Political corruption

Out of the frying-pan into the fire

James G. Blaine tries to climb over a wall labeled “National Garden Post No Bills” and “No Admittance to Lobbyists, Jobbers & Other Objectionable Characters.” He is carrying a bag over his shoulder containing fruit labeled “Jobs, Little Rock, [and] N. Pacific Bonds,” some of which are falling out labeled “Tribune Sponge” and “Mulligan Letters.” A guard dog on a leash labeled “Cleveland Machine” has chased Blaine to the wall and is standing on Blaine’s plumed hat labeled “Brag” and “Bluster.” Outside the wall is Puck’s figure for the “Independent” voter. Annotation: “After a well-known picture.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-23

Blaine’s letter of acceptance

James Gillespie Blaine, startled, looks out a window in a building labeled “Star-Routers’ Head-Quarters,” watching as Puck, standing on a ladder labeled “Public Approval,” nails a letter labeled “From the Mulligan Series” to a column outside the window. The letter states Blaine’s acceptance of an “offer to admit me to a participation in the new railroad enterprise.” It further states Blaine’s wish to purchase some of the shares of another shareholder who had expressed an interest in this transaction.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-30

He can’t beat his own record

James Gillespie Blaine stands on the “Republican Race Track” in an arena, apparently frozen in position as his tattooed ghost races past him. A sign in the center of the track states “Presidential Race Against Time – Blaine to Beat His Own Record.” In the background is a tent with banner labeled “J. Blaine” and decked with floral wreaths that state “With Compliments J. Gould” and “With Compliments from C. Field,” and one shaped like a horseshoe from “R. Sage.” Whitelaw Reid stands outside the tent, holding a bucket and a sponge labeled “Tribune” and William Walter Phelps peaks through the flaps with a concerned look on his face. Among those in the grandstand on the left are A. M. Clapp, George M. Robeson, Alonzo B. Cornell, John Roach, and Thomas Jefferson Brady. Caption: Chorus of Friends “Go in, Jim! – brace up! Can’t you do any better than that?”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-30

The opening of the “aggressive” campaign

Whitelaw Reid, in the dark shadows of a street, pours alcohol from a large jug labeled “Tribune Tonic Crooked Campaign Brand” into the open mouth of an Irish man wearing a plumed hat, a cape labeled “Plumed Dynamiters’ League,” and holding a large knife labeled “Blind Animosity” and a stick with a bomb attached to the end. Stephen B. Elkins, crouched behind Reid, is keeping a lookout. Both are wearing plumed hats. On the wall behind them is a notice that states “Grand Mass-Meeting! Mr. W. Reid will speak on ‘The spread of American Ideas among the Irish’.” Puck’s “Independent” Party figure is walking down the street with Grover Cleveland.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-08-06

“Stop thief!”

Illustration, reminiscent of Thomas Nast’s cartoon of the same title published in Harper’s Weekly, October 7, 1871, hence “That trick is very stale”, shows a group of monopolists and Blaine supporters scattering on the street in response to the cry “Stop thief!” Joseph Keifer carries a sign that states “Beware of Cleveland the Monopolist” and Cyrus Field waves a sheet that states “Down with Cleveland the Monopolist.” Among the pursuers and those being pursued are William W. Phelps, Benjamin F. Butler carrying a bag of “Monopolist Fees”, Robert Ingersoll, Keifer, George M. Robeson, Whitelaw Reid throwing “Dust” in the eyes of workingmen, Alonzo Cornell, Field, James G. Blaine carrying a bag of “$ from Monopolists” and “R.R. Stocks,” Russell Sage, John Roach, and Jay Gould, as well as a dog with the face of John Kelly(?), and with a teapot labeled “Alliance with Monopolists” tied to its tail; all are determined to look like pursuers, instead of the object of the pursuit. Carl Schurz, dressed as a policeman, is standing on the sidewalk at far right. Two laborers are standing on the left, next to a sign that announces “Friend of the Workingman Meeting at Monopoly Hall To Night – J. Gould, C. Field, R. Sage, Robeson.” Caption: Level-Headed Workingman – “Too thin! That trick is very stale. I guess we know a monopolist when we see him!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-08-06

