Part 15 (2/2)

_By Keppler in ”Puck.”_]

Mr. Cleveland's determination to return to the South the flags captured in the War of Secession, in the hopes of putting an end to sectional feeling, brought down upon his head the wrath of the more extreme Republican element, a wrath which was reflected strongly, editorially and pictorially, in the papers of the day. This suggested to _Judge_ the cartoon ent.i.tled ”Halt,” in which Mr. Cleveland, in the act of handing back the captured flags, is restrained by the spirit of Lincoln, which says, ”Had you fought for those flags you would not be so quick to give them away!” To which Mr. Cleveland is made to reply, ”Great Scott! I thought you were dead and forgotten long ago. I only meant to please Mr. Solid South. They're rubbish, anyhow.” This is another cartoon from the hand of the prolific Gillam.

The movement for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, which occurred in the spring of 1893, and which many Americans were inclined to regard with suspicion and disfavor, was commemorated in a great variety of cartoons, both in this country and abroad. It was only natural that a movement which owed its inception to a Republican administration, should receive the cordial approval and indors.e.m.e.nt of _Judge_. A cartoon, dated February 18, represents Columbia in the guise of an exemplary modern school-mistress, serenely holding in order her turbulent cla.s.s of mingled Chinese, negroes, Indians, Italian organ-grinders, and Russian anarchists, while she gives a cordial welcome to the small, half-naked new scholar from the Pacific, who is timidly begging to be admitted. Canada, represented as a demure little maiden, stands just behind Hawaii, an interested spectator, apparently more than half inclined to follow his example. In much the same spirit was a design that appeared in the _Wasp_, representing Uncle Sam in the character of St. Peter, holding the key to America's political paradise. ”Poor little imp,” he is saying to the Hawaiian applicant, ”I don't see why I should shut you out, when I've let in all the tramps of the world already.” Another cartoon which appeared in _Judge_ was ent.i.tled, ”The Champion Masher of the Universe.” This represents Hawaii under the form of a dusky but comely damsel, being borne off complacently by a gorgeously attired Uncle Sam, while his discomfited rivals are looking on in chagrin and disgust. These rivals are England, under the form of John Bull; France, shown under the features of President Sadi Carnot; Germany, the Emperor William; and Italy, King Humbert. This cartoon was drawn by Gillam.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The End of the Chilian Affair.

_From ”Judge.”_]

The Toronto _Grip_ saw the matter in quite a different aspect. Hawaii, a badly frightened savage, is bound to a stake, while Uncle Sam, in the guise of a missionary, is whetting the knife of annexation, preparing to give him the _coup-de-grace_, and at the same time waving off John Bull, who holds his knife, ”Protectorate,” with similar intent. ”Hold up,” says Hawaii, ”didn't you say it was wrong to eat man?” and Uncle Sam rejoins benevolently, ”Yes--but--well, circ.u.mstances alter cases, and the interests of civilization and commerce, you know ---- You keep off, John; he's my meat.” The suggestion that England was merely waiting for a good excuse to step in and take possession of Hawaii, while the American administration and Congress were trying to reach an understanding, was eagerly seized upon by other journals as well as _Grip_, especially in Germany. The Berlin _Ulk_ portrayed Queen Liliuokalani, armed with a broom, angrily sweeping Uncle Sam from his foothold in Honolulu, while John Bull, firmly established on two of the smaller islands, ”laughs to his heart's content,” so the legend runs, ”but the Yankee is mad with rage.” In similar spirit the _Kladderadatsch_ depicts John Bull and Uncle Sam as ”Two Good Old Friends,” trying to ”balance their interests in the Pacific Ocean.” With clasped hands the two rivals are see-sawing backwards and forwards, each striving to retain a precarious foothold, as they straddle the Pacific from Samoa to Hawaii, and each quite oblivious of the discomfort of the squirming little natives that they are crus.h.i.+ng under heel.

The fiasco of Mr. Cleveland's attempt to restore Queen Liliuokalani to her throne was. .h.i.t off in _Judge_ by a cartoon portraying him as Don Quixote, physically much the worse for wear, as a result of his latest tilt at the Hawaiian windmill. The knight's spirit, however, is unbroken, and he is receiving philosophically the well-meant consolation of Sancho Panza Gresham.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mr. Mckinley as a Political Tam o' Shanter.

_By Gillam in ”Judge.”_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Don Quixote Bryan meets Disaster in his Encounter with the full Dinner Pail.

_By Victor Gillam in ”Judge.”_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Outing of the Anarchists.]

Another cartoon of sterling literary flavor is that representing Mr.

McKinley as a political Tam o' Shanter, which appeared during the exciting election of 1896. The countenance of Tam in this cartoon shows none of the anxiety and mental perturbation of the hero of Burns' poems. You can see that he has full confidence in his good mare, ”National Credit,” and is perfectly convinced that she will carry him unscathed over the road to Good Times, Prosperity, and Protection. The carlins have been close at his mare's heels, however, and as he pa.s.ses the bridge over which they dare not cross, the foremost of his pursuers has caught and pulled away as a trophy the tail of the steed. The tail, however, is something with which he can well part, for it typifies four years of business depression. The leaders of the pursuing carlins are Free Trade, Anarchy, Sectionalism, and Popocracy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: To the Death.]

Mr. Bryan's appeal to the farmer in 1896 was. .h.i.t off by Hamilton in a powerful, but exceedingly blasphemous, cartoon ent.i.tled ”The Temptation.” Bryan in the form of a huge angel of darkness has taken the farmer to the top of a high mountain to show him the riches of the world. As far as the eye can see stretch oceans and cities and hills and rivers and mountains of silver. It is a great pity that so grim and powerful a cartoon should have been marred by that display of bad taste which has been too frequent in the history of caricature.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Great Weyler Ape.]

The caricature produced by the campaign between Mr. McKinley and Mr.

Bryan in 1900 offers few, if any, cartoons more admirable than that by Mr. Victor Gillam, representing Don Quixote Bryan meeting disaster in his fight against the full dinner pail. This cartoon has that literary flavor which has been too much lacking in American caricature, and which raises this particular cartoon far above the average in the same school. The idea, of course, is based on Don Quixote's disastrous encounter with the windmill, which that poor crack-brained gentleman took to be a giant. The body of the windmill is a huge dinner pail and its arms are a crossed knife and fork. Don Quixote, incased in armor from head to foot, and mounted on the Democratic donkey with free silver for a saddle, has tilted against the solid structure with disastrous results. His lance is shattered, and he and his faithful steed lie prostrate and discomfited on opposite sides of the road. The Sancho Panza needed to complete the picture appears under the familiar features of Mr. Richard Croker, who, leading the Tammany Tiger by a rope, is hurrying to his master's a.s.sistance. In the distance may be seen the White House, but the road in that direction is completely barred by the stanch windmill that has so successfully resisted the mad knight's onslaught.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”We are the People.”]

CHAPTER x.x.xI

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

The pent-up feeling throughout the United States, which reached a dangerous degree of tension during the weeks preceding the declaration of war against Spain, was forcibly symbolized in the Minneapolis _Herald_. The dome of the National Capitol is portrayed, surmounted by a ”Congressional safety-valve.” McKinley, clinging to the cupola, is anxiously listening to the roar of the imprisoned steam, which is escaping in vast ”war clouds,” in spite of all the efforts of Speaker Reed, who is freely perspiring in his effort to hold down the valve.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Be Careful! It's Loaded!

_By Victor Gillam in ”Judge.”_]

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