The New England states did not support the war. They feared a land invasion and refused to place their militias under federal control. The Hartford Convention resulted in a declaration calling on the Federal Government to protect New England and to supply financial aid to New England's badly battered trade economy.
The cartoon plays on the common idea that bureaucracy is overly complicated, and that it requires a lot of paperwork to perform even the most simple of tasks. People also assume that this ludicrous amount of paperwork makes bureaucracy slow and inefficient.
While bureaucracy can be slow and inefficient at times, people often forget that the paperwork is there for specific reasons. Leaving a written record of every action taken ensures that accidents happen less often, and that accountability is maintained. Also, bureaucratic procedures can be slow because of the amount of people that require them or due to the complexity of some issues. So the stereotype of bureaucracy is for the most part undeserved.
