheless, he refused to consider his health and argued that only

one point should be debated: Would his candidacy further "the

cause"? With weighty misgivings the group agreed that it would.

After Tom L. Johnson escorted the failing George to the Cooper

Union platform on the night of the nomination, there was no turn-

ing back. A hard, wearying campaign worsened his condition as the

final week approached. Although the night of October 28 was cold

and wet, George drove himself relentlessly on, making five speeches

in far apart sections of Manhattan. Obviously tired and dispirited,

he rambled incoherently over many subjects. Returning to his head-

quarters in the Union Square Hotel, he fell unconscious, and a

hurried call summoned friends and relatives to the bedside. When

Johnson was aroused he sensed what was happening and, according

to a friend, "writhed as one writhes who has been pierced by a

sword." Early in the morning George died. That same day midst

the heavy gloom at campaign headquarters, "poor Tom Johnson"

 

* Eugene C. Murdock is chairman of the department of social science and assistant

dean of the college at Rio Grande College, Rio Grande, Ohio. Two previous articles

of his on Tom L. Johnson have been published in the Quarterly: "Cleveland's

Johnson," in the October 1953 issue (Vol. LXII, pp. 323-333), and "Cleveland's

Johnson: At Home," in the October 1954 issue (Vol. LXIII, pp. 319-335).

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CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR            29

 

was seen walking through the corridors, "tears streaming down his

face."1

 

*          *          *

Ever since his first meeting with George back in 1885, Johnson

had been troubled by serious doubts. Whereas he had made millions

through monopolistic maneuverings in street railways and steel com-

panies, George taught that monopoly was morally wrong. Johnson

had never learned the meaning of "equal rights for all and special

privileges for none," but now that the truth had been revealed, he

wanted to atone for his sins. Money-making no longer appealed to

him, so he suggested that he retire from business. George said no.

Stay in business. Make all the money you can, even if you do not believe

in the methods of getting riches; for in your case these same riches taken

from the people by the laws giving special privileges will be used for the

common good, in overthrowing those same laws.2

Hence Johnson remained in business and made more money. He

was not happy, however, and looked forward to the day when he

could chuck it all.

At the same time he commenced to apply his wealth to "the

cause." He assisted George in his campaigns for mayor of New

York in 1886 and 1897, and for secretary of state for New York

state in 1887. He subsidized single-tax newspapers such as The

Standard, The Recorder, and The Public, as well as George's final

volume, The Science of Political Economy. When George's health

broke in 1890, Johnson and August Lewis sent him and his family

to Bermuda. In addition to financial help, Johnson became a public

speaker, and while not too effective at first, was soon spreading the

gospel throughout the East and Midwest.

Under George's prodding he entered politics,³ running on the

Democratic ticket for congress in Ohio's twenty-first district. De-

feated in 1888, Johnson triumphed in 1890, subduing Theodore

1 Anna Angela De Mille, Henry George, Citizen of the World, edited by Don C.

Shoemaker (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1950), 226-236.

2 The Public (Chicago), V (1902-3), 91.

3 Tom L. Johnson, My Story, edited by Elizabeth J. Hauser (New York, 1911),

59-61.

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30    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Burton, who had won two years before.4 He served two uneventful

terms in Washington, holding but several minor committee posts.

Furthermore, with only five other single-taxers on hand, he was help-

less to promote "the cause" by legislative means. In his fight against

the Wilson-Gorman tariff, perhaps the most celebrated measure of

his four-year stay, he argued for free trade. "Hypocrisy," cried his

fellow congressmen at once, and while the charge was unfair, it

must be admitted that a monopolistic single-taxer was a unique

specimen, which a member of the house of representatives should

not be expected to understand.5

At any rate, congress was a disillusioning experience for Tom

Johnson, and when he was washed out of office in the Republican

deluge of 1894, he had few regrets. "I have been in Congress," he

later confided to Frederic C. Howe, "but there isn't much to be done

there. The place to begin is in the city."⁶ He now carried on his

business as before and continued to help the single-tax movement.

Obviously he would sell out when the proper moment arrived, but

as long as George lived and provided leadership for "the cause,"

he would mark time. And while he disposed of his Cleveland street

railways in 1894 and 1895, Johnson still possessed far-flung prop-

erties--the steel plant in Lorain, a ten-mile interurban between

Lorain and Elyria, and a street railroad in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Moreover, during the mid-nineties, brother Al Johnson and an asso-

ciate, R. T. Wilson, induced him to purchase street railway lines in

Detroit and Brooklyn, New York.

