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Show The Odell- 'Roose-dett Victory Fall of the Easy Hoss. (Special Correspondence.) It is victoiy for Odell and Roosevelt. New York Republicans have cast aside the "Easy Boss," who so long made his will absolute with them, and have sworm allegiance to the younger men. Senator Sen-ator Piatt still attending to his duties in Washington, Wash-ington, although he is so feeble that he is compelled com-pelled to retire to bed every night at eight o'clock has had his policies forced down his throat and the men whom he had trusted to make his will felt at Albany have been the chief movers in the affair. "Governor Odell is now the guiding mind of the New York Republicans," says an astute poi-ftician. poi-ftician. "There is no master mind." That cristal-izes cristal-izes the situation in the state which will determine deter-mine the personality of the next Republican candidate can-didate for President. It has been one of the notable political fights of a century that has just come to a decision. Only an engagement or two has been had in the open, but in the dark there has been plenty of knifing and clubbing and grappling in a test of strength and endurance. It was to be expected that youth would win in such a contest, but youth had to be guided by craft for it would not have done to rend the party asunder on the eve of a presidential presiden-tial campaign and Governor Odell has been compelled com-pelled to show himself the equal of even that master mas-ter of political strategy, Senator Piatt, before he could make his victory complete. The supreme test came last week. Odell, who had set out to raise all revenue for state purposes by indirect taxes, had seen one after another of his measures clubbed by the Piatt men. He had proposed a tax on all conveyances of real estate, a stamp tax on all papers attested by notaries public pub-lic and other plans' and had been compelled to abandon each in turn because the men who were still supporting Piatt would not let them come out of committees. Piatt .was not in Albany, but the chairmen of the big committees and the floor leader of the Senate were his henchmen and Chairman Dunn of the state committee was there to give orders in his name. They were willing to help the Governor, but not until he had given them control of the railroad board and other favors fa-vors that would assure them of needed power in the state. A man less astute than Odejl would have made a flght in the open. He did not. He waited. His men in the legislature clubbed every measure wanted by the Piatt men and ho, let it be known that there would be no appropriations for any district, dis-trict, except those that are absolutely necessary unless his tax bills were passed. It was a simple case of standing pat. It was up to the Piatt men to find a way out of the difficulty or go home to their districts with no plums to distribute among their anxious constituents. The pressure was too strong. The Piatt men jH sought the Governor. Even Chairman Dunn be- H gan to call at the executive mansion. And be- H hold, last week a conference of the senators was H called and when everybody had expressed opln- H fons and the Governor had spoken the conference JH was suddenly turned into a caucus, and befo ' H it was through an agreement had been made to jH raise the excise taxes 50 per cent, and pass a jH mortgage tax law and thus give the Governor all H the revenue he wanted from indirect sources. M And the Piatt men awoke afterwards to the H fact that they had accoided everything that was H asked and had not received a thing in return. H Since then they have learned that Chairman Dunn H and the other Piatt leaders did not even let the lfl Senator down in Washington know what was be- lH ing considered a neglect that can be appreciated rjH when it is remembered that last session and for H many sessions of the legislature before that it was liH the custom of thesp men to come down to New jH York every week and attend the Piatt "Sunday h "fhool" at the Fitth avenue hotel and learn what jH they were expected to do during the next week's H session. ' I I'M " Now they realize that the "Easy Boss" nas at tH last met his master and all of them are trying to get into the new band wagon. It is the passing of i the Piatt machine the most perfect thing of its M kind ever put together in America. To tell the truth however, there will be few .H mourners among the members of the Legislature ill and those who would like to be members. In the lill old days there was plenty of money at Albany fc i those who wished to take it and plenty of oppor- lJ tunity to make records for the men who were too honest to seek money. Piatt put an end to all 11 that. He formed the Republican party into a po- 11 litical trust and corporations that had favors to J ask had to go to him before they could get bills iH passed. His son Frank formed a law firm and fjl it got retainers in every case in which the govern- " M ment of the state might be concerned. Lemuel E. H Quigg or Frank Piatt carried the orders to Albany H when it was necessary to supplement those given H at the regular Sunday school. Trusted agents ;H of the machine were in control of every import- M ant committee ; M So lobbyists disappeared from Albany and men H who had a vestige of independence found their I'H bills pigeon-holed in committees and their voices i H hushed in debate. Those who obeyed orders were H prompted, those who disobeyed found the whole H power of the machine exerted to defeat them, in- 'S side the party if possible, by the election of a 'H Democrat, if necessary. H The machine is all torn apart now, and it is not H probable that it will be put together again soon. H Governor Odell does not aspire to distatorship. He IB wants to be leader, which is another thing alto- EH gether. E. I. Y. il |