Although in 1889 with the coming of the Harrison admin-
istration at Washington, Thomas, C. Platt was elevated to a
position of leadership in the Republican party of the state of
New York, his control was no where nearly as complete then
as it came to be in the middle of the nineties. In his Auto-
biography, Platt said:"I did contribute toward transform-
ing a once Democratic state into an impregnable Republican
stronghold." ¹ A brief survey of the political history of the
state from 1889 to 1896 will show that Platt's contribution
to the political upheaval in the state was slight. The victo-
ries of the Republicans in 1894 and 1896 were not due so
much to the efficient Republican organization as they were to
the disorganization of the Democratic party, national, state
and local. It is necessary to review the industrial and po-
litical events which led to the breakup of the Democracy in
order to understand the rise of Thomas C. Platt to a position
of utidisputed leadership in the councils of his party in the
state, a position which he held when Roosevelt was made
governor.

It has already been pointed out that David B. Hill was re-
elected governor in 1888 although Cleveland failed to carry
the state as a candidate for the presidency. An analysis of
this election will show the weak and strong points of the
Democratic state organization. Mr. Hill, the Democratic
candidate for governor, was an able man, a prominent

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