This was the situation when George's death deprived the single-

taxers of their originating genius, and gave Johnson his long-awaited

pretext. He resolved to abandon business and apply the full measure

of his time and effort to George's principles. He sold the Lorain

plant to Federal Steel in 1898, and peddled off the Brooklyn, De-

troit, and Johnstown lines within another year. He did retain con-

4 Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 30, October 3, November 7, 1888; September 3,

21, 22, 26, October 3, 16, 22, 24, 29, 31, November 3, 4, 5, 1890.

5 For a more complete account of Johnson's years in congress, see the author's

doctoral dissertation, "A Life of Tom L. Johnson" (Columbia University, 1951),

37-51.

6 Frederic C. Howe, The Confessions of a Reformer (New York, 1925), 97.

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CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR           31

 

nections with the interurban until 1905, but controlling interest

passed from his hands five years before.⁷

With the slate rubbed clean, would Johnson now return to

politics? Here he had no specific plans, although he did attend the

Democratic national convention of 1900 as a delegate, keeping alive

his party interest. Apparently he never considered becoming mayor

of Cleveland until a few months before the 1901 election. Yet

Johnson was now available, and as it turned out, circumstances did

arise in Cleveland during 1900-1901 which made his nomination for

mayor logical.8

 

*          *          *

Robert E. "Curly-headed Bob" McKisson became mayor of Cleve-

land in April 1895. Graduated from Oberlin College with honors,

McKisson began his legal studies under the experienced eye of

Theodore Burton. Having established his own law practice in De-

cember 1889, he won election to the city council the following year.

It was in McKisson's second term in council, during the adminis-

tration of Mayor Robert E. Blee, 1893-95, that he gained a repu-

tation for his opposition to the "street railway ring." This was the

opprobrious epithet applied to the close alliance between the city

administration and traction magnates like Tom Johnson, Mark

Hanna, and Henry Everett. McKisson fought this combination by

opposing the traditional policy of granting franchises to the highest

bidder. Acquiring a sizable following, he was elected mayor on

the Republican ticket in 1895, despite the antagonism of Hanna.

McKisson retained his reputation for a time, but during his

second term he became so immersed in scandal that his political

career abruptly ended. The conservative Municipal Association

charged McKisson with (1) the creation of a personal political

machine through misuse of public patronage, (2) exacting political

assessments from city employees, (3) juggling city accounts, (4)

 

7 The final chapter of Johnson's business career is described in "A Life of Tom L.

Johnson," 52-60.

8 "It was chance," he wrote, "that made me a candidate for mayor of Cleveland."

Johnson, My Story, 108.

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32    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

gross favoritism in letting contracts, and (5) debauching election

machinery.⁹

With McKisson's star in rapid descent the cry for reform was

again heard. In the spring of 1899 "Honest John" Farley, Demo-

cratic mayor from 1883 to 1885, and director of public works under

Mayor Blee, was returned to the city's executive office. A large and

wealthy contractor, Farley had for years ruled the local Democracy.10

He campaigned for economy and clean government, and won the

Municipal Association's support by agreeing to oppose the street

railway "franchise grabbers." However, shortly after winning the

election, Farley too abandoned his promises and went over to the

street railways. The secretary of the Municipal Association, Frederic

Howe, who had collected data to discredit the McKisson adminis-

tration, was shocked to hear the remark of a Farley confidant on

election night: "Of course we were glad to have the support of the

Municipal Association, but you know that didn't elect us. We should

have been beaten but for Mark Hanna's contribution of $20,000 to

the campaign."11

In the summer of 1900 an ordinance proposing to grant the

Hanna-controlled Cleveland City Railway Company a twenty-five-

year blanket franchise renewal caused such a public outcry that

council tabled the matter. Yet on February 18, 1901, Mayor Farley,

who had already been repudiated at the Democratic primaries, sent

to council the "Farley ordinance," a measure similar to the objection-

able one of the preceding summer. Again the city rose in a rage.

"Why now?" was the heated query from all quarters. "Why an

extension now when the grants still have years to run and when

there is no demand for renewals except from the companies?"

