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"More!"
State of New York, Executive Chamber, January 18, 1876.,
To the Senate:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate--more appropriations, more power, more attorney-generals, more district attorneys, more marshals, more deputy-marshals, more counsels, more legislation, more laws, more commissioners to investigate, more trials, more cases, more reports, more suits, more opinions, more resolutions, more annual messages, more penalties, more proofs, more civil actions, more indictments, more whereas, more red tape, more--that's all--for conduction these trials.
All-Of-A-Twist
This Harper's Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast uses a parody of Charles
Dickens' Oliver Twist to portray Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York as
a profligate spender of the public's money and as an associate of the corrupt
machine politician, John Morrissey. As the orphaned title character,
Tilden cries for "More!"--appropriations, power, legislation,
lawsuits, red tape, and so forth.
Previous to winning the governorship, Tilden gained great wealth as a lawyer
for railroad corporations, and worked mainly behind the scenes as a talented
Democratic party organizer and tactician. He served as chair of the New
York State Democratic Committee, 1866-1874, and was Horatio Seymour’s national
campaign manager during the 1868 presidential election. Tilden gained
greater public exposure for his role in destroying the notorious Tweed Ring in
New York City. Although initially reluctant to attack fellow Democrats, he
teamed with the prestigious Committee of Seventy to help topple that corrupt
political ring in 1871-1872. He used his new credentials as a reformer to gain
election to the state legislature in 1872 and the governorship in 1874. As
governor, he added to his reform reputation by bringing the corrupt Canal Ring
to justice.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast, however, maligned Tilden as a sham reformer.
The prosecution of the Tammany (or Tweed) Ring and Canal Ring on his
"watch" are depicted as pocket watches (upper background), adorned by
the "flags" of prison-uniform pants, topped by vultures. The
images help convey the message that the legal actions have only benefited
another machine politician, state senator John Morrissey (right). He sits
in the Senate chamber wearing a belt labeled "Prize," in recognition
of his former role as a champion prizefighter and his current one as the winner
of the game of political influence.
During the mid-1870s, John Morrissey battled John Kelly for control of the
Democratic party in New York City. In 1872, Kelly had succeeded William Tweed as
the "reform" boss of Tammany Hall, and a few years later Morrissey
formed an anti-Kelly faction which eventually became known as Irving Hall or the
Swallowtails. Morrissey was a long-time backer of Tilden and was claimed
by critics to be the driving force behind the governor. It served the purposes
of Nast, a Republican, to depict Morrissey, instead of Kelly, in charge of
Tammany Hall. Using the tactic of guilt by association, the newspaper linked
Morrissey to both Tammany Hall and Tilden, thus tainting the Democratic nominee
with the corruption of Tammany Hall.
In 1876, Democrats creditably believed that they had their best chance
of recapturing the White House in twenty years. The elections of 1874 had
resulted not only in a Democratic House, but in the elevation of a new set of
party leaders, including Governor Tilden. His stature as a reform governor
of the nation’s most populous state led Democrats to nominate him for
president in June 1876.
In November, Tilden would win a slim majority (51%) of the popular vote, but
disputed electoral returns created a controversy ultimately resolved by a
special commission which awarded the votes and the election to Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes by a single electoral vote. Although displeased, Tilden reacted with equanimity
throughout the controversy and accepted the final outcome. After the
election was decided, Tilden retired from public life. Following his death in 1886,
the bulk of his estate funded what became the New York Public Library.
(For more information, see HarpWeek's Website on the Electoral College
controversy.)
Robert C. Kennedy
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