The Munsey (February 1911)

# Munsey's Magazine, February 1911

"Taking the Railroads Out of Politics" by Isaac F. Marcosson is the featured article examining railroad lobby influence in New Hampshire state government. Marcosson documents how the Boston and Maine Railroad maintained virtual control over the legislature through a network of passes, paid attorneys, subsidized editors, and corrupted legislators—particularly through a powerful lobby based in a Concord hotel. A 1897 statute amendment exemplifies their methods, adding blanket pass exceptions to anti-pass legislation. The article traces reform efforts beginning in 1906 when novelist Winston Churchill led an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign platform calling for direct primaries and anti-lobby laws. Success came through Robert P. Bass, who galvanized insurgents and won the governorship, forcing railroad capitulation. Charles S. Mellen, the new Boston and Maine president, announced withdrawal from politics through public speeches and written instructions to company attorneys, reversing decades of corporate political dominance. Mellen's willingness to conduct business from the railroad station rather than legislative chambers symbolizes the reformed relationship. The article includes photographs of prominent railroad executives including Mellen, William C. Brown, and Edwin P. Ripley.