Charles P. Salen, the Democratic leader, charged that Hanna had

ordered passage of the ordinance before any "new-fangled" admin-

istration, unfriendly to the street railways, might take office. The

Plain Dealer was curious to know

 

9 Plain Dealer, March 25, May 18, 1901, May 22, 1902; Johnson, My Story, 22-24;

Carl Lorenz, Tom L. Johnson, Mayor of Cleveland (New York, 1911), 21-22.

10 A brief sketch of Farley may be found in Charles E. Kennedy, Fifty Years of

Cleveland (Cleveland, 1925), 119-124.

11 Howe, Confessions of a Reformer, 86.

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CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR            33

 

why Mayor Farley is so urgent for the franchise extension . . . Mayor Farley

has posed as an implacable enemy to the "grasping monopolies" whose fran-

chises have yet several years to run, yet now he is bent on making a new

twenty-five year contract with one of those monopolies, on terms it is eager

to accept, but which the people vehemently repudiate.¹²

 

The first move against the Farley ordinance was a mass anti-

franchise meeting, which was followed quickly by a statement from

the chamber of commerce opposing any franchise extension "at this

time." By the end of the week it seemed clear that popular sentiment

would not tolerate the Farley ordinance. The mayor grasped this

fact, because a few days later he announced that he would report

adversely on it.¹³ Nevertheless, Farley had disappointed the city as

conclusively as had his curly-headed predecessor. The political stage

was set for a man of spirit, a man who understood the street railway

business and street railway men, a man unafraid to fight the street

railway interests and to defend the city's rights.

 

*          *          *

The franchise controversy loomed significantly in the background

as the several clans of greater Cleveland Democracy gathered Jan-

uary 8, 1901, to pay homage to Andrew Jackson. The old Kennard

House, hosting two hundred members of the Cuyahoga Association

of Democratic Clubs, was the scene of the largest meeting. At 9:00

P.M. the doors opened and a profusion of stars and stripes struck

the eye; portraits of Jackson and Bryan were suspended above the

speakers' table. Two hours later, with supper demolished, young

Harry Payer rapped for order. Patrick Calhoun spoke briefly, fol-

lowed by Liberty E. Holden, Charles P. Salen, and the youthful

Newton D. Baker. Tom L. Johnson now arose. No longer the em-

barrassed novice who bungled his first speech in New York's Cooper

Union thirteen years earlier, Johnson was the confident millionaire

single-taxer, ready to take up the cudgels against "privilege":

 

The past of the Democratic party was built upon a great principle--a

 

12 Plain Dealer, February 19, 20, 1901.

13 Ibid., February 22, 25, 26, 1901.

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34     THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

principle enunciated by Thomas Jefferson--that of equal rights and exact

justice to all and special privileges to none. It is the office of the Democratic

party that every privilege granted by law to any individual should be stricken

from the statute books. I believe that the Democratic party has its future in

that principle. It shall be the means of breaking down these evils. I am today

free from every business venture in the world. . . . So help me God, the

balance of my life will be given to fighting for the principles of Democracy.

I want no office, I'll accept none. I expect to be in your ranks fighting for

the cause.¹⁴

 

Towards the end of January the Leader suspected that Johnson

might enter the race for mayor at the last minute. It reported that

the Wilson faction, a Democratic splinter group, "view with great

suspicion the petitions which are now in circulation in the interest

of Tom Johnson."¹⁵ Would Johnson abandon his pledge and be-

come a candidate? The Public thought not. However, considering

the anxiety his philosophy of the three-cent fare and municipal

ownership was causing in street railway circles, The Public specu-

lated that

if the street car ring doesn't want him to be mayor and evidently its feelings

that way are very strong, the people of Cleveland could hardly do better than

elect him whether he wishes to be elected or not. . . . Tom L. Johnson would

come nearer than any other mayor to settling the street car question in Cleve-

land in favor of the people.¹⁶

 

On the evening of February 6, 1901, fifty members of the Asso-

ciation of Democratic Clubs assembled in the Stillman House to

endorse a giant petition drafting Johnson as their candidate for

mayor.17 Fifteen thousand signatures filled hundreds of sheets of

paper, pasted end to end. A statement, introduced by Chairman

Payer, requesting the nomination, was enthusiastically adopted. It

was next decided to present the petition to Johnson that very night

in his home a few blocks down Euclid Avenue. The party marched

 

14 Cleveland Leader, January 9, 1901; Plain Dealer, January 9, 1901.

15 Leader, January 28, 1901.

16 The Public, III (1900-1901), 659.

17 Harry Payer states that Charles P. Salen was largely responsible for originating

the Johnson-for-mayor movement. Since it had been decided to petition Johnson even

before the Kennard banquet, the only question remaining was whether or not he would

accept the offer. Conversation with Payer, March 4, 1949.

