Chicago Traction Wars

Chicago awarded its first street railway franchises in 1856. Early on, dozens of streetcar companies arose. However, by the 1890s mergers and acquisitions had left only a handful. There were strong doubts about the constitutionality of the legislation. In 1883, to postpone a conflict, Chicago mayor Carter Harrison III brokered an understanding with streetcar companies that the city would extend their franchises for twenty more years, and settle the status of the 99 years act at another time. ==Yerkes-backed bills==

Charles Yerkes, owner of a large number of the city's streetcar lines, began leading a push for extended franchises. Yerkes held great power and influence, at one point holding influence over a majority of the state legislature. Crawford bill On May 14, 1895, Governor John Peter Altgeld vetoed a bill to extend franchises which had been passed by the Illinois legislature. He declared "I love Chicago and am not willing to help forge a chain which would bind her people hand and foot for all time to the wheels of monopoly and leave them no escape." Humphrey bills In early 1897, legislator John Humphrey introduced several bills which would grant 50-year franchises with very little compensation to the city. The bills were defeated in the Illinois House of Representatives on May 12, 1897. ==Municipal ownership movement at the turn of the 20th century==

A standoff emerged between the streetcar operators, still asserting their right to 99-year franchises, and Harrison's municipal government. The dispute between the city government and the companies would not be settled until 1907 after Harrison had already left office. In 1897 John Maynard Harlan ran for mayor on a platform supporting municipal ownership. When Carter Harrison IV had been reelected in 1899. One of his opponents had been former governor Altgeld, who ran under the "Municipal Ownership" party label on a platform which supported municipal ownership. In 1902 a municipal ownership referendum passed by a six to one margin. ==Street Railway Commission==

On December 18, 1899, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution enabling the appointment of a special committee of seven, subsequently referred to as the Street Railway Commission, to form a policy on the traction issue. This followed the "Harlan Committee", a commission which existed from 1897 through 1898, which was led by then-alderman John Maynard Harlan and which issued the "Harlan Report", a document that laid out facts about the issue but drew no policy conclusion. Among other things, the committee was to examine the feasibility and practicality of municipal ownership, as well as the terms and conditions under which municipal ownership might exist. On January 15, 1900, a resolution was adopted by the City Council further directing the commission to examine and report what companies, if any, were authorized under their charters to operate streetcars using anything other than animal power, the validity of ordinances granting such right in opposition to the charters of companies, the related provisions of the 99-year act, and what streetcar lines, if any, might be acquired the city by virtue of their ordinances. The committee consisted William F. Brennan, Milton J. Foreman, Ernst F. Hermann, William Mavor, Walter J. Raymer, William E. Schlake. The report was submitted on December 17, 1900. Among other things, it recommended that streetcar businesses be recognized and treated as a monopoly, that the City Council have broad powers of control over them, the creation of a new standing committee on local transportation, and that the city should have the power to own and operate street railways. It recommended holding referendums on important questions of street railway policy. On May 20, 1901, the City Council passed an ordinance creating the Committee on Local Transportation. Some of the committee's special duties was "to carry on any work of investigation that may have been left uncompleted by the Street Railway Commission, to consider and devise plans for meeting the situation that may arise when street railway ordinances come up for action," and, "to make special study of the kind, quality, and sufficiency of the local transportation service and facilities of Chicago, and to make City Council from time to time, as it may see fit, recommendations looking to the improvement of the same." The committee would consist of nine City Council members, and the mayor as an ex-officio member. In its first report, issued December 11, 1901, it reported that the municipal ownership of street railways was not feasible. ==Mueller Law==

In May 1903 the Illinois General Assembly passed the Mueller Law, which allowed cities to "own, construct, acquire, purchase, maintain, and operate street railways" through direct titles and leases, with the stipulation that cities must receive three-fifths approval from their electorate before assuming control of railways. The law also placed a 20-year limit on traction franchises and provided the right for municipalities to buy-out traction companies when their franchises expired. In an April 5, 1904 referendum, Chicago voters voted in strong enough support to allow the city to begin acquiring street railways, with voters approving the measure by a nearly a margin of 5-1. The city also simultaneously voted in support of two other municipal ownership-related referendums. ==1905 municipal election==

