Under all these circumstances, it seemed to me there was no alternative but to do what I could to secure the passage of the bill." These two letters, written in the spring of 1899, express clearly the views of the two elements of the Republican party, whose hostility gradually grew until it culminated, thirteen years later.

In 1912 the political and financial forces of which Mr.Platt had once been the spokesman, usurped the control of the party machinery and drove out of the party the men who were loyally endeavoring to apply the principles of the founders of the party to the needs and issues of their own day.
I had made up my mind that if I could get a show in the Legislature the bill would pass, because the people had become interested and the representatives would scarcely dare to vote the wrong way.

Accordingly, on April 27, 1899, I sent a special message to the Assembly, certifying that the emergency demanded the immediate passage of the bill.

The machine leaders were bitterly angry, and the Speaker actually tore up the message without reading it to the Assembly.

That night they were busy trying to arrange some device for the defeat of the bill--which was not difficult, as the session was about to close.