• 7
 

CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR               35

 

in a body, cheering like a group of college students. As they neared

East 24th Street the Johnson mansion rose up ahead, brilliantly

aglow. A butler received their hats and coats as the rotund and

smiling Johnson descended the stairs. Greeting his guests, he led

them into the ballroom, admitting that he was not unprepared for

their call. The visitors found stations where they could, as Johnson

sat on a piano stool. Payer read the statement requesting Johnson to

run for mayor. Then, standing by the east wall, he flung out the

huge roll; as it unfolded across the wide room, the delegation

cheered. After speeches by committee members, Johnson read a

typewritten statement:

 

I have up to the last hoped that this situation would not arise. I much

prefer my original plan of being active in politics without running for office.

At the same time, I feel deeply sensible of the honor of being asked to stand

as a candidate for mayor of this city. . . . I will be your nominee for mayor

if the Democratic primaries so will it.18

With Johnson committed, opposition within the Democratic party

soon vanished. George B. McKay, leader of the Unity Club, who

had been endorsed for mayor earlier, withdrew his name on Feb-

ruary 5, even before the petitioners called at the Johnson mansion.

Later the Tammany Tigers, foes of Johnson, decided not to oppose

him. To mollify the discredited Farley administration, however,

Tammany declined to support anyone. Hence Johnson's nomination

appeared certain, and he won easily at the February 19 party pri-

maries.¹⁹ Within three weeks' time the remaining Democratic fac-

tions climbed aboard the bandwagon, leaving only the disgruntled

Farleyites outside. On February 26 Tammany endorsed Johnson, and

the Hickory Club, after an abortive effort by McKisson to win it

over to the Republicans, came into the fold on March 4. The Seneca

Club, an ancient political group, followed suit March 8 with a

thumping resolution supporting Johnson. Farley had already come

18 Leader, February 7, 1901; Plain Dealer, February 7, 1901; conversation with

Payer, March 4, 1949. Johnson later wrote, "It would have been cowardly for me to

refuse to run simply because I had publicly announced that I had no intention of

doing so." My Story, 109.

19 Plain Dealer, February 6, 15, 20, 1901.

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36     THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

out for William Akers, proprietor of the Forest City House, who

carried off the honors in the Republican primaries, February 21.20

 

*           *            *

The liberal Plain Dealer asked Johnson a few questions concern-

ing the policies he proposed to adopt if elected mayor. His answers,

published as the lead article on February 25, were apparently satis-

factory, for the next day the paper endorsed him:

 

Mr. Johnson is a man of unquestioned business ability and unimpeached

honesty. His capacity for managing large undertakings has been frequently

demonstrated. His abilities to handle men as well as great business enterprises

has been shown by his popularity with his employees and with workingmen

everywhere. . . . Those who have known him best and watched him most

closely have good reason for believing that, if elected, he would be the actual

mayor of Cleveland and not the puppet of any party faction or clique using

his occupancy of the position for their advantage.

 

The newspaper was unsympathetic to the single tax, municipal

ownership, and the three-cent fare, but felt that Johnson would

either have no opportunity to try them, or would not dare try them

if he had the opportunity.21 The Press also supported Johnson, but

the Republican Leader was in vigorous opposition.

Some two thousand animated Clevelanders, assembled in the

Washington Armory on March 12, heard Johnson outline a program

foreshadowed in numerous speeches during the preceding two years.

He stood for the three-cent fare, municipal ownership of all public

utilities, equal tax assessments, public improvements, home rule, and

clean government. While impressed by all of this, the audience was

more interested in some of the charges which Republicans were

making against Johnson. "Do you live in Cleveland or New York?"

"Why don't you pay your own taxes before you start talking about

 

20 Ibid., February 22, 28, March 5, 7, 9, 1901.

21 Ibid., February 25, 1901. The managing editor of the Plain Dealer, Charles

Kennedy, reported that "the Plain Dealer urged his election as a man of ideals in city

government, with a wealth of successful business experience to strengthen his adminis-

tration. Our plea . . . was on higher grounds than partisanism." Fifty Years of Cleve-

land, 138.

