people. It provided for a Municipal Assembly composed of two
houses: the Council, with thirteen members, elected at large for
four years, and the House of Delegates, with twenty-eight
members, one from each ward, elected for two years. These two
houses were given coordinate powers; one was presumed to be a
check on the other. The Assembly fixed the tax rate, granted
franchises, and passed upon all public improvements. The Police
Department was, however, under the control of the mayor and four
commissioners, the latter appointed by the Governor. The city was
usually Republican by about 8000 majority; the State was safely
Democratic. The city, until a few years ago, had few tenements
and a small floating population.

Outwardly, all seemed well with the city until 1901, when the
inside workings of its government were revealed to the public
gaze through the vengeance of a disappointed franchise-seeker.
The Suburban Railway Company sought an extension of its
franchises. It had approached the man known as the dispenser of
such favors, but, thinking his price ($145,000) too high, had
sought to deal directly with the Municipal Assembly. The price
agreed upon for the House of Delegates was $75,000; for the
Council, $60,000. These sums were placed in safety vaults
controlled by a dual lock. The representative of the Company held
one of the keys; the representative of the Assembly, the other;
so that neither party could take the money without the presence
of both. The Assembly duly granted the franchises; but property
owners along the line of the proposed extension secured an
injunction, which delayed the proceedings until the term of the
venal House of Delegates had expired. The Assemblymen, having
delivered the goods, demanded their pay. The Company, held up by