My Story by Elizabeth J. Hauser Page B

the most powerful weapons in the hands of the public for resisting the aggressions of street railway monopolies. Cleveland had all three of these advantages.
    The story of that contest belongs to a much later period, but I may say here that it might have been very different if Mr. Hanna had not become absorbed in national politics. If his chief interest had centered in street railway operations in Cleveland the city would have had to contend against some sources of corruption which were fortunately lacking in our nine years’ war, for Mr. Hanna regarded politics as merely a business asset. In the early days I cared nothing for the political side of the game. My interest was in developing street railway systems relying on my knowledge of the business for success. But with Mr. Hanna and his kind street railroads were a side issue, and from the time I came into contact with him practically everything I did in the street railway business became a political question. Indeed, it was a case of playing politics or getting out of the business.
    My first contests with Mr. Hanna were on the west side, but later we extended our operations and our fighting to the east side. First and last we had many bitter struggles but never any personal disagreements. I always had perfect confidence in Mr. Hanna’s keeping his word in any transaction and he never disappointed me.
    We ran our buses about a year, Mr. Hanna’s company fighting every move we made, and then it happened that they wanted to renew a franchise which included that pivotal half mile of track. By this time the contest between us had become a matter of public interest and had been the chief issue in several councilmanic elections. The town was making it so hot for the council that in spite of Mr. Hanna’s tremendous personal influence and his powerful backing, the councilmen refused to grant the renewal except on condition that we be permitted to operate our cars on his tracks.
    In Mr. Hanna’s eyes our victory was a reflection on the management of Captain Simms, the president of the company, or at least a sign that Simms’s power was waning, and it led to a quarrel between them. Simms was then more prominent in street railway circles than Hanna, and our success was regarded more particularly as a victory over him than over Hanna. The quarrel resulted in Hanna buying out Simms and his other partners. No doubt Hanna reasoned that if there was fighting to do in the future he would do it himself.
    In the meantime I had purchased the Jennings avenue line, a narrow gauge railroad on the west side running through a low-lying section known as the “flats,” and this gave me control of two of the eight street railway companies of the city. My next move was to try to get a grant empowering me to build east side lines to be operated across the city in connection with the Pearl street and Jennings avenue lines for a single fare.
    Mr. Hanna and all the other street railroad interests in the city were lined up solidly against this proposition. They contended that we could not possibly make our venture pay, that because of the length of the haul we were virtually offering to carry passengers for two and a half cents, whereas the actual cost to the company was three cents per passenger.
    The real strength of the Hanna forces lay not in their arguments but in their influence with the council. Councilmen known to be on our side were spirited out of town on various pretexts. One, a railroad conductor, was suddenly sent back on his run one night to keep him away, andthus the steam railroads were drawn into the contest. Henry Everett, manager of one of the rival companies, went to Indianapolis and tried to organize against us there a fight which would divert my attention from the Cleveland situation. He failed to accomplish anything beyond giving me some extra work and a good deal of care.
    Mr. Hanna was present at the council meeting every Monday night and so was I. The