The Wasp — 1889 — page 177: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon depicts two men in conversation, labeled as "Father" and "Son." Both are identified as "great Republican statesmen" who have "carried the country on their shoulders." The father boasts about taking a candidate to see Harrison (likely President William Henry Harrison), while the son claims to have brought back another candidate. The satire mocks Republican party operatives as mere political fixers and string-pullers rather than substantive statesmen. The generational dialogue suggests political dynasties and self-congratulatory back-scratching within party machinery. The cartoon criticizes the emptiness of their political accomplishments, reducing them to transactional candidate-shuffling rather than genuine governance or principle.