emocratic presidential nominee Samuel Tilden appears in the costume and with
the queue of a Chinese man beating a "Reform" gong. At his feet lies a
Chinese puzzle, consisting of the political rings that he has broken; to the
Tammany and Canal rings, Nast adds a Sheriff's Ring to remind viewers of Tweed's
prison break during Tilden's gubernatorial term. (See comments on "A Call for Tweed.") The cartoon's message is the supposedly false
claim of Tilden to the reform banner.
The cartoon also exposes popular prejudices and concerns about the Chinese and
Chinese immigrants. The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 had allowed a free flow of
immigration between China and the United States. The Chinese population in the
United States, located primarily on the West coast, remained tiny, but racial
prejudice and economic competition roused intense and sometimes bloody reaction
against them.
During the 1870s several measures were introduced into Congress to limit or
prohibit Chinese immigration. The 1876 Republican platform called on Congress
"to investigate the immigration and importation of Mongolians on the moral
and material interests of the country." Finally, in 1882 Congress passed
the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned all Chinese immigration to the United
States for ten years (extended by subsequent laws). For more information, visit HarpWeek's site on "The Chinese American Experience, 1857-1892."