• 9
 

CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR             37

 

other people's taxes?" "Why didn't you try the three-cent fare when

you owned street railways?"22

This criticism was not without some foundation. Although he had

purchased his Euclid Avenue home in 1895, Johnson had spent little

time there, leasing it to Leonard Hanna, and on one occasion even

proposing to sell it to Hanna.²³ On the second point, the "tax in-

quisitor"²⁴ had charged that Johnson owed well over $100,000 in

back taxes on his home, covering the years 1894-99. Johnson got an

order restraining the city from collecting the sum, and the case was

in court at the time of the 1901 campaign.²⁵ Whenever a questioner

coupled the charges of foreign residence with local tax delinquency,

Johnson answered, "Why should I pay taxes here if I live in

Brooklyn? Well, the fact is, I live in Cleveland and I pay taxes in

Cleveland." Why had he never tried the three-cent fare himself?

"First, I was not wise enough," came the reply, "and second, in-

ventions had not progressed far enough to make three-cent fares pos-

sible up to the time I ceased to own a street railway in Cleveland."

Johnson amplified this position often during the campaign. It was

true that he had not introduced the three-cent fare when he was

director of the Big Con, but then it was not until later that Mayor

Hazen Pingree of Detroit first developed the idea. Johnson had re-

duced the fare on his Coney Island line from a quarter to five cents.

The fundamental reasons for his recent conversion to the three-cent

fare were twofold: (1) the decreased cost of street railway opera-

tions since the introduction of electrified lines, and (2) the rapid

growth of urban populations.

Democratic rallies continued for another week before the Re-

publicans opened their campaign. Johnson attended four meetings

on March 13, driving through mud a foot deep to reach them. At

the Harvard Street Armory he promised to devote all his energies to

his office, and before three hundred approving Polish workers he re-

viewed his policy toward organized labor. The following Saturday

 

22 Plain Dealer, March 13, 1901.

23 Conversation with William R. Hopkins, August 6, 1949.

24 On the role of the "tax inquisitor," see Ernest L. Bogart, "Recent Tax Reforms

in Ohio," American Economic Review, I (1911), 505-506.

25 Plain Dealer, May 2, 1907. In 1907 the courts finally held Johnson liable for

$4,400.20, which he paid, although he claimed he never owed it.

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38    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

night he spoke on tax and transit questions, asserting that the Little

Con franchises, instead of having eight years to run, had only three

and a half. He discussed saloons, insisting that he would not tolerate

a wide open town.²⁶

At several preliminary rallies during this same week, the Repub-

lican leadership clarified its position. Akers favored a three-cent fare

if it were possible, but since it was not possible there was no sense

in talking about it. On Friday night he observed, "They say Tom L.

stands for the single tax; I believe on the other hand that he stands

for no taxes at all, so far as he himself is concerned." The next night

the Republican candidate stated that he had been a poor boy once,

and "surely you would rather side with a poor boy than a million-

aire." He attacked Johnson for making his fortune in Cleveland and

spending it elsewhere. "I have always lived in Cleveland and stayed

in Cleveland."²⁷ The formal opening of the Republican campaign

took place March 19, with six rallies sparking the occasion. John-

son, of course, was thoroughly picked apart. He was a New Yorker;

he was worth $10,000,000 but paid only $200 in taxes; he was in-

sincere in his three-cent fare propaganda, for he had instituted the

three-cent fare in Detroit to get a franchise, and later raised it back

to five cents.²⁸ The Republicans poked fun at him in a little ditty

sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle":

 

Tommy Johnson, Tommy Johnson, you're the worst of fakers,

You may wish to be our mayor, but we'll have Billie Akers.²⁹

Akers' ties with McKisson became public knowledge on Thursday,

March 21, when the Plain Dealer asked the Republican candidate

who his supporters were. His evasive response prompted the paper

to publish stern charges against him. Akers, it was stated, had origi-

nally favored McKisson's nomination, but when the former mayor

 

26 Ibid., March 14, 16, 17, 1901.

27 Ibid.

28 Assaults on Johnson's sincerity began as far back as his congressional days and

were destined to continue until his retirement from public life. That they were mis-

taken appears obvious from any fair study of the record.

29 Plain Dealer, March 20, 1901; Burton Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society,

Cleveland.

