1886 Grant Hamilton cartoon - The Economy of the Spigot and the Bung Hole

Here's a piece I rescued at a flea market this weekend. Grant Hamilton, "The Economy of the Spigot and the Bung Hole," Judge Magazine August 21, 1886.

It deals with the refusal by President Grover Cleveland to increase the pensions of Civil War widows through private bills (i.e. each person had her own bill in Congress) while pouring money into infrastructure products for harbors. IIRC, the government was largely funded via customs revenue and land sales, so harbor improvements make sense. The White House has a page on him.

Posted in memory of comics historian John Adcock and his Yesterday's Papers blog where a piece like this would usually have appeared.