Puck's Perplexing Position — Between Two Evils

This cover cartoon by the artist signing as O.K. stages Puck's editorial dilemma as a literal crossroads. Left: Tammany Hall boss John Kelly, rendered in exaggerated Irish-immigrant caricature typical of the era's nativist cartooning — heavy jaw, checked suit — waves a flag reading Down with the Bloated Monopolists!! while keeping reform lobbyist F.B. Thurber tucked in his coat pocket, implying co-option. Right: railroad and telegraph titans Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, and Cyrus W. Field appear as enormous dollar-sign money bags with tiny heads, crowding the 'Monopoly R.R.' and 'Monopoly Telegraph Co.' A signpost splits the road: To Anti-Monopolyville versus To Monopolyville. The caption resolves nothing — Puck wants to be an anti-monopolist, but not that kind — confessing that principled reform and Tammany populism had become indistinguishable as political theater.