As  early  as  September  26,  1891,  C.  S.  Cary  had  sent
to  Mr.  Cleveland  a  warning  that  "there  is  a  combination
between  Croker,  Hill,  and  Murphy  to  control  the  Demo-
cratic party  of  this  State,  by  resort  to  the  most  outrageous
methods  that  have  ever  been  resorted  to  in  the  State."
And  now  the  facts  were  plainly  fulfilling  the  prediction,
although  neither  Murphy,  Croker,  nor  Hill  was  the
originator  of  the  idea.  Writing  fifteen  years  after  the
event,  St.  Clair  McKelway,  who  certainly  knew  the  facts
and  who  as  certainly  had  no  predisposition  to  guard  the
memory  of  Hill,  declared:  "The  February  22,  1892,
Snap  State  Convention  was  not  brought  about  on  Gover-
nor Hill's  initiative.  He  was  asked  to  bring  it  on  by
those  who  deserted  him,  when  he  complied  with  their
request.  The  others  were  Senator  Gorman  of  Maryland,
Senator  Palmer  of  Illinois,  and  Senator  Voorhees  of
Indiana."

Gorman  and  Palmer,  quite  as  really  as  David  B.  Hill,
were  seeking  the  Democratic  nomination,  but  both  had


AN  UNPRECEDENTED  RESTORATION  327

managed  to  conceal  that  fact  from  the  watchful  eyes  of
their  astute  associates  in  this  important  cold-storage
enterprise.  Murphy's  eyes,  while  not  venturing  to  seek
the  White  House,  gazed  at  New  York's  empty  seat  in  the
United  States  Senate,  and  tiger-like,  he  hunted  silently
that  other  tiger,  Richard  Croker,  treading  softly  at  his
side,  knowing  by  experience  that  he  would  share  the  game
when  taken.  But  whoever  deserves  the  doubtful  honor
of  having  invented  the  "Snap  Convention"  idea,  it  was
Hill  who  paid  the  penalty.  He  alone  took,  openly  and
eagerly,  the  gambler's  chance,  only  to  find  that  it  was  not
the  hour  of  the  gambler.
