James K. McGuire: Boy Mayor and Irish Nationalist

4. The Mayoral Years: Boy Mayor

48 4 The Mayoral Years Boy Mayor McGuire’s first message to the Common Council took the form of a fourteen-page letter that the new mayor read to the council at a muchattended public meeting. The letter touched on a wide range of topics. He advocated ending the practice of awarding franchises to the various transportation and utility companies without negotiating a fair return for the city coffers. He advocated the public ownership of these franchises. He proposed that the city negotiate a three-cent streetcar fare for working people during the hours that they travel to and from work. He called for the establishment of a “subway commission.”1 He proposed municipal ownership of the water and lighting companies, and the construction of a “free public bath system.” He championed the construction of a new high school. He advocated abandoning the practice of designating an official newspaper, and proposed reducing the salary of the commissioner of public works by a thousand dollars.2 Unfortunately for the new mayor, his proposals were addressed to a council that was now headed by President Frank Matty. McGuire’s involvement in the leadership struggle in the council would plague him for the foreseeable future.3 The mayor’s proposal that the city do away with “official” newspapers died in the council; however, he at least had the satisfaction of having the Courier, which supported him, designated as one of them.4 Ultimately the mayor was able to engineer the appointment of Melvin Z. Haven as city clerk by garnering the support of five Republican t h e m a yor a l y e a r s | 49 members of the council. The selection of Haven, under these circumstances , opened up a subplot concerning the appointment of a deputy city clerk.5 In the meantime, the mayor proposed the creation of a Public Bath Commission,6 and became embroiled in a controversy in which he was asked to renege on a promise to help a constituent obtain a saloon license over the objections of his neighbors. To resolve the controversy, the mayor offered to personally compensate the wouldbe saloon owner for his loss, declaring, “Personally I am a temperance man. No man in this room is more rigid in his temperance than I am. If I had my own way about it, I would not have a drop of liquor drunk in any way. I stand ready to give $50 or even $100 to do away with Schoen’s place. My opinion is that in consequence of my experience with the Schoen matter you need not be troubled with fear in the future.”7 Among the places that the mayor traveled during this period was New York City, where he visited the offices of the Irish World and its publisher Patrick Ford, for whom he had previously worked. He reported that “Mr. Ford is quite an old man, white hair and bent form, with a worn literary countenance. Yet he enjoys rugged health and labors in his little sanctum many hours each day. He is ranked as one of the first editorial writers in the country and his journal is the best as well as the largest circulated of its class in the country.”8 A dispute with the Democratic members of the council arose when McGuire refused to dismiss the superintendent of parks, Thomas Bishop, because he was a Republican. Bishop, who was the only person to have ever held the office, had been appointed by William B. Kirk, a Democrat.9 Explaining his reason for refusing to bow to the aldermen’s demand, McGuire justified his position based upon Bishop’s satisfactory performance over the years and the fact that he had received more than two thousand Republican votes, which required some bipartisanship . It was not language that was likely to bind up the wounds that had opened between him and some members of the council.10 Despite the ongoing battle between the mayor, President Matty, and the council over patronage and issues of integrity, some positive 50 | Ja m e s K . Mc G u i r e achievements managed to be accomplished. In May, after extensive public hearings and a threatened veto by the mayor, the mayor and the council managed to come to terms on the awarding of the suburban franchise, which involved linking the eastern towns and villages to the city by railway.11...