Republicans Assume Control

New York, 1895

For the first time in a long while the Republicans are in complete control of the state government. Governor Morton was inaugurated on Tuesday at Albany and the event was fittingly celebrated by his party associates. Official power carries with it great responsibilities, and whether Governor Morton is too old a man to carry the burden, or just old enough to shoulder it, is an open question. His will be regarded as a reform administration, and with the bossism which will be attempted, and the anti-boss spirit which exists in the ranks of the party, the way before him is not free from pebbles large enough to trip a good man up. The Legislature being solidly Republican, responsibility for doing, under boss rule, those things which may be illy regarded by the public, and for not doing those things which the public expect to be done, but which boss rule may interdict, cannot be shifted from one party to the other, as when the government is divided. If Governor Morton were free to follow the bent of his own mind he would give the state splendid service. But the legislature is the complete possession of Boss Platt, and unless the Governor bows to his will, and apportions the patronage to his liking, there will speedily occur a break between the executive and legislative branches, and the Governor will be tied hand and foot. Republican victory did not dethrone bossism.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., January 1895 (day and page unknown).