An English country seat and racing stable cost a lot of money – and he knows how to get it
Subject(s): Corruption, Croker, Richard, 1843-1922, Municipal officials and employees, New York (State)--New York, Octopuses
Click on image to zoom in
A large octopus with the face of Richard Croker sits on top of “N.Y. City Hall” with its tentacles labeled “Tax Department, Fire Dept., Garbage Contract Job, Ramapo Job, Blackmail, Building Dept., Ice Trust, [and] Dock Dept.” A sign on City Hall states “‘For my own pocket all the time.’ R. Croker”
Comments and Context
Richard Croker was the “boss” of Tammany Hall, the New York City Democratic organization, and thus the virtual boss of New York politics. Croker, the successor to Boss Tweed and John Kelly held sway despite occasional and short-lived reform waves, largely by an entrenched system — as an octopus using all of its tentacles — and persuasive control of immigrants. Croker was an Irish immigrant, and at the time of this cartoon, betook his immense ill-gotten wealth to Ireland and England, where he lived in splendor, raised racing horses, and controlled New York as an absentee. Times caught up with him, however: election losses, several scandals such as mismanaging New York’s Ice trust during a heat wave, and another reform wave (the Citizens Union, a taste for fusion tickets of honest citizens, and crusaders like Seth Low, former mayor of Brooklyn and shortly after this cartoon mayor of the consolidated New York City) forced his timely retirement from politics.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1901-10-23
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
An English country seat and racing stable cost a lot of money – and he knows how to get it. [October 23, 1901]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o276160. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. An English country seat and racing stable cost a lot of money – and he knows how to get it. [23 Oct. 1901]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. April 2, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o276160.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1901, October 23]. An English country seat and racing stable cost a lot of money – and he knows how to get it.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o276160.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. April 2, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
