Chicago to Springfield:: Crime and Politics in the 1920s (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) (5 page)

This is a handbill from Len Small’s first run for governor in 1912. (JR.)

“Farmer Len Small” was the Lorimer machine’s candidate for governor in 1912. (
Chicago Tribune
.)

During Len Small’s first run for governor in 1912, his
Kankakee Daily Republican
ran front-page headline stories every day for months on how Small was adored by the voters and how he was going win in a landslide. When the votes were counted, he lost in a landslide. (Both KCC.)

This edition repeats the theme used in Small’s newspaper for decades that the
Chicago Tribune
was trying to control the state and was out to ruin Small. (KCC.)

Lt. Gov. John Oglesby, son of a Civil War–era governor, sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1920. Outside of Cook County, Oglesby won 84 counties and Small won 16. But with Mayor Thompson counting the votes in Chicago, and a favorable yet controversial ruling from the state board of elections, Len Small was declared the nominee a month before the election. (KPL.)

James Hamilton Lewis was the Democratic candidate. Lewis questioned whether Small was eligible to be governor since the constitution barred anyone who owed money to the state from holding statewide office. Others also raised the issue, such as the
New York Times
, which wrote on October 15, “Len Small’s candidacy has impaired the true Republican principles of the state. By doing so, it has injected an element into the state election which stains the state Republican ticket.” However, 1920 was a big Republican year, and Small was elected governor. (KPL.)

“Now followed an administration which for waste, mismanagement, inefficiency, intrigue, manipulation and downright disregard of the public interest has few parallels in the history of the United States,” wrote Carroll Wooddy in 1931 in
The Case of Frank L. Smith
. Leslie Small, seen at right, worked as a teller in his father’s bank until 1913, when he became editor of his father’s newspaper. He later became publisher and kept the job until he died in 1957. Governor Small created the department of purchases and construction and put Leslie in charge of hundreds of millions of dollars in projects. Governor Small’s son-in-law Arthur Inglesh became administrative auditor of the department of finance. Numerous family members and Kankakee cronies were on the state payroll. Below, the Small house is decorated for the 1920 campaign. (Both JR.)

Adolph Marks was the Republican candidate for the state senate in Chicago’s First District in 1922. A victory would give Governor Small a one-seat majority. Democrat Norman MacPherson won the election by 43 votes, and his victory was confirmed by the Chicago Board of Elections. But Governor Small had his state board of elections throw out enough votes to make Marks the winner. Republican attorney general Edward Brundage said, “They wanted that seat and they took it.” Secretary of State Louis Emmerson agreed with him, but Marks stayed. (JR.)

Prohibition did not end the saloon, it just drove it behind closed doors. This picture shows Rieck’s Saloon in the small village of Campus, Illinois, between Chicago and Springfield. Prohibition helped spur corruption and crime throughout its time on the books. (Courtesy of John Ulrich.)

When Small became governor, he scrapped the Illinois Civil Service Commission and brought back the spoils system. State representative Truman Snell (seen here) said Small’s aide Julius Johnson bribed legislators for votes. Johnson was forced to resign, and Small then appointed Johnson as Illinois Commerce Commission secretary—at a higher salary. (JR.)