criminal record. William H. Kemble, an early member of the
Philadelphia group, had been indicted for attempting to bribe the
Pennsylvania Legislature; he had been convicted and sentenced to
one year in the county jail and had escaped imprisonment only by
virtue of a pardon obtained through political influence. Charles
T. Yerkes, one of his partners in politics and street railway
enterprises, had been less fortunate, for he had served seven
months for assisting in the embezzlement of Philadelphia funds in
1873. It was this circumstance in Yerkes's career which impelled
him to leave Philadelphia and settle in Chicago where, starting
as a small broker, he ultimately acquired sufficient resources
and influence to embark in that street railway business at which
he had already served an extensive apprenticeship. Under his
domination, the Chicago aldermen attained a gravity that made
them notorious all over the world. They openly sold Yerkes the
use of the streets for cash and constantly blocked the efforts
which an infuriated populace made for reform. Yerkes purchased
the old street railway lines, lined his pockets by making
contracts for their reconstruction, issued large flotations of
watered stock, heaped securities upon securities and
reorganization upon reorganization and diverted their assets to
business in a hundred ingenious ways.

In spite of the crimes which Yerkes perpetrated in American
cities, there was something refreshing and ingratiating about the
man. Possibly this is because he did not associate any hypocrisy
with his depredations. "The secret of success in my business," he
once frankly said, "is to buy old junk, fix it up a little, and
unload it upon other fellows." Certain of his epigrams--such as,
"It is the strap-hanger who pays the dividends"--have likewise