As an influencer of legislatures,
he stands easily first in ability and achievement. His great
personal attractions won him willing followers whom he knew how
to use. He was party manager, as well as lobbyist and boss in a
real sense long before that term was coined. His capacity for
politics amounted to genius. He never sought office; and his
memory has been left singularly free from taint. He became the
editor of the Albany Journal and made it the leading Whig
"up-state" paper. His friend Seward, whom he had lifted into the
Governor's chair, passed on to the United States Senate; and when
Horace Greeley with the New York Tribune joined their forces,
this potent triumvirate ruled the Empire State. Greeley was its
spokesman, Seward its leader, but Weed was its designer. From his
room No. 11 in the old Astor House, he beckoned to forces that
made or unmade presidents, governors, ambassadors, congressmen,
judges, and legislators.
With the tremendous increase of business after 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.
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