The Wasp — 1881 — page 314: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains political opinion pieces rather than illustrated cartoons. The main article discusses the "Chosen Friends" political organization forming in San Francisco, critiquing how politicians from both parties are uniting behind candidates at City Hall. The author sarcastically praises this as promoting "grand unity" while warning it represents patronage and backroom dealing that ignores merit. The piece references specific figures like Governor Perkins and Joseph Austin regarding appointment controversies. It criticizes the apportionment bill as benefiting one political party and attacks what it calls the "illegality of an appointment by Governor Perkins." The satire targets machine politics and cronyism—the consolidation of political power through organized networks rather than democratic principles.