Undeterred by Curtis's plea for prudence (see "What I Know About Horace Greeley"), Nast moved directly
to challenge Morgan's portrait of Grant as the uncomfortable schoolboy.
In "Children Cry For It,"
President Grant is feeding a steaming bowl of "Civil Service Reform"
gruel to a group of unreceptive Liberal Republicans, with Grant remarking,
"If You Can Stand It I Can." The lower caption is excerpted from
Grant's annual message to Congress of the previous December, in which the
president endorsed civil service reform.