Political parties--Platforms

Barred out from the promised land

A group of Tammany “Ward” workers and men identified as “J. R. McLean, Grady, H. O. Thompson, Spinola, [Alexander V.] Davidson, H. McLaughlin, [and a] Chicago Boss,” along with Charles A. Dana and John Kelly stand on a mountain overlooking the United States Capitol. All are wearing top hats that emit rays of light (Kelly is stomping on his hat with his left foot) as if all are Moses. They are disappointed office seekers who feel they should have been rewarded by the Cleveland administration. A large broken tablet on the ground is labeled “Old Commandments – Thou shalt divide up the spoils.” Banners atop the Capitol, “Interior Depart[ment], Treasury U.S., [and the] White House,” state “A Government for the People not for Politicians, Reform Administration, Civil Service Reform, No Removals except for Cause.” This last banner is probably in reference to the recent removal of Capt. George B. Bacon in favor of George H. Sterling for government weigher at the New York Custom House, an action that was reversed pending investigation. Caption: Disappointed Democratic Moses – “Was it worth going through so much to get so little?”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-01

Consistent civil service reform

President Cleveland hands a paper that states “Re-appointment for Honesty and Efficiency” to Henry G. Pearson for his appointment as Postmaster in New York. Pearson carries a box labeled “The People’s Trust.” In the background are Whitelaw Reid with dagger labeled “N. Y. Tribune” and Charles A. Dana with dagger labeled “N. Y. Sun.” Both appear angry that an efficient and honest citizen has been appointed to a civil service position. Caption: Bravos in Background – “Ha! Foiled again!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-08

False weather-prophets

Whitelaw Reid, on the roof top of a building, looks through a telescope at the sun labeled “Civil Service Reform,” and Charles A. Dana, on the neighboring roof top, checks a “Sun Barometer.” Signs on their respective buildings state “Tribune Political Weather Bulletin – Terrible Traitor Earthquakes, Rebel Cyclones, ‘Dude-and-Pharisee’ Simoons, Hurricanes of Plunder and Tornadoes of Spoils!” and “The Sun’s Political Weather Predictions – Very Doubtful. Probable Cold Mugwump Wave Approaching. Cautionary Signals along the entire Political Coast.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-15

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

On the way to the promised land

President Wilson and William Jennings Bryan stand on a rock formation with a statue of a man labeled “Practical Politics,” with the U.S. Capitol in the background. Wilson, as Moses, strikes the rocks with his staff labeled “Campaign Pledges” causing waters labeled “Currency Reform” and “Tariff Reform” to flow and nourish hordes of businessmen and laborers. Caption: “And thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.”–Exodus XVII, 6.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1914-01-14

Nothing but wind!

A woman, on the left, labeled “Republican Party,” wears a hat labeled “War Record” and uses a bellows to pump “Reform, Purity and Honesty!!” into the ear of a man labeled “Independent Voter.” Another woman, on the right, labeled “Democratic Party,” wears a hat labeled “Jeffersonian Principles” and uses a bellows to pump “Honesty, Purity, and Reform!!” into the other ear of the man labeled “Independent Voter.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-16

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

“A unit”

Grover Cleveland shakes hands with Puck’s figure for the Independent Party labeled “Independent Voter.” Behind them are bell tents with banners labeled “Reform.” In the lower left corner is a “Withered Flower” with the face of Roswell Pettibone Flower.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-06-25

A new way of “waking” the Democratic shaughraun

Print shows a small, rustic room crowded with members of the Democratic Party, some dressed as old women, others drinking and smoking clay pipes. One man, the “Shaughraun” labeled “Democratic Party,” is lying on a board that is resting on wooden supports. He is stirred to life by snuff sprinkled on his nose from a bowl labeled “Tariff Reform Snuff” by John G. Carlisle who is dressed in a formal uniform with sword. Among the crowd are Charles A. Dana, Benjamin F. Butler, and Samuel J. Tilden (all dressed as old women), Grover Cleveland, Samuel J. Randall, John Kelly, Henry Watterson, Abram S. Hewitt (dressed as an old woman), Samuel S. Cox, and Thomas F. Bayard (also dressed as an old woman), with arms raised in alarm and a broken pipe at his feet. On the far right are Thomas A. Hendricks drinking from a bottle labeled “Old Ticket Rye,” Winfield Scott Hancock, and Allen G. Thurman. Caption: “Captain” Carlisle shows that he is up to snuff.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-12-12

Too many leaders

In a winter scene, a soldier labeled “Democracy” stands in front of a road sign that points in four directions “Free Trade, To Tariff Reform, To Protection, [and] No Policy.” Between his feet is a small dog that looks like John Kelly. “Speaker Carlisle” as a drum major for “Reform” is standing in the left foreground. Behind and to the left are Benjamin Butler “Butlerism,” Abram S. “Hewitt” with “Free Trade” banner, and Samuel S. “Cox” pointing toward “Free Trade.” Samuel J. “Randall” is standing in the right foreground, wearing a helmet labeled “Protection.” Behind and to the right are Sereno “Payne” with banner labeled “Straddle Every Issue!”, Thomas “Bayard” holding papers that state “Dodge the Question,” and Samuel J. Tilden labeled “Ancient Issues.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-01-30

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

Blundering again!

