A tidy job; but–
Subject(s): Circus performers, Elections--Political aspects, Low, Seth, 1850-1916, Mayors, Murphy, Charles Francis, 1858-1924, New York (State), New York (State)--New York, Reform movement, Tammany Hall
Click on image to zoom in
New York City mayor Seth Low, as a lion tamer holding a whip, stands next to the Tammany Tiger which is bound in ribbons labeled “Civic Honesty, Fusion, Decent Government, Municipal Reforms, [and] Local Improvements.” Standing in the background is Charles F. Murphy, Tammany Hall boss, holding a large pair of scissors labeled “Election 1903.” Later in the year, Low would lose the election for mayor to George B. McClellan Jr.
Comments and Context
Seth Low was identified with reform and efficient administration his whole career, as mayor of Brooklyn, mayor New York City (Brooklyn and the City merged in 1897 as “Greater New York”), and as president of Columbia University. His political activities were allied with the Republican Party and various reform groups like the Fusion Party and the Citizens Union.
It was as Citizens Union / Republican that he was voted into City Hall in 1901, aided in part by corruptions and scandals in the Democrat Tammany Hall machine that were more odious than usual; and the retirement of longtime Tammany leader Richard Croker. Mayor Low immediately set out to proposed, and achieve, significant municipal reforms.
But the inertia of the corrupt Democrat machine was too much to surrender City Hall for more than one election cycle. As this Puck cartoon predicts, despite Low’s hamstringing of the Tammany Tiger, the new Tammany boss, Charles Murphy would sever the restraints. At the end of the year, the resurgent Democrat machine voted Low from office. The new mayor was George McLellan, son of the Civil War general who was defeated by Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in 1864.
Low’s short-lived victories over Tammany mirrored similar reforms effected by Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt precisely 20 years earlier reforms that were often undone by Democrat politicians and judges, as well.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-09-30
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:
A tidy job; but–. [September 30, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277395. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. A tidy job; but–. [30 Sep. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277395.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1903, September 30]. A tidy job; but–.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277395.
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. March 5, 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.