• 11
 

CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR          39

 

considered it advisable to remain on the sidelines, Akers was urged

to run. He refused. Finally, under strong pressure from McKisson

and the McKisson-controlled Republican executive committee, he

consented. His chief adviser, W. P. Chard, was deputy director of

public works in McKisson's last administration. Two men in Chard's

department had been sent to the penitentiary for fraud. Various

others, active under McKisson, were listed among Akers' coun-

selors.30 These charges hurt Akers, for the city was sick of McKisson,

and was distrustful of Akers' alliance with him.

As the final week neared, Akers learned that Congressman Theo-

dore Burton was returning from Washington to assist in victory.

One of Johnson's oldest political foes, Burton was to come back to

Cleveland and help his party fight Johnson in every remaining cam-

paign. In fact, he headed the Republican ticket himself in 1907. The

party leaders felt that a man of national repute, such as Burton,

would influence independent voters. A member of the executive

committee acknowledged that "Burton is the only man who can

talk with Johnson. We know Akers can't talk, but when Burton

arrives---" Reaching Cleveland, Saturday, March 23, Burton went

on the stump that same night, addressing three meetings. Conceding

that Johnson was honest and genial, he said the danger was that

he might aspire to be governor, senator, or even president. As for

the three-cent fare, that was too absurd to require comment. Burton

reviewed Johnson's congressional career, observing that "no bill ever

passed the House which Mr. Johnson sponsored."31

On March 26, Johnson, unable to speak because of a cold, at-

tended a Republican rally in a hall on East 105th Street at Euclid.

Burton was the featured speaker. However, when Johnson and two

friends dismounted from their carriage, guards posted at the door

barred their passage. The party then traveled to another Republican

rally at East 40th and Groton, and finding the entrance free, filed

in unobtrusively and sat in the rear. Someone remarked with sur-

prise, "There's Tom Johnson." The chairman, hearing the com-

 

30 Plain Dealer, March 21, 1901.

31 Ibid., March 23, 24, 1901.

• 12
 

40    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

motion, excitedly moved to the center of the platform and reminded

everyone that it was a Republican meeting. Johnson answered that

he was merely a spectator, but offered to leave if the chairman so

desired. This was the latter's wish, whereupon Johnson departed.

To the consternation of the program committee, fully three-quarters

of the audience noisily left with him. The Plain Dealer reproved the

Republican managers for barring Johnson, and Burton later ex-

pressed regret over the incident. The party at this late date needed

all the good will it could muster. On the same night, Akers' meet-

ings drew poor crowds, and he retired at ten with an annoying cold.

He continued to deny McKisson's support, and to tell boyhood

reminiscences.³²

Shortly before the election, undercurrents of factionalism in

Akers' party came to the surface. On March 28, General Ed Meyer,

a Republican, came out strongly for Johnson. It was soon learned

that McKisson had interceded with Meyer, and precipitated the

break. Furthermore, McKisson allegedly remarked that Akers' head-

quarters was merely a bluff, and that the Republican campaign was

actually being conducted from McKisson's own offices. The same

day it was rumored that William H. Boyd, a prominent Republican

attorney, might desert Akers' ship.33 Even the Municipal Association

came out against Akers and McKissonism.34

Saturday morning, March 30, the Leader tossed a potential bomb-

shell. Under a three-column head it charged that Johnson paid $300

to a barber, Augustus Hubbell, for assistance as a ward worker. On

the same morning Johnson brought suit against Hubbell and the

publishers of the Leader for criminal libel. Hubbell was immediately

arrested, and at a public hearing in the afternoon only confounded

the confusion about his alleged dealings with Johnson. Character

witnesses testified against him. Johnson, for his part, called the story

utterly false, admitting only that Hubbell had asked him for money

32 Ibid., March 27, 28, 1901.

33 Although Boyd was Johnson's unsuccessful Republican adversary in the 1905

election, he sided with the mayor in the traction war.

34 Plain Dealer, March 28, 29, 1901. While the Municipal Association opposed

Akers, it would not support Johnson. When it urged everyone to vote, it did not say

for whom.