Building the ark

Republican revelers in the foreground make music as they pass a reform ark being constructed in the background. Depicted are John Sherman playing pipes labeled “Southern Outrages,” John Logan playing cymbals labeled “Pensions,” Whitelaw Reid playing pan pipes labeled “Monopoly,” James Blaine playing a lyre, George Robeson riding on a donkey labeled “Surplus,” with George Hoar, John Roach, Joseph Keifer, and Roscoe Conkling among them. Among the crowd that follows are Ulysses S. Grant, Jay Gould, and possibly Rutherford B. Hayes, also a man playing a tambourine labeled “Bossism” and another carrying a standard labeled “Spoils,” and one with a sign labeled “River & Harbor Frauds.” In the background, John Carlisle stands at the head of those building the ark. Also shown are Henry Watterson with hammer and chisel, William Morrison holding up “Morrison’s Tariff Reform Plan,” and Abram Hewitt holding “Hewitt’s Free Trade Plank.” The ribs of the ship are labeled “Tariff Reform, Raw Materials Free, Lower Iron Tax, Lower Tax on Woolens, [and] Works of Art Free.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-03-05

The modern Danaë and the golden rain

Print shows a man reclining on a “Map of New York” with Thomas Collier Platt holding a platter catching gold coins raining down in the form of bribes from above.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-09-13

Blaine O’Maine

James Gillespie Blaine runs through a swamp, chasing a firefly labeled “Presidency” that is thumbing its nose at him. Blaine is leaving a “Bad Political Record” behind him that begins with his “Early Life in Pennsylvania,” then “Becoming a Yankee” in Maine and “Being the First Carpet-Bagger,” where he was engaged in fishing for “Men and Votes,” and then as a Congressman and “Selling Agent of Little-Rock Bonds,” and finally as “Secretary of State” and the “American Bismarck.” “Mulligan Letters” are depicted throughout. The firefly projects a shadow of Blaine as a wicked hag on the white pages of his past.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-23

More than she can carry

Whitelaw Reid places a bundled-up package labeled “Blaine” and “Rotten Record” on top of a large pile in a basket being carried by a woman labeled “Republican Party” who is stooped under the burden and leaning on a staff labeled “War Record.” Others already in the basket are “Kellogg” labeled “Returning Board & Star Ro,” “Keifer” labeled “Speakership Corruption,” “Dorsey” labeled “Star Route Swindle,” “Brady” labeled “Star Route Swindle,” “Robeson” labeled “Navy Ring,” “Grant’s IId Term Washington Ring,” and “Belknap” who resigned as Grant’s Secretary of War in 1876. A man labeled “Phelps Whitewasher” is holding the ladder for Reid.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-05-14

A Wall Street cleaner

A woman labeled “Legitimate Business” cracks a whip that spells “Crash.” She is driving a two-wheeled cart drawn by two horses with a large brush labeled “No Over-Certification Clearing House” attached, sweeping Wall Street clean of men labeled “Stock Jobber” and “Stock Gambler.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-05-21

One thing he can not shake off

Chester Alan Arthur is a cat, with the spout labeled “‘Soap’ Campaign 1880,” that has broken off a pitcher, around his neck. The pitcher labeled “N. Y. Ward Politics” lies on the ground nearby. James Gillespie Blaine is a dog sitting in front of a doghouse, chained to a weight labeled “Mulligan Disgrace.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-05-28

Phryne before the Chicago tribunal

Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine as the prostitute “Phryne” is revealed by Whitelaw Reid, wearing shorts, a bib labeled “Magnetic Pad,” and covered with tattoos relating to his various shady dealings, standing before Republican delegates who are dressed as Greek senators. Among those depicted are George W. Curtis, William M. Evarts, Carl Schurz, a youthful Theodore Roosevelt, Benjamin Bristow, Warner Miller, William H. Robertson, John A. Logan, John Sherman, James Donald Cameron, Simon Cameron, Benjamin Harrison, and George F. Edmunds. Drawing is based on J. L. Gerome’s 1861 painting “Phyrne Before the Areopagus.” Caption: Ardent Advocate “Now, Gentlemen, don’t make any mistake in your decision! Here’s purity and magnetism for you – can’t be beat!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-06-04

Thomas L. James, the man who stamped out the Star Route swindle

Print shows a full-length portrait of Thomas L. James, Postmaster General, standing, facing left, among papers emblazoned with stars littering the floor, holding a stamp labeled “Indicment” [sic] in his right hand.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-19

