The History of the Nineteenth Century in Caricature Part 15

_By Gillam in "Judge."_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: They're off!

The Presidential race between Harrison and Cleveland in 1892.

_From "Puck."_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Where am I at?"

The famous redrawn cartoon which in its original form depicted Mr.

Cleveland and the Democratic Party disastrously routed at the polls in 1892.

_By Gillam in "Judge."_]

In connection with this campaign of 1892, there was no cartoon of more interest than that ent.i.tled "Where Am I At?" which Bernard Gillam drew for _Judge_, and this interest lies less in the cartoon itself than in the amusing story of its conception and execution. Right up to election day not only Gillam, but the entire staff of _Judge_, were perfectly confident of Republican success at the polls. To them the election seemed to be a mere formality which had to be gone through with, in order that General Harrison might remain in the White House for four years more. So a conference was held, after which Mr. Gillam began work on the cartoon which was to commemorate the Republican victory. The idea used was that of a general smash-up, with Mr.

Cleveland in the middle of the _debacle_ and the Republican elephant marching triumphantly over the ruins. Along these lines a double-page cartoon was drawn with an immense variety of detail, reproduced, and made ready for the press. Election Day came around, and a few hours after the polls had been closed it became evident, to the consternation of Mr. Gillam and his a.s.sociates, that instead of the expected Republican victory, Mr. Cleveland had swept the country by overwhelming majorities. What was to be done? It was too late to prepare another cartoon, so that the plate already made was taken from the press, and the cartoonist set to work. To the discomfited countenance of Mr. Cleveland Gillam attached a beard which transformed the face into a likeness to that of the defeated Republican candidate.

A huge patch drawn over one of the eyes of the Republican elephant changed its appearance of elation to one of the most woe-begone depression. Other slight changes in the legends here and there throughout the picture transformed its nature to such an extent that only the most practiced eye could detect anything that was not wholly spontaneous and genuine. To cap it all, in a corner of the picture Gillam drew a likeness of himself in the form of a monkey turning an uncomfortable somersault. With a knowledge of these facts the reader by a close examination of this cartoon, which is reproduced in this volume, will undoubtedly detect the lines along which the lightning change was made. Nevertheless, it will be impossible for him to deny that the transformation was cleverly done.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Political Columbus who will not land in 1892.

_By Gillam in "Judge."_]

Besides being the year of the Presidential campaign, 1892 was a year when the thoughts of Americans were turned backward four centuries to the time when Christopher Columbus first landed on the sh.o.r.e of the Western Hemisphere. The original s.h.i.+ps of Columbus's fleet were being brought over the water from Spain; the Columbus idea was being exploited everywhere in topical song and light opera; and it would have been strange indeed if it had failed to play some part in political caricature. Gillam in _Judge_ made use of it in the cartoon ent.i.tled "The Political Columbus Who Will NOT Land in '92." It represents the s.h.i.+p of the Democracy with Mr. Cleveland as Columbus gazing anxiously and uneasily at the horizon. At the bow of the s.h.i.+p is the lion's head and the s.h.i.+eld of Britannia, in allusion to Mr.

Cleveland's alleged pro-English sympathies. The sail upon which the s.h.i.+p is relying for its progress is marked "Free Trade" and is a woefully patched and weather-beaten bit of canvas. The crew of the s.h.i.+p is a strange a.s.sortment which suggests all sorts of mutiny and piracy. In the front of the vessel and close behind the captain are Dana, Croker, Sheehan, and Hill. Beyond them we see the figures of Cochran, Carlisle, Crisp, Brice, and Mills and Flower. In the far aft are Blackburn and Gorman. Evidently crew and captain are animated by despair, although the gull, bearing the features of Mr. Pulitzer, of the New York _World_, that is circling around the s.h.i.+p, shows that land is not so many miles away. "I don't see land," cries Cleveland-Columbus. And the despairing crew, pointing to the Free Trade sail, calls back, "And you never will with that rotten canvas."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map of the United States.]

In contrast with the vindictive and malicious character of the cartoons which heralded Mr. Cleveland's first election, there was a marked absence of unpleasant personalities in those which belong to the period of his second term. There was no disposition, however, to spare him in regard to the growing difficulty he had in holding his party together or his a.s.sumption of what Republicans regarded as an entirely unwarranted degree of authority. This autocratic spirit was cleverly satirized by a cartoon in _Judge_, to which allusion has already been made. It consists simply of a map of the United States so drawn as to form a grotesque likeness of the President. He is bending low in an elaborate bow, in which mock-humility and glowing self-satisfaction are amusingly blended, his folded hands forming the Florida peninsula, his coat-tails projecting into lower California.

Beneath is inscribed the following paraphrase:

My country, 'tis of ME, Sweet land of liberty, Of ME I sing!

Mr. Cleveland's troubles with his party began early in his second administration. As early as April we find him depicted by _Judge_ as the "Political Bull in the Democratic China-Shop." The bull has already had time to do a vast amount of havoc. The plate-gla.s.s window, commanding a view of the national capitol, is a wreck, and the floor is strewn with the remains of delicate cups and platters, amidst which may still be recognized fragments of the "Baltimore Machine," "Rewards for Workers," "Wishes of the Leaders," etc. An elaborate vase, marked "N. Y. Machine," and bearing a portrait of Senator Hill, is just toppling over, to add its fragments to the general wreckage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Return of the Southern Flags.

_By Gillam in "Judge."_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Champion Masher of the Universe.

_By Gillam in "Judge."_]

The general depression of trade and the much-debated issue of tariff reform recur again and again in the caricatures of the second Cleveland administration, especially after the Republican landslide of 1893. Thus, in December of that year, a significant cartoon in _Judge_ represents the leading statesmen of each party engaged in a game of "National Football," the two goals being respectively marked "Protection" and "Free Trade." "Halfback" Hill is saying, "Brace up, Cap; we've got the ball," and Captain Grover, nursing a black eve, rejoins disconsolately, "That's all very well, boys, but they've scored against us, and we've got to put up the game of our lives to beat them." In January the same periodical published a pessimistic sketch, showing Uncle Sam, s.h.i.+vering with cold, and his hands plunged deep into his pockets, gloomily watching the mercury in the "Industrial Thermometer" sinking steadily lower from protection and plenty, through idleness, misery, and starvation, to the zero point of free trade. "Durn the Democratic weather, anyway," says Uncle Sam. A more hopeful view of the situation found expression in _Puck_, in a cartoon ent.i.tled "Relief at Hand." Labor, in the guise of an Alpine traveler, has fallen by the wayside, and lies half buried beneath the snows of the "McKinley Tariff." Help, however, has come, in the form of a St. Bernard, named "Wilson Tariff Bill," while Cleveland, in the guise of a monk, is hastening from the neighboring monastery, drawn in the semblance of the national capitol. Still another cartoon harping on the need of tariff reform represents McKinley and the other leading Republicans as "Ponce de Leon and His Followers," gathered around a pool labeled "High Protection Doctrine." "They think it is the fountain of political youth and strength, but it is only a stagnant pool that is almost dried up." Among the many caricatures in which _Judge_ supported the opposite side, and heaped ridicule on the Wilson Bill, one of the best shows Uncle Sam retiring for the night, and examining with disgust and wrath the meager crazy quilt (the Wilson Bill) with which he has been provided in lieu of blankets.

"I'll freeze to death," he is grumbling, "and yet some of those idiots call this a protective measure."

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Harrison Platform.

_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."_]