In an action that would later prove controversial, Brackett signed legislation granting an exclusive charter for an elevated streetcar railway to the West End Street Railway, a predecessor to today's MBTA, Boston's public transit system. Henry Whitney, the West End's president, was criticized for the tactics he used to gain legislative approval for the charter, which included bribery of legislators, the retention of a large number of paid lobbyists (including former Governor William Gaston), and payment for favorable press in local newspapers. The West End also did not immediately begin active use the charter, in part because of questions of high liability in the city's crowded business district, and over the suitability of extant elevated rail technology in Boston's geography. This failure to act brought further charges that the charter had been acquired to squelch competition.