1-150-297 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Boy for our Money', 1860. Diz says: Better let me Carry it for yer, Sir!. John Bull replies: Never again! I Tried you Before. Here we see the patriarchal John Bull, his hand protectively on the shoulder of the boy Gladstone who carries the Budget bag for the country. Although direct taxation had increased in the recent Budget, indirect taxation had been quite substantially reduced. The little crossing sweeper, Disraeli, offers to carry the bag. Disraeli had, of course, been the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the last Conservative government. John Bull declines Disraeli's offer to take the burden of the Budget bag. This was a time when it was common for crossing sweeper boys to run errands for people living or working close to their regular crossings in order to earn a little extra. From Punch, or the London Charivari, March 3, 1860.