The receiving-vault of the Republican politicians who defied public morality

A procession carries an embalmed James Gillespie Blaine to a place among other embalmed Republicans in an Egyptian tomb. Among those previously embalmed are Thomas Collier Platt, Stephen W. Dorsey, Thomas Brady, Ulysses S. Grant, Roscoe Conkling, George M. Robeson, Joseph W. Keifer, William P. Kellogg, and William Belknap. Among those carrying the embalmed Blaine, labeled “Nominated June 6, Embalmed Nov. 1884” are William W. Phelps, Whitelaw Reid, William H. Robertson, Powell Clayton, and Joseph Medill. Caption: The wire-pullers have nominated him; but the people will send him where they have sent the others.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-06-11

His boasted magnetism – and the kind of metal it attracts

James Gillespie Blaine is the “plumed knight” wearing cabbage leaves on his head with two plumes labeled “Brag” and “Bluster,” and with a quill pen labeled “Gail Hamilton.” He holds a sword labeled “Guano Statesmanship” and a shield labeled “Monopoly Press,” and his legs are the bars of a horseshoe magnet labeled “Spoils System.” He sits on a pile of “Mulligan Letters” and “R. R. Bonds.” Attracted to the magnet are George M. Robeson labeled “Navy Swindles,” Whitelaw Reid, John A. Logan labeled “Hoodlum,” Col. John A. Joyce labeled “Ex-Convict,” Stephen W. Dorsey, William P. Kellogg labeled “Louisiana Frauds,” Joseph W. Keifer labeled “Speakership Corruption,” Cyrus W. Field labeled “‘L’ Road Swindle,” Jay Gould labeled “R. R. Wrecker,” Robert G. Ingersoll labeled “Star Route Plunder,” John Roach labeled “Navy Jobs,” Alonzo B. Cornell labeled “Blind Pool,” Thomas Collier Platt labeled “Me Too!!”, Schuyler Colfax labeled “Credit Mobilier,” Thomas J. Brady labeled “Star Router,” Powell Clayton labeled “Arkansas Frauds,” Russell Sage labeled “Wall Street Stock Gambler,” and Roscoe Conkling.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-06-25

“Me and Jack”

James Gillespie Blaine, wearing swimming trunks, sits on a board extending over a pond, with John Alexander Logan, as a dog, sitting next to him. Blaine’s body is tattoed all over, with “”Bluster, Mulligan, Guano Statesmanship, [and] Pacific Bonds.” A can labeled “Pro-Slavery” is tied to the dog’s tail and there is a bar of soap labeled “Hurrah Soap to Remove Tattoo” on the shore-end of the board.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-02

“A sail! A sail!!”

A woman labeled “Dem. Party” reclines on the rocky coast of a deserted island. Nearby is an empty jug labeled “Bourbonism the Only Subsistence for 16 Years (1860-76)” and a broken cask labeled “For 8 Years (1876-84) Sustained Life on the Fraud Issue.” She has sighted a ship labeled “Independent Republicans” headed her way. John Kelly, dressed like an Indian, is creeping over rocks on the right. He holds a bow labeled “Tammany” in one hand and an arrow labeled “Deal” in the other, and he wears a medallion around his neck labeled “J.K.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-02

A way out of President Arthur’s dilemma

Ulysses S. Grant recommends to President Chester A. Arthur some “friends” of his as political appointees. All the men shown were involved in scandals during Grant’s administration. Caption: General Grant “Don’t be troubled if a few fellows do decline. Here are some friends of mine who never refuse office.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-11-02

Strange, but true

Schuyler Colfax stands at a lectern labeled “Speaker Colfax – Pious Hypocrite and Credit Mobilier Bribe-Taker.” James G. Blaine stands at a lectern labeled “Speaker Blaine – ‘Magnetic’ Blusterer and Railroad Stock-Jobber.” Joseph W. Keifer stands at a lectern labeled “Speaker Keifer – The Corrupt Tool of Robeson et al.” Blaine gestures toward three portraits hanging on the wall in the background, of former Democratic Speakers of the House, labeled “Kerr, Randall, [and] Carlisle.” Caption: The three last speakers of the “Untrustworthy and Disreputable Democratic Party,” and the three last speakers of the “Grand Old Republican Party of Moral Ideas.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-16

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