The Tory mill. The original genuine experiment is...

A crude and unusually large woodcut, employing the metaphor of a mill to portray the spoils system under the Democrats (or "Tories" as they were labeled by the Whig press). The print may attack Andrew Jackson's program of distributing federal funds among various state banks, rather than retaining them in a central bank as was the practice until 1833. This program was referred to derisively in the opposition press as Jackson's "experiment." (See "The Experiment in Full Operation," no. 1833-8). The plan was viewed by many as a source of federal patronage and corruption. A uniformed Andrew Jackson turns the crank of a large grain or cider mill. On the left, urged on by a devil, four young men ascend the steps to the mill; the first is in the act of diving in. Coins pour into the mill from a chute labeled "U.S. Treasury" above it. On the right, four office-holders emerge carrying objects representing patronage spoils. The first has a bundle under his arm labeled "Custom House $6000"; the second carries a scroll inscribed "Post Office $6000"; the third has a box of twine labeled "Blanks and twine 3,000." A fourth man, just emerging from the mill, has a paper with "U States District Attorney $5000."