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Bourbons in the Senate, Scandal in the High Court Arrington and the Bourbons SEVEN Np way could Ogilvie's push in 1969 for enactment of the state income tax not ignite political drama. Too much was at stake, and besides, the cast of players with a big say in the matter was dominated by strong-willed and even explosive characters. More than a few of them were found in the most exclusive political club in the state, the old-guard Republican majority in the Illinois Senate . The General Assembly's upper chamber had been a Republican stronghold through the decades since the Depression. Moreover, in 1969, the public careers of some of the Senate GOP Bourbons still in the saddle dated back to the Depression . A year or two later, a combination of age, the stepped-up pace in the legislature , and exasperation would take a toll on a good number of the Bourbons. However, in the first year of the Seventy-sixth General Assembly, 1969, the Senate 's Republican majority-with its lopsided advantage, thirty-eight to nineteen -over the Democrats reigned. Even in the mid-1960s, when Democrats were in control, except in the Senate , the tightly knit contingent of GOP senators still managed to have its voice heard on issues. That also happened to be the period when the image of the General Assembly :was soiled by an unpleasant episode, the disclosure in 1965 of those tape-recorded discussions of lobbyists on purported payments to legislators for votes. None other than the old guard came to the rescue. Its leader, W. Russell Arrington, forcefully whipped the Senate into a model of operating efficiency, one designed to prove that the legislature still could playa very full role in government.. As Arrington molded the Republicans into a cohesive battalion, Governors Kerner and Shapiro found themselves having to compromise on most of their programs. If they didn't, GOP versions were passed. The Bourbons may have been criticized for being recalcitrant on civil rights and other hot issues surfacing in the I960s, but nobody argued that any interests were better served than 82 BOURBONS IN THE SENATE, SCANDAL IN THE HIGH COURT those protected by the old guard-financial institutions, insurance firms and other big businesses, public education, agriculture, and strict interpretation of the Illinois Constitution. The Bourbons could attack with almost puritanical zeal subjects they frowned on. Extension of legalized gambling beyond horse racing was one. Another was the multiplication of social welfare programs, a favorite goal of the Chicago Democrats. New or increased taxes were not on the Bourbons' agenda either, meaning that Arrington faced a tough chore in selling his men on Ogilvie's income tax. (In I969, only one woman held a seat in the Illinois Senate, Democrat Esther Saperstein of Chicago.) Arrington was far from the only featured performer in the General Assembly 's passage of the income tax. Mayor Daley's influence hung heavily over the Democrats in both chambers of the legislature, and he could only relish the call .by Ogilvie for a levy the mayor obviously wanted. Over in the House, the Republican speaker, Ralph Smith, would have to put votes for the income tax on the board. And southern Illinoisan Clyde Choate, a key cog in the Democratic leadership team in the House, would certainly get his due before any income tax legislation was sent to Ogilvie. Wrenching votes for the income levy out of the Senate Bourbons, though, had to be the least-desirable assignment for those seeking the tax. Daley would dictate in the end a vote for the tax by a large number of Senate Democrats, but that would have been meaningless without significant support for the levy in the overwhelmingly GOP majority. So the onus was on Arrington. W. Russell Arrington had commandeered a huge role on the state government scene. Commandeered was hardly an exaggeration because Arrington seemed to do everything forcibly. Moving ahead with all the delicacy of that proverbial bull in a china shop, Arrington was the majordomo behind the General Assembly's progression from a part-time institution to one functioning aImpst full-time. For that, he would be praised and condemned. Success in the world of Illinois government and politics seldom came to persons with small egos, but Arrington's critics insisted that he set a new standard in self-esteem. And that was one of the nicer things they said about Arrington. Arrogant and overbearing, not to mention ruthless-those were...

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