Respectfully Dedicated To
Gov. Samuel J. Tilden.
"Put the Right Man at the Wheel" (1875)
Song and Chorus
by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907

New York: J. L. Peters, 599 Broadway, Plate No. 10,693-3
[Source: 03115@LoC]

1.
The time-honored ship of the country
Is drifting about on the sea;
If some one don't take hold and stop her,
A fearful bad wreck she will be;
And there's only one thing that can save her,--
For now she's beginning to reel,--
'Tis to throw overboard her bad pilot,
And put the right man at the wheel!

CHORUS
Then let us as sailors stick to her,
As long as she holds to her keel,
For it will not be long till the people
Will put the right man at the wheel.

2.
Uncle Sam is yet proud of his vessel,
And she plows the political seas,
And Columbia bids him stick to her,
With the stars and the stripes to the breese;
It won't do to trust her to strangers,
The American Eagle would squeal;
So we'll wait, and we'll watch for our chances,
To put the right man at the wheel!

(CHORUS)

3.
Let peace and goodwill rule the nation,
And then let the flags be unfurled,
With an honest crew bravely to man her,
She'll be the flagship of the world!
If Washington only could see her,
And the way she now looks, he would feel,
That prosperity never will bless her,
Till we've put the right man at the wheel!

(CHORUS)