Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/525

MUNICIPAL REVIEW, 1908-1909 51 1 plaint, however, on the part of many, that he has permitted a condition of affairs tantamount to a wide-open city, and that he has been indifferent to far-reaching schemes of municipal improvement; although the physical condition of Cleveland at the present time would certainly seem to indicate that there had been a substantial improvement along these lines.

There is no doubt that one of the factors contributing to Mayor Johnson's defeat was his recent attitude on the street railway situation. After forcing the corporations to a point where they offered terms of settlement which a half-dozen years ago would have been considered, even by the most exacting, as beyond the reach of the city, he refused to accept the terms and insisted upon his own new ones, which were generally regarded on the whole as somewhat less advantageous than those offered by the companies. In saying this I am but reflecting the views of men who, until the last referendum campaign, which terminated on August 3 last, had supported Mayor Johnson in his street railway campaign, but who, in that campaign and since, have opposed him because of what they considered his unreasonable attitude.

Brand Whitlock for the third time was elected mayor of Toledo on an independent ticket, defeating both the Republican and Democratic candidates, his majority being 5,002. Mr. Whitlock was the successor to "Golden Rule" Jones, who had himself several times been elected on an independent ticket. Mayor Whitlock has made a good record, and has justified the confidence the people of Toledo have placed in him. He has attended strictly to his municipal business, and has not sought to build up a machine, nor to play politics. In this respect his attitude is in striking contrast to that of Mayor Johnson, who not only built up a strong and powerful organization, which he justified with considerable skill on the ground that it was necessary for the maintenance of the work in which he was interested, but who constantly played politics.

Chicago's Municipal Voters' League achieved what many regard as a most decisive victory in its campaign of last April—the fourteenth in which it had participated. Early in the year