You will
have to fulfill your contract, or resign in favor of some one who will."

"Oh, I'll clean them, well enough," said this individual, after five
minutes of rapid fire explanation. "Two dollars a day for men is high,
but I'll see that they're clean."

Again he went away, and again the mayor sauntered about, and then one
morning sought out the contractor in his own office.

"This is the end," he said, removing a cigar from his mouth and holding
it before him with his elbow at right angles. "You are discharged from
this work. I'll notify you officially to-morrow."

"It can't be done the way you want it," the contractor exclaimed with an
oath. "There's no money in it at two dollars. Hell, anybody can see
that."

"Very well," said the mayor in a kindly well-modulated tone. "Let
another man try, then."

The next day he appointed a new contractor, and with a schedule before
him showing how many men should be employed and how much profit he might
expect, the latter succeeded. The garbage was daily removed, and the
streets carefully cleaned.

Then there was a new manual training school about to be added to the
public school system at this time, and the contract for building was to
be let, when the mayor threw a bomb into the midst of the old-time
jobbers at the city council. A contractor had already been chosen by
them and the members were figuring out their profits, when at one of the
public discussions of the subject the mayor said:

"Why shouldn't the city build it, gentlemen?"

"How can it?" exclaimed the councilmen. "The city isn't an individual;
it can't watch carefully."

"It can hire its own architect, as well as any contractor. Let's try
it."

There were sullen tempers in the council chamber after this, but the
mayor was insistent. He called an architect who made a ridiculously low
estimate. Never had a public building been estimated so cheaply before.

"See here," said one of the councilmen when the plans were presented to
the chamber--"This isn't doing this city right, and the gentlemen of the
council ought to put their feet down on any such venture as this. You're
going to waste the city's money on some cheap thing in order to catch
votes."

"I'll publish the cost of the goods as delivered," said the mayor. "Then
the people can look at the building when it's built. We'll see how cheap
it looks then."

To head off political trickery on the part of the enemy he secured bills
for material as de