Seeking the Upper Hand, 1892-93

AuthorC. Ian Kyer
Pages31-46

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

To continue reading

Request your trial

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial

Transform your legal research with vLex

  • Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform

  • Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues

  • Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options

  • Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions

  • Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms

  • Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

vLex

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT