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Colby said that had he tried to persuade him with reason, he could probably have been swayed but this was eye-opening. McCarter considered his dictatorial powers absolute. Later McCarter's brother Uzel tried to persuade Colby with flattery, "We think you have a political future before you, and we don't want to see you throw it away." Uncorrupted, Colby decided to introduce a resolution to put the legislature on record, believing that a limited franchise bill could not be passed. He told no one of it except Edward
Duffield the House leader. Colby rose and offered a resolution to the effect that it was the sense of this House that perpetual grants of monopolies to corporations should not be made. The leader adopted the resolution with not one negative vote. But before the Speaker declared the resolution carried, the House woke up and begged, "Can't you give us time?"
280:. He became a Wall Street broker and entered politics. His father had campaigned in Wisconsin as a railroad man and Everett had become convinced, from an early age, that he would one day become a politician. With this end in mind, he had studied law and joined the debating society in college. He openly acknowledged that he enjoyed the showmanship of politics and was at first unsure of the course his political career would take. He simply wanted to go into politics–not to accomplish anything in particular. At first he served in minor positions, assisting other politicians, and over time he developed his own political consciousness.
354:, attempted to obtain relief from the burden the railroads placed upon the city. They paid almost no taxes to the city and Fagan, a Republican appealed to the Republican leadership including Colby. At first Colby supported the bill, but when he was told by his party leaders that the bill was "badly drawn," he changed his position. When asked why, he replied that he was too inexperienced to draw up a bill himself. He said:
379:...The present session is drawing to a close. Its record is ... disgraceful. Its control by corporation interests ... has been absolute. ... For that condition the Republican party is responsible. ... What is the meaning of all this? The answer is plain! A Republican legislature is controlled by the railroad, trolley, and water corporations. And the interests of the people are being betrayed.
31:
372:) would raise hell," was the reply. "There was the reason, the real reason," said Colby in an interview later. "When the Mayor who represented the people of the second city in the state asked the legislature to consider a bill in their interest, that Jersey legislature couldn't because it represented 'the Penn,' a foreign corporation."
419:
Colby was a trustee of his alma mater Brown
University from 1905 to 1940. He was a member of the New Jersey board of Education from 1902 to 1904. He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1903 to 1905, and of the state senate from 1906 to 1909. An ardent supporter of President Theodore
406:
headed a few young men, mainly
Republicans, who got into councils and opposed steadfastly the public utility grabs. Not finding satisfaction at the local level, both sides went to the legislature. The citizens of Newark petitioned the legislature to forbid their council to grant any franchise for a
367:
went to the
Democrats who drew up a bill. The bill was buried in committee. Fagan went to Colby and asked him why he didn't have it reported. "I can't," Colby told him, "I'm not really a leader. I'm the real leader's dummy." A year later, at a Republican caucus, Colby asked why the bill could not be
358:
We were incompetent. Perhaps some of us might, once upon a time, have been legislators; but boss rule was so old there that we didn't, we couldn't think for ourselves. We had lost the art of independent thought and work. We were dummies. We took orders, we waited for orders, we depended upon orders.
328:
but the
Republicans did not have enough votes for all the bills to pass. Colby and some other Republicans appealed to the Democratic assemblymen from Hudson who agreed to support the cleanup bill if the excise bills were dropped. Dickinson consented and Colby's bill was passed. Then Dickinson asked
520:
Some 100 members of the
Dartmouth Alumni Association attended the association's forty-fourth annual dinner last night at the Savoy Hotel, sang all the college songs they could think of, and then listened to several speakers, including Winston Churchill, the novelist, who ran for the Governorship of
410:
Soon thereafter, Colby was at a dinner and walked over to Tom McCarter afterwards and asked him if he knew about the proposed bill. McCarter was not interested in discussing the matter. He clapped his hands together in Colby's face saying that he would not accept anything but perpetual franchises.
471:
Had
Everett Colby died 30 or 35 years ago, his death would have been reported all over the country. A young man of wealth, he attracted attention because he had not let business or social pleasures swallow him up, but devoted his life to public service. Within 10 years, however, for some unknown
337:
Colby continued to make enemies in his own party by voting in opposition to their views on major issues. Later he acknowledged that some of his decisions were bad ones. They tried to buy his cooperation by making him floor leader of the
Republican majority House. They handled him very carefully,
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in 1902. The next year, Lentz encouraged Colby to run for state senator for Essex. When Colby pointed out that he was under the constitutional age for the senate, Lentz offered to "fix the Manual" where the statistics of legislators were kept. Colby refused but agreed to nomination for the State
386:
In 1905, Colby wanted to run for
Speaker of the House but was discouraged by his party leaders. His refractory ways troubled them greatly. But they told him that he could not be elected. He knew this was untrue because he had pledges from his colleagues. So he ignored them. He was summoned to a
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to convince Colby to support the bill. He failed and Colby convinced
Rockefeller that the bill was a bad one. When both Governor Murphy and Governor Stokes then attempted to convert Colby, this opened the eyes of the young legislator to the fact that his party represented the interests of
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Colby to reintroduce the excise bills. Colby was astonished and refused to break his word. "Your word to a Democrat doesn't mean anything," they told him in those very terms. The party jammed through the excise bills but Colby voted against them, retaining his honor.
295:. Voorhees appointed him a Commissioner on the State Board of Education. Colby worried that his own desultory education might make him unfit for the position but he did very well and Lentz made him chairman of the executive committee of the Republican organization of
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concealing information from him and approaching him through men he liked. Republicans had attempted to introducing a bill requiring twenty percent approval by shareholders for a lawsuit to be filed against a corporation by its workforce. The party sent
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period longer than twenty-five years. They found that none of their legislators would touch their bill. They didn't represent them, they represented big business. This is when they appealed to Colby. He said that he would have to study the subject.
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In spite of his fading from public awareness, he continued working for Republican politics. He was also active in a nationwide movement to promote temperance through education rather than by statute, and in 1935 he enlisted the support of
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was as plagued by corruption and bribery as was Jersey City. Both the Democrats and Republicans were involved in this. A few members of reform movements came to Colby with pleas of support.
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391:. Dryden told him that if he ran for Speaker, it would weaken the prestige of their delegation to run and fail. Colby told him about the pledges and Dryden responded, "But
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Later Colby said, "I was sore at myself. It was true. We were dummies; we betrayed the people who elected us." In response, Colby threw himself into a study of taxation.
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reason, Colby ceased his efforts. Now he is gone—a man made famous for a time by his ideals, who then lost his enthusiasm for public service and died relatively unknown.
215:
from 1906 to 1909. He developed a record as a reformist and opponent of corporations and machine politics, often drawing him into conflict with the leaders of his own
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262:. His teacher J.A. Browning said that Colby was a good sportsman but a poor scholar, who had great difficulty concentrating or reading but enjoyed woodwork.
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291:. Lentz allowed him to be the introductory speaker at some meetings and Colby gained experience in giving speeches. He then transferred to the staff of
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and when Murphy pronounced the bills "all right", Colby was reassured. At the same time, Colby wanted to introduce a bill to clean up pollution of the
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448:, was named after him at an 1890 dinner party at his father's home, as suggested by Henry Hewitt. The city was started just two years later.
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tyranny. He had been advised to gain experience by joining forces with Major Carl Lentz, the chairman of the Republican County Committee of
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Republican Mayor Fagan sent an open letter to Governor Murphy and it was read aloud in the House of Assembly. It said, among other things:
320:. Colby found the proposed taxes dubious and an attempt to take control of Hudson County from the Democratic Party. Colby went to consult
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says it won't do." That settled it. McCarter spoke for the trolley business. Colby agreed not to run but decided to run as a freelance.
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In 1898, Colby's father died, and he made a tour of the world. He then studied law and played polo. He married and settled in
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He was still an avid sportsman and played tennis, golf, baseball, and football. He was football captain in his senior year.
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Colby became convinced that the American political system had become perverted from a representative democracy to a
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689:"Everett Colby, 68, a Lawyer is Dead. Former Jersey State Senator was Republican Leader in Clean Government Group"
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Colby's session as an assemblyman was a gradual education and disillusionment. One day, early in the session,
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on December 10, 1874. His father, Charles L. Colby, was the Vice President (and later President) of the
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candidate for governor of New Jersey in 1912. He was chairman of the executive committee of the
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203:(December 10, 1874 – June 19, 1943) was an American banker and politician who represented
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Admitted to the bar he practiced in New Jersey, and became active in Essex County ...
463:. He had been suffering from a heart condition for several weeks. An obituary in the
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596:"Colby, Charles L. (1896), Clark County, Wisconsin History & Genealogy"
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Frustrated with their own party, Mayor Fagan and his corporation counsel
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Everett Colby, the state senator from Essex County, New Jersey. ...
