Instead of dealing with legislators individually, they arranged with the boss the price of peace or of desirable legislation.The boss transmitted his wishes to his puppets.This form of government depends upon a machine that controls the legislature.
In New York both parties were moved by machines."Tom" Platt was the "easy boss" of the Republicans; and Tammany and its.
"up-state" affiliations controlled the Democrats."Right here,"says Platt in his Autobiography (1910), "it may be appropriate to say that I have had more or less to do with the organization of the New York legislature since 1873." He had.For forty years he practically named the Speaker and committees when his party won, and he named the price when his party lost.All that an "interest" had to do, under the new plan, was to "see the boss,"and the powers of government were delivered into its lap.
Some of this legislative bargaining was revealed in the insurance investigation of 1905, conducted by the Armstrong Committee with Charles E.Hughes as counsel.Officers of the New York Life Insurance Company testified that their company had given $50,000to the Republican campaign of 1904.An item of $235,000, innocently charged to "Home office annex account," was traced to the hands of a notorious lobbyist at Albany.Three insurance companies had paid regularly $50,000 each to the Republican campaign fund.Boss Platt himself was compelled reluctantly to relate how he had for fifteen years received ten one thousand dollar bundles of greenbacks from the Equitable Life as "consideration" for party goods delivered.John A.McCall, President of the New York Life, said: "I don't care about the Republican side of it or the Democratic side of it.It doesn't count at all with me.What is best for the New York Life moves and actuates me."In another investigation Mr.H.O.Havemeyer of the Sugar Trust said: "We have large interests in this State; we need police protection and fire protection; we need everything that the city furnishes and gives, and we have to support these things.Every individual and corporation and firm--trust or whatever you call it--does these things and we do them." No distinction is made, then, between the government that ought to furnish this "protection" and the machine that sells it!
No episode in recent political history shows better the relations of the legislature to the political machine and the great power of invisible government than the impeachment and removal of Governor William Sulzer in 1913.Sulzer had been four times elected to the legislature.He served as Speaker in 1893.He was sent to Congress by an East Side district in New York City in 1895 and served continuously until his nomination for Governor of New York in 1912.All these years he was known as a Tammany man.
During his campaign for Governor he made many promises for reform, and after his election he issued a bombastic declaration of independence.His words were discounted in the light of his previous record.Immediately after his inauguration, however, he began a house-cleaning.He set to work an economy and efficiency commission; he removed a Tammany superintendent of prisons; made unusually good appointments without paying any attention to the machine; and urged upon the legislature vigorous and vital laws.
But the Tammany party had a large working majority in both houses, and the changed Sulzer was given no support.The crucial moment came when an emasculated primary law was handed to him for his signature.An effective primary law had been a leading campaign issue, all the parties being pledged to such an enactment.The one which the Governor was now requested to sign had been framed by the machine to suit its pleasure.The Governor vetoed it.The legislature adjourned on the 3rd of May.The Governor promptly reconvened it in extra session (June 7th) for the purpose of passing an adequate primary law.Threats that had been made against him by the machine now took form.An investigating committee, appointed by the Senate to examine the Governor's record, largely by chance happened upon "pay dirt,"and early on the morning of the 13th of August, after an all-night session, the Assembly passed a motion made by its Tammany floor leader to impeach the Governor.
The articles of impeachment charged: first, that the Governor had filed a false report of his campaign expenses; second, that since he had made such statement under oath he was guilty of perjury;third, that he had bribed witnesses to withhold testimony from the investigating committee; fourth, that he had used threats in suppression of evidence before the same tribunal; fifth, that he had persuaded a witness from responding to the committee's subpoena; sixth, that he had used campaign contributions for private speculation in the stock market; seventh, that he had used his power as Governor to influence the political action of certain officials; lastly, that he had used this power for affecting the stock market to his gain.
