Civil service reform

Bottom’s dream

Puck’s stereotypical Irishman labeled “Democracy” appears in the role of “Bottom” from Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with Puck holding the head of an ass above him. He is holding a paper that states “Free Protection for Revenue Only. Free Revenue Reform for Protection Only. To the Civil Service Reformers belong the Spoils!!!” A host of fairies, insects, and minions of the night are gathered around him, including Theodore Roosevelt as a fairy standing on a snail labeled “N. Y. City Reform,” John Logan as a mushroom, John Kelly as a spider on a web labeled “N. Y.,” William Evarts as a bird with a long beak, unidentified man as a frog, James Blaine and George Robeson as owls, David Davis, Samuel J. Tilden as a grasshopper, Roscoe Conkling as a bird, Whitelaw Reid labeled “3 cts” and another man labeled “2 cts” as moths, and a diminutive Chester A. Arthur peering from behind Bottom’s feet. Jay Gould appears as a snake in the bushes. Among the fairies are “Randall, Carlisle, Dana, Cleveland, Cox,” and Henry Watterson. Uncle Sam and Columbia observe from behind a tree. Includes Bottom’s lines “I have had a dream – past the wit of men to say what dream it was. … But man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say what methought I had” from the play.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-02-20

The “early-and-often” voter preferred

New York City Mayor Franklin Edson has his arm around an office seeker holding a paper that states “Application for Office – New York Ward Worker.” He gestures toward another office seeker who drops a paper that states “Application for Office – My small income forces me to reside outside New York” into the wastebasket. A portrait of John Kelly hangs on the wall next to the Mayor’s desk. Caption: Mayor Edson “Very sorry I can not appoint you; you may be capable, but you can’t vote!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-03-05

The carol of the “waits”

A group of office seekers labeled “McLean, Pulitzer, Dorsheimer, Blackburn, McLaughlin, Hill, [and] Dana” sing Christmas carols outside the “White House” where President Cleveland is visible through a window. Their carol goes: “God rest you, merry gentlemen, / May nothing you dismay; / Remember us poor spoilsmen left / This blessed Christmas Day. / Since Christmas comes but once a year, / Oh, let us share your Christmas cheer, / And chuck one little office here / On Christmas Day in the A. M.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-12-23

Getting hot enough for him

Print shows Chester Alan Arthur sitting on a chair at a beach on the seashore, he is perspiring heavily and using a fan labeled “Stalwart Method” to cool himself, as the sun, labeled “Disunion-of-the-Republican-Party,” sets. As it sets the sun gives off rays labeled “Stalwarts, Independents, Anti-Monopolists, Half Breeds, Tariff Reformer, [and] Civil Service Reformer”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-07-05

The agony of the assessed – between two terrors

“G. W. Curtis” and “Jay Hubbell” appear as executioners, each wearing a mask and holding large axes labeled “Civil Service Reform Association” (Curtis) and “Republican Congressional Committee” (Hubbell). Curtis instructs the “Office Holder” seated between them to “Don’t Pay! or be Discharged” and Hubbell instructs the bewildered man to “Pay! or be Discharged.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-07-12

Democracy’s opportunity

A man labeled “Republican War Record” stands in a pond labeled “Republican Corruption Water,” yelling to an Irishman wearing a hat labeled “Democracy,” gathering up the Republican’s clothing labeled “Tariff Reform, Free Canal, [and] Reduction Tax,” and a top hat labeled “Civil Service Reform” which he has placed on top of his own hat. His own tattered clothes are patched with “Ignorance, Poverty, Stupidity, Bourbonism, [and] Secession Record.” Caption: Republican “Hey, what can I do without them?” Democracy “What have you done with them – only cast them off!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-08-02

Black Jack and the civil-service missionaries

John Logan, dressed as a Native American, sits on the ground, trying to ignore Dorman B. Eaton who is showing him a notice that states “Confirmation of Dorman B. Eaton as Civil Service Commissioner in spite of Logan’s speech.” Three men, “A. P. Edgerton, Voorhees, [and] Sherman” are standing in the background near tipis. Caption: “Ugh! Me don’t want no civil-service reform.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1886-01-20

The Administration sawmill

President Cleveland stands next to a large “Reform Buzz-Saw” labeled “Pat. 1884 by G. Cleveland” at a sawmill, where three members of his cabinet “Manning, Whitney, [and] Bayard” are milling lumber labeled “For the Improvement of the Custom House” and “Props for the Navy.” A carpenter’s square labeled “Honesty” rests against some boards at Cleveland’s feet. A group of newspaper editors, congressmen, and a dog labeled “Blaine’s Pup” have entered on the left. Among them are “Dana, McLean, Vance, Eustis, Reid, Beck, Evarts, Sherman, Medill, [and] Edmunds.” They are standing just outside the “Secretarys Office” where Daniel S. Lamont is sitting. Through the open door is visible a wagon loaded with large logs labeled “Mormon Question, Silver Question, Tariff Ques, [and] Coast Defences.” Caption: Foreman Cleveland (kindly but firmly) “Boys, don’t monkey with the buzz-saw!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1886-02-03

Another “boycott”

David B. Hill holds a large brush and George H. Sterling holds a bucket of paste, as bill stickers post a notice that states “Notice. We Hereby Boycott Cleveland, the Civil Service Humbug!! David B. Hill Governor – George H. Sterling would-be Weigher would-be Port-Warden” on a wall labeled “White House Grounds.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-12-02

Foes in his path – the herculean task before our next president

Grover Cleveland, as Hercules carrying a large club labeled “Honest Legislation,” encounters a group of troublemakers along the “Administration Road” to “Success” seen in the distant background. Among the problems to be dealt with are a “Rotten Navy” represented by a two-headed hydra labeled “Robeson” and “Roach” holding a club labeled “Lobby,” an old man labeled “Mormonism” with many wives dangling from his belt, Jay Gould labeled “Land Grabber” holding a club labeled “Monopoly” and carrying a sack with papers labeled “R. R. Land Grab, U. Pacific Land Grab, [and] Land Grab,” a stereotypical Jewish man wearing a top hat labeled “Bankrupt” and holding papers labeled “List of Preferred Creditors,” a vulture labeled “High Tariff” and “Over-Production” sitting next to the prostrate body of a man whose hat, labeled “Labor,” has fallen on a nearby rock, and two men, one labeled “Cuba” holding a paper that states “Please Help a Poor Man with a Treaty” and the other labeled “Mexico” holding a paper that states “Please Help Poor Mexico with a Treaty,” a snake labeled “Silver Swindle” among the rocks, and a man in the background labeled “To the Victor Belong the Spoils” holding a club.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-02-18

Democracy’s disastrous egg-dance

A woman labeled “Democracy,” wearing a blindfold labeled “Stupidity,” is being pushed by Samuel J. Randall toward a “Presidenti[al] Chair.” Several eggs lie in the way on the ground, labeled “Honest Naval Appropriation, Civil Service Reform, Honest River-Harbor Appropriation, Economy, Anti-Silver Coinage, National Banking System, Tariff Reform, [and] Prompt Legislation.” Two of the eggs are broken. Among a group of men laughing, in the background on the right, are John Logan, John Sherman, and William D. Kelley.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-09

Columbus Cleveland and his mutinous crew – “This ship shall not turn back!”

Grover Cleveland, as Christopher Columbus, holds a map labeled “Route to Reform,” aboard a ship surrounded by mutinous sailors labeled “Bayard, Whitney, Eustis, Sterling, Hedden, Pulitzer, Blackburn, Hill, McLaughlin, Jones, Thompson, Gorman, Grady.” Unidentified are Thomas A. Hendricks, John Kelly, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, and Charles A. Dana. A bird arrives from the left carrying a piece of paper that states “From Land of Reform.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-11-04

“The Mulligan guard lies, but – surrenders”

An explosion has occurred at the “Claim Agency, Formerly Republican Head Quarters” with William M. Evarts peeking through the opening in the tent to survey the damage. Several small kiosks labeled “Machine Republicans Meet Here, County Democracy Blaine Exchange, Tribune Blaine Organ, [and] Friends of Tammany Meet Here” have been blown over and damaged. Also knocked to the ground by the blast were “Keifer, [Blaine holding a paper that states “I Claim Everything”], Logan, W. Reid, Butler, Dana, Burchard [labeled “R.R.R.”], Robeson, Elkins, Dorsey,” and an unidentified man lying on the ground next to bags of “Soap.” On horseback, in the upper left corner, is Grover Cleveland holding a scroll labeled “Reform,” and a Puck character carrying a standard labeled “Independents.” Among the ranks are Carl Schurz, George W. Curtis, and Henry Ward Beecher. Strewn on the ground are papers that state “I.O.U. If we win. J. G., I.O.U. Conditional on Success, C.W.F., [and] I.O.U. If you get there, J. Roach”; and several of the downed “Mulligan Guard” hold papers that state “We Still Claim,” whereas Dana’s paper states “I Give Up.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-11-19

“Whitelaw Reid refuses to accept the New York senatorship”

Whitelaw Reid, dressed as a dandy, turns away from a young woman labeled “N. Y. State” who is carrying a bucket labeled “Reform Milk” and headed in a direction indicated by a sign “To Reform.” He is turning down a marriage proposal before it has been offered. Caption: “I cannot marry you, my pretty maid!” / “Nobody axed you, sir!” she said.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-12-03

A civil service reform version of an old fable

Grover Cleveland, as a shepherd, stands among his flock labeled “Treasury, Supreme Bench, Office, [and] Post Office,” telling a well-dressed wolf, who has a piece of paper in his pocket labeled “To the Victor Belong the Spoils,” that he cannot turn out corrupt Republicans in favor of spoils-hungry Democrats. Caption: President-elect Cleveland (to Democratic “Spoils” Wolf) – “I shall not discharge the corrupt Republican watch-dogs only to make room for you, my friend. That’s not the kind of civil service reform I mean!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-01-14

Our government farm — President Cleveland finds an effectual protection against the twenty-five-year locusts

President Cleveland stands directly behind a wall of flames labeled “Civil Service Reform.” Behind him, working on the “Government Farm,” are members of his cabinet: William C. Endicott with a hoe, Lucius Q. C. Lamar kneeling before a newly planted tree, Thomas F. Bayard working on a tree labeled “State Department,” Daniel Manning holding a pot labeled “Treasury,” Augustus H. Garland with a shovel, William C. Whitney adding supports to a tree labeled “Navy Department,” and William F. Vilas with a watering can. In the foreground, locusts driven back by the smoke and overcome by the fumes lie on the ground and are about to be consumed by the flames. The locusts include “Kelly, Dugro, Voorhees, Blackburn, McLean, Dana, Butler, H. O. Thompson, Chenowith, Higgins, [and] Aquila Jones.” Two that seem unaffected are labeled “Hendricks” carrying a banner that states “To the Victors belong the Spoils” and “McLoughlin” [sic].

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-09-02

Men may come, and men may go; but the work of reform shall go on forever

Columbia stands with Puck’s figure for the “Independent” party/vote and Puck who is holding a design drawing for a statue labeled “Reform,” which is under construction behind them by “D. W. Everett, Rev. J. F. Clarke, Beecher, Col. The. Lyman, Schurz, H. White, G. F. Williams, Curtis, [and] Jones.” The building blocks are labeled “Scratchem 1879, Anti-3rd Termism 1880, Tidal Wave Elections 1882, Civil Service Reform Bill, [and] Republican Revolt 1884.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-11-05

Good men on a bad platform

Three men labeled “Wadsworth, Davenport, [and] Genl. Carr,” hanging onto each other, stand on “The One Solid Plank” labeled “Financial & Civil-Service-Reform Resolutions” of a shaky platform that includes rotten boards labeled “The John Roach Issue,” “Protective-Tariff Fanaticism,” Bloody-Shirtism,” “Trumped-up Charges Against Cleveland,” and “Sham Patriotism.” A sign on the left states “Mugmumps Cordially Welcome” and one on the right states “Please Don’t Look at the Platform, Look at the Men,” and a sign in the background states “A Sound State Ticket – Three Honest Men.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-09-30

A hard job with the hogs

President Cleveland, as a pig farmer, gets tangled in leashes attached to the hind legs of several hogs, each with a distinctive brand, labeled “Hugh McLaughlin, H. O. Thompson, Higgins, Beattie,” and one labeled “Tammany Hall” that looks like John Kelly. One hog labeled “Hedden” has broken free and is headed for the “Spoils Hog Pen” in the background. Standing on the left, observing, are Benjamin F. Butler, an unidentified man, Joseph C. S. Blackburn, and John R. McLean. Road signs state “Road to Spoils,” “National X Roads,” and “Cleveland Civil Service Reform Road.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-09-30

The temptation

Print shows John Kelly as the serpent labeled “Tammany” in the Garden of Eden offering an apple labeled “Harmony” from a tree labeled “Bossism” to “H.O. Thompson,” as Adam, labeled “County Democracy” and Alexander V. “Davidson,” as Eve, labeled “Irving Hall” who holds out his hand to take the apple.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-09-19