The Wasp — 1876 — page 24: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top:** A decorative title page for *The Wasp* magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3, published in San Francisco. Features ornamental text with mythological figures (wasps and classical characters). **Bottom:** A political cartoon titled "Civil Reform Interpreted by Republican Senators." A allegorical female figure (representing civil reform) attempts to conduct several men in Senate chamber—one labeled "NAVY." The caption reads: "We don't say he didn't steal, but he belongs to the party-ring, and—and we are not Competent—" **Meaning:** This satirizes Republican senators' refusal to prosecute party members for corruption or theft, claiming incompetence or party loyalty as excuse. The "party-ring" reference suggests organized political corruption protecting its own members, a common Gilded Age critique of Republican machine politics.