And Jersey City did likewise. After Dickinson
and his mayor had given out the Murphy letter,
the railroad-trolley rings went after the boss, and
they got him. He began to insist in Jersey City
upon some sort of compromise with the Public
Service Corporation. The company wanted some
new grants. The city couldn’t get its old case
into court; so what was the use of fighting? Why
not settle it all out of court? Mayor Fagan hung
back, but his cabinet persuaded him to talk it
over with Tom McCarter. McCarter called,
asking for perpetual franchises. The Mayor was
willing to negotiate on the basis of a twenty-five-year franchise. McCarter said limited franchises were absurd in Jersey. There they stuck till Record suggested, as a compromise, a perpetual
franchise with readjustments of the terms every
twenty-five years. McCarter thought this opened
a way to a settlement; so did the Mayor; and
Dickinson, feeling that he had “delivered his
man” (the Mayor), sailed for Europe. But it
wasn’t settled. McCarter demanded fifty-year
periods, and the Mayor, who had had misgivings
all along, broke off the negotiations. The Pub-
lic Service had its way. The Democrats controlled
the Street and Water Board, and they passed
McCarter’s franchise for him.
But it was passed over the Mayor’s veto, and
