Here, Democrats associated with the powerful political machines of New York City’s Tammany Hall and New York State’s David B. Hill stand on opposite banks holding up a log over a river. The Democratic Donkey is tied to it, with the Stevenson tail safely above water and the Cleveland head underwater. Sitting atop the hill in the right background are Tammany Hall and a banner declaring in large print for Stevenson and in small print for Cleveland. The machine Democrats on the left bank are: Charles Dana, editor of the New York Sun, who had unsuccessfully backed Hill for the 1892 Democratic presidential nomination; Senator Hill; Senator Calvin Brice of Ohio, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee; and Richard Croker, boss of Tammany Hall. The machine Democrats on the right bank are: Edward Murphy Jr., chairman of the New York State Democratic Party; Henry Watterson, editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal; Lieutenant Governor William Sheehan of New York, also a member of the New York State Democratic Committee; and Governor Roswell P. Flower of New York, who opposed Cleveland’s nomination but endorsed the ticket after Stevenson was nominated.

The inclusion of Henry Watterson in this group is odd because his opposition to Cleveland’s nomination in 1892 was not based on machine politics or patronage. The editor was an avid tariff reformer who concluded that the former president was not sufficiently committed to the issue and could not win the general election in 1892. After the Democratic National Convention, the two men stopped talking to each other.