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Butler and Blaine |
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“Helping the Rascals In—A Burglarious Scheme That May Be Suddenly Spoiled” |
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Cartoonist: Joseph Keppler |
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Source: Puck |
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Date:
October 22, 1884, p. 226
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Click to see a large version of this cartoon |
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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
Like a thief in the night, Republican nominee James Blaine tries to sneak into
the White House through a back window, carrying a bag marked "for the
plunder" and a document on which is written "20 years on the
make." Giving him a boost are his accomplices in crime, Greenback-Labor
nominee Benjamin Butler and editor Charles Dana, holding a copy of his New York
Sun, which endorsed Butler. The Republicans were secretly funding Butler's
campaign (see
"Our Friends, the Enemy").
Cartoonist Joseph Keppler's personification of the Independent Republican
movement, however, has caught sight of the burglars, and, armed with a club,
approaches quietly yet determinedly to stop this breach of the public trust. The
artist also plays on the word "spoiled" in the caption. Both Blaine
and Butler were known as "spoilsmen," politicians who used the
"spoils," or rewards of office (patronage and other perquisites), for
their own self-interest. |
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