The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-02-16


prejudiced eyes on daily events it is as
good as any romance ever written, as
any play ever staged.
When, in 1881, Mr.. Platt voluntarily
resigned his seat in the senate and went
back to the New York legislature for
an Endorsement which he did not get,
he was pointed out as political sui
eide. It certainly seemed SO too. In
few brief weeks every trace of whatever
political prestige he might have had
was wiped out. The legislature, the
governor of the state and almost every
man whom he had counted as his friend
were against him. In Washington he left
only enemies.
What difference todayi The seat in
the United States senate which he threw
away 16 years ago has been handed back
to him on gold platter by a legislature
in which the minority against him is SO
small that its very lack of numbers
makes it ridiculous. The Republican or
ganization of the great Empire State ac-
know1edges no other leader, and even
the president elect counts him among
his warm friends.
It is a most interesting story, this
record of the rise and fall and reincar-
nation of Mr.. Platt of Tioga. In the
little back room of a drug store in Owe
go. N. Y, his native town, the political
career of Mr.. Platt was begun. The
drug store was owned by Platt & Hull,
and the Platt was the senator elect of
today. First it was village politics. then
it was county affairs. During the Ere
mont campaign he attracted attention
by writing campaign songs and singing
them. After awhile T. Q. Platt appeared
at state conventions, and his power as
an organizer was recognized. Such
men as Roscoe Conkling, Ex-Governor
Cornell and Benjamin F. Tracy began
to frequent the little back Office. Mr..
Hull sold most of the pills during those
days, for the discussion Of state and ma
tiona1 affairs claimed Mr.. Platt's atten-
ton.
Finally Mr. Platt gave up the drug
business altogether and was elected to
congress But all this time he was work
ing harder to get places for his political
friends and to build up the party organ
ization than he was to secure Office for
himself. Perhaps this is the secret of
his power which has caused SO much
speculation.
Then came his election to the national
senate with Conkling, the grand SEN
and the tragic struggle for spoils which
split the Republican party. Platt's en-
emies have always said that Conkling
made the decision to resign first and or
dered P1att to follow, but this has been
denied by men who say that Platt was
the first one to assert his Independence
and refuse to remain in the senate. At
any rate, they both resigned, and a great
shout of ridicule went up from all parts
of the country. Mr.. Platt was dubbed
me Too,'' and the name stuck for
years, undeserved as it probably was.
For the next year or two Mr.. Platt re-
tired from public sight as completely as
if he had ceased to exist. But he hadn t.
He was merely attending to business at
40 Broadway and building up big for
tune. The nation was beginning to for
get him when New York politicians
were surprised to realize that he was
again entering the field.
At first it was supposed that he wanted
to pay off old scores and punish the men
who betrayed him. But Mr.. Platt was
too shrewd politician to seek revenge.
| Cancellation was his policy. Old en-
| emies became new friends, and gradu-
| ally he regained the power which he
had lost. One by one he has won over
or beaten his opponents until now the
Republican organization Of New York
is completely within his control
In private life Mr.. Platt is a mild
and methodical man. For 20 years he
has occupied the same suit of rooms in
the Fifth Avenue hotel, and for the
same length of time he has gone back to
Tioga county regularly each election
day to cast his ballot. In business life
he has made but little stir, but he has
been very successful and is president of
a great express company. He has three
| sons, who are also successful business
men, but none of them is a politician.
Mr. Platt never takes rest, as other
men do. His only recreation he finds in
| politics He is always ready to listen to
! the ambitious plans of a young county
leader and has probably introduced
more new blood into the Republican
party in New York state than any dozen
other men. It was the new blood which
| made Mr. Platt's senatorial boom such
healthy one, too, all of which proves
that Thomas Collier Platt is a past mas
ter of politics.
JOHN F. WuLoUGHBY.