Chicago to Springfield:: Crime and Politics in the 1920s (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) (12 page)

Frank Leslie Smith was appointed by Governor Small as head of the Illinois Commerce Commission in 1921. Smith used his position to shake down the heads of the utility companies he was regulating (including taking $125,000 from Samuel Insull). Smith used that money to run for the U.S. Senate in 1926, which he won. But the Senate decided that Smith bought his seat by corrupt practices, and it refused to admit him. Missouri senator Jim Reed, who chaired the hearings, said, “If this man is to be seated, let us hang over the door of the Senate, ‘Seats For Sale.’ ” (Both Dwight Museum.)

Col. Smith started his own bank in 1905 called the Frank L. Smith Bank. He always called himself “Col. Smith,” but he was one of many given an honorary title of “colonel” by Gov. John Riley Tanner as a reward for political work; Smith was never in the military. Col. Smith coveted the governor’s office for decades. He ran for office numerous times but won just one term in Congress. A biographer called Smith “a third rate aspirant for first class honors.” A campaign sign for Smith is seen below during a 1926 snowstorm. Edward Litsinger in 1927 said Thompson, Small, and Smith were the Three Musketeers, and “the right way to pronounce it is the Three-Must-Get-Theirs.” (At right, KPL; below, courtesy of Paul Roeder, whose father Herman was Smith’s chauffeur for 20 years.)

Along with Frank L. Smith, Pennsylvania senator William Vare also was booted from the Senate (for Mob connections). In the
Illinois Blue Book
list of U.S. senators, there is an asterisk beside only two names: William Lorimer, who was elected and kicked out, and Frank L. Smith, who was elected and denied his seat. (KPL.)

The Ku Klux Klan experienced tremendous popularity in the 1920s posing as a group that would fight vice and restore virtue to America. It drew millions of new members all across the United States, and many politicians attached themselves to this surging group. Governor Small accepted the endorsement of the Klan in 1924, 1928, and 1932. The Klan claimed credit for Small’s reelection in 1924. A
Chicago Tribune
report in 1923 found numerous Klansmen in state government, including Small’s personal secretary. (Both ALPLM.)

The Klan opened a chapter in Kankakee in 1921. It had cross burnings all across Illinois and three in Kankakee in April 1923. Below are a few members of the Joliet Klan chapter. Governor Small had a long list of enemies, topped by the
Chicago Tribune
. But Al Capone and the Ku Klux Klan were not on the list. (Both JR.)

This clipping was in the
Chicago Tribune
on April 7, 1928. It reads, “When Ku Klux Klan used Illinois State Fair buildings at Springfield for initiation services when Len Small was governor of state and could have prevented masked gatherings. After years of denials by Governor Small and his cabinet of Klan affiliations, this picture showing the initiation of Abraham Lincoln Klan No. 1 in the main building at the state fair grounds was obtained by William Harrison of 4353 Vincennes Avenue, colored lawyer, who is an assistant attorney general. The picture, captioned ‘Len Small, the Klan’s friend,’ is being sent to voters who previously received Governor Small’s denial of friendship for the Klan.” (Above,
Chicago Tribune
; below, Dwight Museum
.
)