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 Tilden and Hendricks

 


 "By Repealing They Resume-By Resuming They Repeal"
  Cartoonist:  Thomas Nast
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   August 26, 1876, p. 704

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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
The confusion over the Democratic position on the money question (see Monetary Policy in Issues) is the focus of this Nast cartoon which appears in the back of the same issue as his cover illustration, "A Hard Summer for the Soft Rag Baby." Thomas Hendricks (l), the vice-presidential nominee, was a former hard-money man turned soft-money enthusiast. But as the vice-presidential nominee, Hendricks equivocated on the issue, satisfying neither side. In this cartoon, he turns in the hard-money direction, despite his "soft soap" collar.

Samuel Tilden (r), the presidential nominee, was a hard-money advocate who backed the repeal of the fixed date for the resumption of specie payments. That was a concession to inflationists who saw the date-repeal as a first step toward their goal of total revocation of resumption. His convoluted statement that the date-repeal would lead to a more effective process of resumption is aped in the cartoon's paradoxical title: "By Repealing They Resume-By Resuming They Repeal." Mirroring Hendricks, "Hard Soap" Tilden turns in the soft-money direction.

New York City politico John Morrissey again appears as Tilden's money-waving-and thus vote-buying-backer. Nast also identifies Tilden with financial improprieties through use of the "usufruct" label (enjoying the benefits of property that belongs to someone else) and the barrel-of-money symbol (here, in the left-background).

 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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