Mayor Harrison preferred to be pragmatic and negotiate with transit companies for better service instead of buying them out. However, this ran into opposition, particularly from hard-lined backers of immediate municipal ownership such as alderman William Emmett Dever. Dever attempted to pressure his fellow alderman to take a firm position on the issue of municipal ownership by sponsoring several traction reform legislation. In the fall of 1904, Dever proposed holding a referendum on whether the city should enact an immediate takeover of streetcar service. Harrison publicly killed Dever's referendum effort, stating, "The Dever ordinance is a war measure and should be withheld until all other means of settling the traction issue have failed." Ultimately, three months after killing Dever's "war measure", with growing public dissatisfaction over his handling of the traction standoff and with labor unions disagreeing with his opposition towards immediate municipal ownership, Harrison decided to retire prior to the 1905 mayoral election. Harrison persuaded the City Council to submit tentative transit ordinances for referendum during the 1905 municipal election. Ultimately, three propositions were placed on an advisory ballot related to transit. On the question of whether City Council should pass the tentative ordinances, 150,785 voted "no" while only 64,391 voted "yes". Voters also strongly (by a 3-1 margin) voted "no" on the question of whether the city should grant any franchise to the Chicago City Railway and the question of whether the City Council should grant a franchise to any rail company. There was additionally a referendum on immediate municipal ownership in which voters sided in support of it. Democrat Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne successfully ran to succeed Harrison, campaigning on a platform which advocated immediate municipal ownership. While his Republican opponent, John Manyard Harlan, had eight years earlier run as an independent Republican on a platform in support of municipal ownership, in 1905 he supported the tentative ordinances, preferring to delay municipal ownership until a time in which it would be more economically viable for the city. ==Plans proposed by Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne==

'', portraying newly-inaugurated mayor Dunne as dispossessing traction interests of their franchises The main focus of Dunne's mayoralty would be on attempting to implement immediate municipal ownership. In June 1905, two months after taking office, Dunne put forth his proposed Contract Plan, under which a municipal contract would be given to a select group of private investors that would build and run a new transit city on behalf of the city. The trustees of this system would be granted a twenty-year franchise. This was voted down by the city council. Dunne later presented an alternative plan, which also failed in the City Council. In November 1905, Darrow resigned his position as Special Traction Counsel. In 1906, Dunne would appoint Walter L. Fisher as the city's new Special Traction Counsel. After negotiations with streetcar companies, Fisher created the so-called Tentative Ordinance, which would see upgrades made to service, greater reimbursement made to the city for the use of streets, and stricter regulations. The plan, however, lacked any meaningful proposal for municipal purchase. Dunne, at first, touted this ordinance. However, after backlash from social reform allies of Dunne's and William Randolph Hearst's Independence League (which threatened that it might run a candidate against Dunne in the 1907 mayoral election), Dunne switched his position on the ordinance. ==April 1906 referendums==

After the failure of the plan in city council, Dunne and his ally Dever both sought to present the plan to the voters by referendum. They along with the pro-municipal ownership lobby and William Randolph Hearst-owned media outlets were ultimately successful in urging the city council to consent to this. ==Court rulings on 99-year franchise act==

A standoff had emerged at the turn of the twentieth century between the railway companies, still asserting their right to 99 year franchises, and Chicago's municipal government. Ultimately, this standoff lasted several years, until court decisions nullified the 99-year act. 1905 United States Supreme Court A 1905 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States largely undermined the 99 franchise year act. 1907 Illinois Supreme Court In 1907 the Supreme Court of Illinois ruled that the 99-year franchise act was invalid. ==Settlement Ordinances of 1907==

In 1907, with Mayor Dunne struggling to pursue municipal ownership, the city council moved on without him and negotiated franchise extensions without Dunne's involvement. In 1907 the Chicago City Council bared the fruits of their negotiations, passing the Settlement Ordinances of 1907. The ordinance would extend franchises by twenty years, but would provide the city the option to buy-up the streetcar lines for $50,000,000. It also established a Board of Supervising Engineers comprised engineers and accountants who were to be tasked with assuring compliance with the ordinances, and setting standards for equipment and construction. The city council overrode this veto. The voters approved the ordinances by a vote of 167,367 to 134,281. The Ordinances were implemented, with traction companies receiving 20-year franchises, post-dated as beginning on February 11, 1907. 1910 reorganization of routes Through routes over the lines of several companies were established in 1910 creating a number of joint services. ==Unification Ordinance of 1913==

The Unification Ordinance of 1913 was passed by the Chicago City Council on November 13, 1913. It combined management and operations of all Chicago streetcar companies as the Chicago Surface Lines (C.S.L.). It took effect in 1914. Companies such as the Chicago City Railway became "paper companies", continuing to own equipment, but with their equipment being operated by the C.S.L. and used systemwide throughout the metropolitan area. the longest one-fare ride, the longest average ride, and the most liberal transfer privileges in the world. In 1913, the city's elevated lines also joined into a loose association. ==Subsequent failed schemes==

CLTC plan In early 1916 the Chicago City Council created a commission of three engineers called the Chicago Traction and Subway Commission to assess the city's transit network and plan improvements. This ordinance also would create a municipal railway board. ==Later developments==

In the late-1930s, the Chicago City Council's Transportation Committee, led by alderman James R. Quinn, negotiated with transit companies about possible acquisitions of them by the city, with hope being held that the city might be able to procure Public Works Administration funding to purchase and consolidate transit lines. The Chicago Surface Lines was eventually sold to the publicly owned, city government agency Chicago Transit Authority after 88 years of private operations and 34 years since consolidation, on April 22, 1947, and the Chicago City Railway was liquidated on February 15, 1950. ==See also==