The Wasp — 1879 — page 34: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical page attacks Dr. Cox's candidacy for San Francisco Mayor by the Republican party. The left panel shows a large ballot/salt shaker labeled with Cox's name, symbolizing his dominance over civic institutions. The article argues Cox, though personally honest, is unfit because Republicans only value party loyalty over merit—he'd serve the party, not the city. The lower cartoons mock the Mayor's puritanical policies: closing the Arion theater and enforcing Sunday Laws. The final scene depicts citizens forced into a church-like space "by order of His Holiness the Mayor," satirizing excessive religious/moral enforcement of governance. The satire's core point: electing Cox means theocratic Republican control replacing democratic, secular city administration.