Modern battles of Trenton .. . aders at the State House were aristocrats,devoted to the worship of the money power, and out of sympa-thy with the masses of the party who were obliged to dependupon their every-day work for their every-day bread and had let pass unimproved any opportunity that the pro-gress of legislation afforded to let the masses know that hewas endeavoring to secure for them that recognition in partycouncils which the prouder and richer leaders of the party hadnot though it worth the while to accord to them. Abbett wasespecially fertile in creating situations t
Modern battles of Trenton .. . aders at the State House were aristocrats,devoted to the worship of the money power, and out of sympa-thy with the masses of the party who were obliged to dependupon their every-day work for their every-day bread and had let pass unimproved any opportunity that the pro-gress of legislation afforded to let the masses know that hewas endeavoring to secure for them that recognition in partycouncils which the prouder and richer leaders of the party hadnot though it worth the while to accord to them. Abbett wasespecially fertile in creating situations that placed the exclusivesystem of party rule that the leaders at the State House enforcedin the most striking contrast with the more popular systemwhich he and McPherson wanted to establish. Mr. McPhersonposed less than Abbett, but he proved an effective ally becauseof his skill and tact as a managing politician. Both were favored sons of Hudson. Abbett had come fromPhiladelphia, located in Hoboken, represented one of the dis-. John R. McPherson. 126 MODERN BATTLES OF TRENTON. tricts there in the Assembly, moved to Jersey City, been sentfrom there to the Assembly again, and risen to the Speakership. Mr. McPherson had spent the larger part of his life in busi-ness in Hudson City, as that part of the Heights immediatelywest of old Jersey City was known before its consolidation withthe old town. He had been successful and grown rich. Therewas scarcely a business enterprise of any kind set on foot therewithout his active participation. He had dabbled in politicsfrom his early manhood, and had been the ruling factor foryears in the Hudson City Council. Old George P. Howell, abrother-in-law of the late General Grant, who was his Repub-lican opponent when he first sought a seat in that body, stood atthe polls all day on election day, and asked even his own partyfriends to vote for McPherson. McPhersons path to the seatwas, therefore, an easy one, and once there he proved himself tobe
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