Seeking the Upper Hand, 1892-93

• Author: C. Ian Kyer
• Pages: 31-46



Chapter

SEEKINGTHEUPPERHAND



contentious a nd protracted bid process was William Tyndale

Jennings, the City engi neer. He left the City’s employ in late September and

became a consultant Whet her he grew tired of the secondguessing a nd

suggestionsthat histenderproces shadbeen awedorhewas pushedout

by the mayor and the other opponents of the private sector franchise e is

unc lear.

Hewasreplaced byfort yfouryearoldGranvilleCarlyleCunn ingham

who was appointed as acting City engineer at a specia l meeting of city council

onOctober  Cunningham was an exceptionally bright assi stant engineer

with t he City.Hehad earl ier worked fort heC an adia nPac icR ai lwayCP R

andhadauthoredanimpressivereportonsnowslidesintheSelki rkMoun

tains.Oneof hisrst tasksas Cityengi neerwasto investigatehowbestto

electrify t he street railwayFor two weeks in late he toured various

locations in the United States where electric cars were in operation, i nclud

ing Bualo Cleveland Pisburgh Allegheny Washington DC Newark

Albany and Boston He also visited New Yorkand Orange New Jersey

hometo Edisonslaboratories On his return he presented the mayorand

citycounci lwith athorough wellconsideredreport Heevaluatedtheuse

of cable propulsion as well as three forms of electr ic propulsion — storage

baer yunderg roun dorsu rfac econdu ita ndoverheadw ireH equi ckly dis 

missed the use of cable cars. For about a decade the cable car system had

been widely used with instal lations in two dozen cities in the United States

AThirtyYearsWar

includingCh icagobutby itwas in declineIts instal lationcal linga s

it did for a system of buried cable with pulleys, sheaves, and drive wheels,

was much more expensive than an electrica l system. Its maintenance and

operation was also more costly. It was best suited for a city with a much lar

ger population than Toronto or a city with steep hills, like San Franci sco. He

had found that the most widely used and the most practical system was the

overhead wire system of the kind that had been tested and proven at the To

rontoExhibitionin thesThe overheadwiresystemwas alsofavoured

by the new franchisee. Any hopes, however, that Engineer Cunni ngham’s

report would result in the adoption of the franchi see’s proposed solution

provedshortlivedThenewyearbroughtanewmayorwhowasopposed

Aboutthet imethat Cunningham wasissuinghis reportMayorClarke

madeitk nownt hathewo uldnotseeka fth term becaus ehewa ntedto focu s

on provincial politics. Four candidates put their names forward to replace

Clarke John McMilla nJames BeatyRJ Fleming and Edmond B Osler

Flemingand Oslerwerethe leadingcontendersa ndtheywere aninterest

ing contrast. Fleming was a reformer and supporter of organized labou r

in the tradition of Mayor Howlandwit h extensivec ivic experience hav

ings ervedas an alderman for three years Fleming had decided

to seek the mayoralty in the hope of introducing a number of cha nges to

City Hall, including a businessl ike approach to council.Osler also wanted a

businesslikeapproachbuthehadadierent ideaofwhatthatentailed He

was a Conservative nancier and businessma n with extensive experience

with railways. A member of Toronto’s moneyed elite and of one of the city’s

most prominent families, he had helped fund the Win nipeg Street Railway,

theCPRandtheOntarioandQuebecRailway

The support for these two leading candidates split along management/

labourlinesOslerwassupportedbyabusinessallianceorganizedbyGold

winSmithandWRBrock while t he Knights of Labour supported Fleming.

While Fleming was praised by organized labour for his evenhandedness

andsupport for the publicgood Osler wasthought to havemore in com

mon with the owners of the new franch ise than with its r iders. Known as

thePeoplesBobFlemingwasseenasa moreeectivespokesmanforthe

transit users who were largely made up of working men and women who

werenotable toaordt heirown horsea ndbuggyThe Knightsof Labour

alsopointedoutthatOslerh adseveralconictsofi nterestTheOntar ioand

Quebec Railway that he was funding was being sued by t he City over its re

movalofitsCreditValleyworkshopsinbreachofanagreementunderwhich