fter the Civil War, New York
City became the central office of the nation's business, and many of the
interests centered there found it wise to have permanent representatives
at Albany to scrutinize every bill that even remotely touched their
welfare, to promote legislation that was frankly in their favor, and
to prevent "strikes"--the bills designed for blackmail. After a time,
however, the number of "strikes" decreased, as well as the number of
lobbyists attending the session. The corporate interests had learned
efficiency. 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 $50,000 to 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 Stat