values, and advocating a Single Tax on land in place of wastefully taxing the productive activity of capital and labor. Johnson then became consumed by the arguments George made in Progress and Poverty; he read and reread it, finally requesting assistance from his business associates to find flaws in George's reasoning. Johnson took the book to his lawyer and said, "I must get out of the business, or prove that this book is wrong. Here, Russell, is a retainer of five hundred dollars [$13,000 in 2015]. I want you to read this book and give me your honest opinion on it, as you would on a legal question. Treat this retainer as you would a fee." Johnson then sought out George in New York at the first possible opportunity, and the two became close friends and political collaborators. Johnson abandoned his business of rail monopoly and spent much of his fortune promoting the ideas of Henry George. The second event was being present to witness the terrible Johnstown Flood of 1889. Johnson and his business partner Arthur Moxham organized the immediate relief activities in the stricken, leaderless city. Interpreting the events through a Georgist lens, the experience left him with a deep resentment of what he called 'Privilege'. The disaster had been caused by the improper maintenance of a dam holding a private recreational lake, owned by Henry Clay Frick and other Pittsburgh industrialists, who escaped all responsibility for it. More than that, to Johnson, the flood exemplified the inadequacy of charity and weak "remedial measures" to solve society's problems. When Johnson went into politics, "he went in on the explicit advice of Henry George." Johnson mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1888, and then won the seat in 1890, serving two terms. He promoted free trade and the Single Tax idea, and was a useful moderate on the divisive currency question. The issue of privilege gradually made Johnson reconsider his own business career. "Traction" (streetcar) companies depended on route franchises granted by city councils; political connections and payoffs gave favored companies the upper hand. In an era when most everyone rode the cars, the stakes were high, and battles for franchises were often the hidden issue behind cities' factional strife. Johnson knew the game intimately; in his speeches declaiming against the evils of the streetcar barons, he always pointed out that he could speak