then there was the time when the mayor of Springfield Illinois lost his marbles and used his police department to torment the newsies. All stemming from him not getting 2 cents change back when paying for a paper with a nickel

 

The short-lived imbroglio began on May 12, 1921, when Mayor Charles Baumann gave a newsboy a nickel to pay for his 3-cent newspaper, but the newsboy stiffed the Mayor out of 2 cents change, so the Mayor retaliated by ordering city police to dismantle every news stand in downtown Springfield.

  The next morning, however, Baumann ordered police officers to overturn the news stands. Police, acting on orders of the mayor, this morning forced all newsboys to take their papers from the downtown news-stands and working in pairs overturned every stand.

https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/newsboys-vs-the-mayor-1921