Chicago to Springfield:: Crime and Politics in the 1920s (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) by Jim Ridings Read Free Book Online Page B

is trying to dodge a civil accounting for $2,000,000 of interest on public money which disappeared while it was in his hands. Until Mr. Small remembers where it went, we are entitled to believe that a careless janitor burning up bank records did Mr. Small a great favor, and made it greater by conveniently dying.
    Wherever Small puts his hand, he leaves a black spot. This unprincipled governor, in his stupidity which appears as audacity, is now bulldozing the state. It seems to be easy if an unscrupulous man tells a county it must stay in the mud and cannot have good roads unless its politicians protect him.
    Col. Robert McCormick, owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, was a larger-than-life figure with plenty of his own flaws, quirks, and eccentricities. Both McCormick and Small were fiercely partisan and opinionated publishers, unafraid to use their power. McCormick, a staunch Republican, said the Cook County Republican Committee under Thompson and Small was “a criminal organization conducted to the protection of crime for profit.” The newspaper also crusaded against gangsters, corrupt politicians, and Franklin Roosevelt. (At left, KPL; below, Chicago Tribune. )

    A defiant Gov. Len Small poses for the camera. When Len Small was indicted for his theft as state treasurer, the governor had his lawyers argue in court that he was immune from prosecution based on an old English doctrine that “the king can do no wrong.” His defiance was answered by a judge who said there was no king in Illinois and that Small would have to stand trial. (CHM-DN-0072509.)
    This is the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue, and on the left is the Wrigley Building. Len Small hated the Chicago Tribune with a white-hot passion. Small rarely made a speech where he didn’t excoriate the Tribune ; one hour-long speech in Gilman in 1923 included 57 denunciations of the Tribune . The Chicago Tribune was hard on Small on the editorial pages but fair in its news coverage. It was the contention of Governor Small that the Chicago Tribune “championed a cause against the governor,” which was the root of his troubles. (JR.)

Five
KANKAKEE POLITICS
    CADILLACS BY PRESCRIPTION
    Between Chicago and Springfield is the city of Kankakee. To understand the corruption of Len Small and George Ryan, one must understand the politics of Kankakee, where they were bred. The Illinois Central Railroad was building a line through that prairie area in 1853, and it needed a spot for a station. Kankakee County was formed only after railroad workers voted fraudulently and frequently. Another vote was taken to set a county seat, and again the Illinois Central rigged an election to choose a place on their line—a spot that was little more than a mud hole, commonly known as Kankakee Depot, rather than the established Bourbonnais or Momence. The first county board of supervisors meeting was held in Momence, because there were no buildings in the railroad settlement called Kankakee Depot.
    The village of North Kankakee got the David Bradley implement factory to relocate from Chicago in 1895 only after a deal that included changing the name of the town to Bradley. Just west of Kankakee, the village of Verkler had a railroad station located there in 1882 only after being shaken down by Thomas Bonfield, the railroad attorney, who demanded the cash payoffs. Bonfield then renamed the village for himself.
    In 1961, Kankakee County sheriff Carl McNutt was indicted on 13 charges, including conspiracy with six others to operate houses of prostitution, submitting false bills, and letting prisoners escape. McNutt pleaded guilty to official misconduct and was removed from office and fined. He then was given a state job.
    In 2010, Grant Park police chief Scott Fitts was sentenced to five years for running a prostitution sting from his department. He hired a prostitute to lure men and then busted them and shook them down for $400,000 in “fines” before the FBI caught him.
    What must be