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Vilas, William F. (William Freeman), 1840-1908

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Letter from William Shadrack Shallenberger to Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from William Shadrack Shallenberger to Theodore Roosevelt

Assistant Postmaster General Shallenberger answers an inquiry from President Roosevelt about details given by Representative Victor Murdock in a speech to Congress. The issue is the average amount of mail carried by the railroads, which influences the amount the government pays to the railroad companies. Shallenberger describes the way in which the mail ought to be measured, provides a history of the issue and related developments, and notes that this issue has been previously examined by many lawyers. After presenting evidence for his argument, Shallenberger concludes that Murdock’s statement was incorrect.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-27

Creator(s)

Shallenberger, William Shadrack, 1839-1914

A desperate case of political dipsomania

A desperate case of political dipsomania

A drunken man sits in a chair with jugs and bottles labeled “Repudiation Gin, Free Silver Rum, Tillman’s Firewater, Populist Whiskey, [and] Altgeld’s Fizz” on the floor next to him. His rumpled hat labeled “Democratic Party” hangs off the back of the chair. “Dr. Puck” has approached from the left and recommends that he take the “Gold Cure.” Standing on the left is a group of “eminent physicians” labeled “Harrity, Carlisle, Vilas, Whitney, [and] Russell,” and one unidentified man. Caption: Dr. Puck–My unfortunate friend, we eminent physicians have held a consultation, and have decided that nothing will save you but an immediate and thorough application of the Gold Cure.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-07-01

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

No party lines when the national honor is in peril

No party lines when the national honor is in peril

The combined forces of the gold standard supporters, including some newspaper editors, and a reluctant William McKinley, march under the standard “The Nation’s Credit Must Be Upheld,” toward a fort labeled “Fort 16 to 1” flying the banner “Repudiation,” and manned by soldiers armed with pitchforks and scythes. The newspaper editors are staffing the big guns labeled “Sound Money Press.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-07-22

Creator(s)

Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905

Cleveland’s entry into Washington – March 4th. 1885

Cleveland’s entry into Washington – March 4th. 1885

Grover Cleveland rides the Democratic donkey past the “Republican R. R. R. Hotel” on the way to his inauguration. He is surrounded by a host of characters that includes many political figures and newspaper editors, including Joseph F. Keppler with his diminutive character Puck. Among those depicted are: Roscoe Conkling, George Edmunds, Augustus Garland, “Hampton,” “William H. Barnum,” L. Q. C. Lamar, “Grace,” “Jones,” Joseph Pulitzer, James G. Bennett, Henry B. Ward, Samuel J. Randall, Thomas Hendricks, Abram S. Hewitt, U. S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, “McDonas,” Daniel Manning, George W. Curtis, Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel J. Tilden, Thomas F. Bayard (carrying a flag that states “Public Office is a Public Trust. G. Cleveland”), Joseph Medill, William C. Endicott, John Logan, James G. Blaine, Carl Schurz, William F. Vilas, Cox, Winfield Scott Hancock, Benjamin Harrison, Henry Watterson, and Hermann “Raster.” Also shown is Puck’s Independent Party figure and papers labeled “Compliments of C. A. Dana.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-04

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

President Cleveland and his cabinet

President Cleveland and his cabinet

President Cleveland sits at a desk between his cabinet members, from the left, “W. C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy, Daniel Manning, Secretary of the Treasury, A. H. Garland, Attorney-General, T. F. Bayard, Secretary of State, W. C. Endicott, Secretary of War, W. F. Vilas, Postmaster-General, [and] L. Q. C. Lamar, Secretary of the Interior.” They are in a hall lined with statues labeled “Navy, War, Justice, State, Treasury, Interior, [and] Post.” On the wall at the back of the room is the following quote: “It is the duty of those serving the people in public places to closely limit public expenditures to the actual needs of the government economically administered. G. Cleveland.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-11

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Our good ship “National Credit” in danger from a silver-spout

Our good ship “National Credit” in danger from a silver-spout

The bow of a ship approaches a waterspout labeled “80ct $” and “$2,000,000 a Month,” and a shark labeled “Panic.” Along the side of the ship are President Cleveland as captain, and several men, all unidentified, but may include George F. Edmunds, William M. Evarts, William F. Vilas, Edward L. Hedden, John Sherman, and Augustus Garland, among others. They are about to fire a gun labeled “Repeal of Silver Coinage Act” to break up the waterspout. Caption: Captain Cleveland “Fire that gun, boys – it’s the only way to break it!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-12-16

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896; Zimmerman, Eugene, 1862-1935

Thanksgiving Day, 1885

Thanksgiving Day, 1885

President Cleveland stands at the head of a table with his cabinet officers around the table at placemats labeled “Bayard, Manning, Garland, Whitney, Lamar, Endicott, [and] Vilas,” as Puck delivers a large turkey on a platter labeled “With Compliments of all Good Citizens.” A notice on the wall in the background states “Public Office is a Public Trust.” The centerpiece on the table is labeled “Prosperity.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-11-25

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

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

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

Creator(s)

Zimmerman, Eugene, 1862-1935

A new declaration of independence in the year 1885

A new declaration of independence in the year 1885

President Cleveland stands at a table, his right hand on a long document labeled “Declaration of Independence July 4th 1885” that trails off the table, stating “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a President to dissolve the political bands which the machinery of his party has imposed upon him, he must speak in unmistakable words…” He is facing a group of men, one labeled “Tammany” and others labeled “Boss” and “Rural Boss.” They are standing near a passageway labeled “Exit.” Behind Cleveland are members of his cabinet, William C. Whitney, Daniel Manning, Augustus H. Garland, William F. Vilas, L. Q. C. Lamar, and Thomas F. Bayard who is holding a paper that states “The Cabinet ‘Solid’ on Reform.” On the wall in the background is a painting showing the presentation of the “Declaration of Independence July 4th 1776”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-01

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

The administration’s hardest job

The administration’s hardest job

President Cleveland and his cabinet officers struggle to push and pull the Democratic donkey labeled “Bourbon Democracy” into a stable labeled “Reform Stables.” On the donkey’s hooves, acting as brakes, are the faces of John Kelly labeled “Spoils System,” Charles A. Dana labeled “Anti-Civil Service Reform,” “Mclaughlin”, [and] “J.R. M’Lean.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-22

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

The resistless march of reform – the “hostiles” must go!

The resistless march of reform – the “hostiles” must go!

A large group of politicians, newspaper editors, Tammany Hall bosses, and others are dressed as Native Americans. One carries a banner that shows a crude drawing of the Tammany tiger labeled “Flathead Tribe.” The group is on a long march in opposition to President Cleveland’s civil service reform agenda. In the upper left corner is the “Blainiac Reservation” and in the opposite corner is Cleveland and his cabinet laying tracks for the “Reform R. R.,” keeping ahead of the “Administration Construction Train.” In the foreground, Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks is leading the Democratic donkey labeled “Bourbonism,” carrying two baskets, one with “Old Ideas” and the other labeled “The Perennial Pappooses” holding Charles A. Dana and Benjamin F. Butler. Standing just to the right is John Kelly carrying Philip H. Dugro in a cradleboard.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-08-12

Creator(s)

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Cleveland third-term developments

Cleveland third-term developments

The writer considers the probability of Grover Cleveland being nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate. They dismiss William Jennings Bryan, and argue that it is unlikely that the Democratic Convention will endorse Cleveland. The writer also makes a comparison between Cleveland’s current position and the situation faced by Ulysses Grant at the 1880 Republic National Convention.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-05-13

Creator(s)

Unknown