• 13
 

CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR                41

 

but had been refused. He characterized it all as an "eleventh hour

Republican plot."³⁵

The Democrats held their final monster rally at Gray's Armory

Saturday night. The 3,000 excited people who gathered there formed

the "largest crowd ever to assemble in Cleveland to hear a municipal

candidate." The Plain Dealer reporter wrote:

 

When Johnson was introduced the scene was one of the greatest enthu-

siasm. Half the audience stood up. Men waved their hats, women their

handkerchiefs, while the cheers of the audience were fairly deafening. For

several minutes Mr. Johnson could not speak on account of the tumultuous

applause. He started to speak but the audience broke out afresh. One en-

thusiast called for three cheers for Mr. Johnson and the tumult which re-

sulted was tremendous. The cheering continued for several more minutes.

The noise crescendoed when Johnson mentioned the roorback:

 

I knew what the Leader proposed to publish before yesterday. I had re-

ceived notice of it in writing from a member of the Republican Executive

Committee of 15. They held it for two weeks and then the Leader published

it on the last day of the campaign, thinking that if they held it until the last

day it would be too late to deny it. . . . Secretary John Goldenbogen of the

Republican Committee is the real criminal.

Burton addressed twelve hundred in seven separate meetings, plead-

ing for a straight Republican ticket. Akers spoke to twelve hundred

and fifty in six meetings, concluding the Republican campaign.³⁶

*        *       *

Obviously this had been a rousing, stimulating canvass. Johnson

injected the unusual into a contest which had long been cut and

dried. It was not surprising that on election night, Monday, April 1,

crowds of people began to gather early around the Plain Dealer's

huge bulletin screen, facing on East Third Street. By nine o'clock

both East Third and Superior were jammed with a noisy, expectant

 

35 Ibid., March 31, 1901. The hearing was continued until after the election, and

Johnson later dropped both suits.

36 Ibid. Akers lost his temper with one young heckler and told him it was none of

his business whether he was backed by the McKisson machine or not.

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42     THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

throng. Traffic was suspended. A tumult arose when the first bulletin

was flashed on the screen at seven-thirty, and the excitement in-

creased steadily until eleven o'clock.

 

From the beginning a Johnson victory appeared certain. With only

half of the precincts in, the Republican command conceded defeat,

and as the proportions of a Johnson victory swelled, the gloom in

the Forest City House deepened. Akers was losing in precincts where

large Republican majorities were customary. Johnson received the re-

turns in the city hall with a good-humored crowd of friends. His

satisfaction was undisguised when at eleven o'clock, with victory as-

sured, he said:

 

I knew the people would win this fight. The tactics pursued by the op-

position in this campaign were enough to augur its defeat. The arguments

advanced by our side were not refuted by the opposition. The opposition

having no argument resorted to abuse and mud-slinging, which kind of cam-

paign is very rarely successful. I think the Republicans can hold the Cleve-

land Leader responsible for the overwhelming defeat of the Republican

candidate.

 

The election board figures released Tuesday morning gave Johnson

35,791 votes, and Akers 29,758, a plurality of 6,033.37

How does one explain Cleveland's mandate for a new political

order? Was progressivism catching up with the city, or was this

merely a cyclical rejection of corruption? Perhaps it was a little of

both. The Plain Dealer attributed Johnson's election to

 

first, a general recognition of his eminent fitness by experience and ability to

fulfill the duties of his office, and second, a determination on the part of our

citizens, irrespective of party affiliations, to prevent a return to official power

of the discredited political machine with which Mr. Akers was unfortunate

enough to be associated.

 

One active McKisson worker commented: "The Plain Dealer did

it. . . . If the Plain Dealer had been neutral in the fight, we would

have won." Another Akers man said, "McKisson, Farley's support,

37 Ibid., April 2, 1901. The official tally gave Johnson 35,817 and Akers 29,761, a

plurality of 6,056.

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CLEVELAND'S JOHNSON: ELECTED MAYOR         43

 

the most objectionable of the Hanna element, and the Leader were

too much of a load for any man to stand up under." McKisson him-

self cited numerous errors, such as Farley's support and the Hubbell

affair. One disgusted ward worker was heard to remark, "Why even

the Republicans we hauled to the booths voted for Johnson.^"38

In view of all this, it seems safe to say that Johnson won not so

much because of his own strength as because of his opponent's

weakness. Had Theodore Burton opposed Johnson in 1901 instead

of 1907 he might have been victorious. Once Johnson was in office,

however, his record of accomplishments grew to such proportions

that only failing health could in the end drive him out.

 

38 Ibid., April 2, 3, 1901.

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