Seeking the Upper Hand, 1892-93

• Author: C. Ian Kyer
• Pages: 31-46



Chapter

SEEKINGTHEUPPERHAND



contentious and 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processhadbeenawedorhewaspushedout

by the mayor and the other opponents of the private sector franchisee is

unc lear.

HewasreplacedbyfortyfouryearoldGranvilleCarlyleCunningham

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

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

with t he City.HehadearlierworkedfortheCanadianPacicRailwayCPR

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

tains.OneofhisrsttasksasCityengineer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, includ

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councilwithathoroughwellconsideredreportHeevaluatedtheuse

of cable propulsion as well as three forms of electric propulsion — storage

baeryundergroundorsurfaceconduitandoverheadwireHequicklydis

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

been widely used with installations in two dozen cities in the United States

AThirtyYearsWar

includingChicagobutbyitwasindeclineItsinstallationcallingas

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

was much more expensive than an electrical 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 Cunningham’s

report would result in the adoption of the franchisee’s proposed solution

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

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

madeitknownthathewouldnotseekafthtermbecausehewantedtofocus

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

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

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

ing contrast. Fleming was a reformer and supporter of organized labour

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

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

to seek the mayoralty in the hope of introducing a number of changes 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 franchise than with its riders. 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theirownhorseandbuggyTheKnightsofLabour

alsopointedoutthatOslerhadseveralconictsofinterestTheOntario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