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bills. Dickinson was Secretary of State and Republican leader of
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New Hampshire and lost, and Senator Everett Colby of New Jersey.
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in 1917. He was a major in the Officers Reserve Corps in 1918.
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He was born in Milwaukee and attended the Browning School. ...
503:"Everett Colby Fears We Are Suffering from National Dyspepsia"
455:, in 1903. Four of their children survived him. A resident of
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Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly
665:"Everett Colby Dies in Montclair, N.J." (June 25, 1943)
727:"Everett Colby Dies; Former Dry Leader" (June 20, 1943)
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300:Assembly and was elected Assemblyman from Essex.
678:Snohomish County, An Illustrated History, 2005
387:meeting with Senator Dryden, the president of
428:Non-Partisan Association and of the National
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444:When Everett was 15 years old, the city of
806:Republican Party New Jersey state senators
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801:Politicians from Essex County, New Jersey
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659:
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619:Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (2004).
368:debated in the House. "Why, 'the Penn' (
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359:Dummy legislators, that's what we were.
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7:
223:nominee for Governor of New Jersey.
841:20th-century New Jersey politicians
796:People from West Orange, New Jersey
278:Llewellyn Park, Orange, New Jersey
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836:20th-century American legislators
434:United States Food Administration
389:Prudential Life Insurance Company
312:asked Colby to introduce certain
250:, where his classmates included
667:Newport Mercury And Weekly News
459:, he died on June 19, 1943, in
816:New Jersey Progressives (1912)
16:American banker and politician
1:
714:"Once Famous" (July 6, 1943)
36:
831:American male tennis players
451:Colby married Edith Hyde of
432:Committee. He served in the
304:New Jersey State Assemblyman
96:New Jersey General Assembly
857:
626:Encyclopedia of New Jersey
567:"The Gentleman from Essex"
237:Wisconsin Central Railroad
231:Everett Colby was born in
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346:During the 1904 session,
269:in 1897, again alongside
219:. In 1913, he ran as the
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741:Party political offices
718:, Bradford, Pennsylvania
322:Governor Franklin Murphy
205:Essex County, New Jersey
826:Brown University alumni
729:Syracuse Herald Journal
669:, Newport, Rhode Island
483:John D. Rockefeller Jr.
457:West Orange, New Jersey
271:John D. Rockefeller Jr.
260:Harold Fowler McCormick
252:John D. Rockefeller Jr.
821:Browning School alumni
758:Governor of New Jersey
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453:Plainfield, New Jersey
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461:Montclair, New Jersey
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370:Pennsylvania Railroad
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265:Colby graduated from
152:Montclair, New Jersey
135:Milwaukee, Wisconsin
731:,Syracuse, New York
511:. December 12, 1907
446:Everett, Washington
333:Leader of the House
242:Colby attended the
209:New Jersey Assembly
694:The New York Times
572:McClure's Magazine
508:The New York Times
485:in this endeavor.
420:Roosevelt, he was
415:Other achievements
79:J. Henry Bacheller
774:
773:
767:Succeeded by
426:League of Nations
404:William P. Martin
340:Percy Rockefeller
293:Governor Voorhees
256:Percy Rockefeller
221:Progressive Party
213:New Jersey Senate
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132:December 10, 1874
53:New Jersey Senate
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365:George L. Record
267:Brown University
217:Republican Party
189:Brown University
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117:Personal details
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89:Harry V. Osborne
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697:. June 20, 1943
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699:. Retrieved
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147:(1943-06-19)
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85:Succeeded by
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57:Essex County
791:1943 deaths
786:1874 births
754:Progressive
430:World Court
422:Progressive
352:Jersey City
297:West Orange
285:plutocratic
167:Progressive
75:Preceded by
40: 1909
780:Categories
701:2010-02-07
642:2010-02-06
578:2010-02-07
515:2010-02-06
489:References
479:Edsel Ford
227:Early life
184:Alma mater
163:Republican
128:1874-12-10
233:Milwaukee
173:Education
108:1904–1906
104:In office
69:1906–1909
65:In office
565:(1906).
211:and the
207:in the
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601:15 Aug
467:read:
400:Newark
314:excise
258:, and
154:, U.S.
137:, U.S.
35:Colby
55:from
769:None
763:1913
748:None
631:ISBN
603:2021
481:and
142:Died
122:Born
246:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
