On January 15, 1894, eleven Democrats voted with
Senator David B. Hill to defeat a New York nominee for justice of
the Supreme Court. President Cleveland then nominated another New
York jurist against whom no objection could be urged regarding
reputation or experience; but as this candidate was not Senator
Hill's choice, the nomination was rejected, fourteen Democrats
voting with him against it. President Cleveland now availed
himself of a common Senate practice to discomfit Senator Hill. He
nominated Senator White of Louisiana, who was immediately
confirmed as is the custom of the Senate when one of its own
members is nominated to office. Senator Hill was thus left with
the doubtful credit of having prevented the appointment of a New
Yorker to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court. But this
incident did not seriously affect his control of the Democratic
party organization in New York. His adherents extolled him as a
New York candidate for the Presidency who would restore and
maintain the regular party system without which, it was
contended, no administration could be successful in framing and
carrying out a definite policy. Hill's action, in again
presenting himself as a candidate for Governor in the fall of
1894, is intelligible only in the light of this ambition. He had
already served two terms as Governor and was now only midway in
his senatorial term; but if he again showed that he could carry
New York he would have demonstrated, so it was thought, that he
was the most eligible Democratic candidate for the Presidency.
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