A group of Democrats sit on a log raft that is breaking up within sight of land, with two logs labeled “New Jersey [and] New York” coming loose and drifting away. A small sail on the raft is labeled “Democra[…] Record.” Some are fighting amongst themselves. Allen G. Thurman is about to hit George Hoadly who is holding a paper labeled “Dem. Nomination for Gov. Ohio Hoadly”; John Kelly is fighting with Hubert O. Thompson who is holding a knife labeled “County Dem”; and behind them is Alexander V. Davidson labeled “Irving Hall” and holding a knife. Others seem on the brink of despair, including Abram S. Hewitt gnawing on a bone labeled “Tariff,” Charles A. Dana defiant of fate, Thomas F. Bayard sitting with his elbows on his knees, Winfield Scott Hancock who appears to have succumbed, Thomas Hendricks chewing on his fingers, an unidentified man searching the horizon, Henry Watterson, and Samuel J. Tilden. Only Benjamin F. Butler shows any sign of hope as he points toward shore and the U.S. Capitol labeled “1884.” Caption: The Democrats have their regular shindy just as they come in sight of land.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-09-26

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 original political dude out-duded

Print shows Chester A. Arthur dressed as a dandy, walking on a sidewalk with a young woman labeled “Republican Party” who is carrying a small dog labeled “Protection.” Standing behind them, on the sidewalk, is Roscoe Conkling, also dressed as a dandy, with a medallion with the number “306” (a reference to the number of delegates who voted for U.S. Grant at the Republican Convention), in the background is the U.S. Capitol labeled “Congressional Club House”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-09-26

Why they dislike him — he will not prove himself a cat’s-paw in the enterprise

Grover Cleveland is a lion with his paw on a monkey labeled “T. Grady” on top of a rock labeled “Civil Service Reform.” Nearby is a small fire in which are roasting chestnuts labeled “City Spoils, State Spoils, [and] National Spoils Chestnut.” Cleveland is looking over his right shoulder at a group of monkeys in a tree. Among them are John Kelly, Charles A. Dana, Benjamin F. Butler, Henry Ward Beecher, and three monkeys labeled “Dynamiter, Ward Boss, [and] N. Y. Alderman.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-09-03

The rivals in Ohio

Allen G. Thurman stands on one side of a man labeled “Liquor Interest” and John Sherman on the other side. Thurman represents “The Ohio Democracy is the liquor dealers old friend!!”, while Sherman expresses “Ohio Republicans only wish to regulate the liquor traffic thats all!!” as they try to win the “Large Vote” the man is holding in his right hand.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-06-27

Nursing our infant industries

Several congressmen and senators are dressed as women nursing symbols of American industry. Sherman and Blaine feed “American Swine” as it sits on a rocking horse. William D. Kelley, known as “Pig-Iron Kelley,” hugs a tin-man labeled “Iron” with a locomotive for a head and clutching a pig labeled “Pigdron” [sic]. Thomas Ochiltree kisses “American Beef,” Warner Miller hugs “Wood Pulp,” John P. Jones comforts “Silver Mining,” Charles W. Jones combs “Cotton,” and George M. Robeson and John Roach pass “Ship Building” off to “John Bull” hiding in the bushes. Uncle Sam sits with Liberty in the upper left.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-06-27

Uncle Sam’s neglected farm

Puck’s “Independent Party” figure, holding a hoe labeled “Civil Service Reform,” talks to Uncle Sam who is sitting on a fence. Two figures argue on the right. One is labeled “Democrat, Bourbonism, Secession Record, [and] Stupidity.” The other is labeled “Republican, Monopoly, Pension Swindle, River & Harbor Steal, Credit Mobilier, [and] Bossism.” At their feet are farm tools and jugs labeled “Corruption Bourbonism” and “Spoils Switchel.” In the background are farm outbuildings labeled “Navy Dept., Post, Interior, [and] Indian.” Caption: New and Independent Party: “Look here, Uncle Sam, isn’t it about time you got rid of those two quarrelsome fellows, and gave the job to ME?”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-08-23

Two political paths

“Evarts, Reid, Robeson, Logan, [and] Blaine” and William W. Phelps stand on the remains of a bridge “washed away by the freshet of Nov. 1884” labeled “Partisan Civil Service” and find it difficult to get to the other side of the river. In the background, on a solid “Civil Service Reform” bridge are President Cleveland, members of his cabinet, Carl Schurz, and others unidentified, one holding a sheet of paper labeled “A Mugwump Engineer” and others holding a board labeled “Tariff Reform.” In the upper left corner is a flag pole with a banner that states “Non-Partisan Civil Service” and a municipal building labeled “Good Government.” Caption: The Democrats have the Mugwump bridge, and a fair chance to reach the goal; but our Republican friends seem to have struck a pretty hard road to travel, just at present.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-06-10