Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/96



movements was in Newark, the metropolis of the state. This city belonged absolutely to the business interests grouped about the Prudential Life, the Fidelity Trust Company, and the Public Service Corporation, which, ruling through Major Lentz, gave the city a government in which these special interests came first, the common interest of the city last. The Democratic machine stood in with the Republican ring. Now and then, when James Smith, Jr., the Democratic business boss, had business differences with the Republican business grafters, there was a political fight. But all the opposition that counted at all came from a few young men, with William P. Martin at their head, who, mostly Republicans, got into councils and opposed steadfastly the public utility grabs. Their story is a story by itself, and a good one; suffice it for the present to say these fellows were battling against the enemies of their city, the public service interest, all the while Colby was trying to get along with his party.

Several other movements were under way in the suburbs of Newark — Bloomfield, the Oranges, etc. These were “good-government,” “good-men-for-office” reforms till Tom McCarter aroused these “ communities to opposition to the real cause of all their troubles. Tom McCarter is a fiery, red-headed politician, who, as president