AMERICAN PARTIES AND PLATFORMS
The dangerous condition in which the United States found itself about
the time we began the building of our new and greater navy was
depicted in _Judge_ by the cartoon entitled, "Rip Van Winkle Awakes at
Last." It shows a white-bearded, white-haired Uncle Sam seated on a
rock about which the tide is rapidly rising, looking round at the
great modern armaments of England and France and Germany and Italy,
and murmuring, as he thinks of his own antiquated wooden ships of war
and brick forts, "Why, I'm twenty years behind the age." In his old
hat, with the broken crown, are the feathers of Farragut, Perry, Paul
Jones, and Lawrence, but these alone are not enough, nor will even the
"Spirit of '76," which hovers over him in the shape of an eagle, quite
suffice. He has his musket of 1812 and his muzzle-loading gun of 1864,
but in the background are those huge cannon of European foes and above
them is the gaunt, grim figure of a helmeted Death. A little more and
it would have been too late. Now there is yet time. Rip Van Winkle
awakes at last.
An interesting variant upon the old type of "Presidential
Steeplechase" cartoons appeared in _Puck_ during the summer of 1892,
after the Republican convention at Minneapolis and the Democratic
convention at Chicago had respectively nominated Mr. Harrison and Mr.
Cleveland. The cartoon is entitled "They're Off!" and is drawn with
admirable spirit. The scene is a Roman amphitheater, and the two
Presidential candidates, in the guise of charioteers, are guiding
their mettlesome steeds in a mad gallop around the arena. Mr.
Cleveland's horses, "Tariff Reform" and "Economy," are running
steadily, and seem to be slowly forging to the front, while those of
Mr. Harrison, "High Protection" and "Force Bill," are not pulling well
together, and with ears pointed forward, look as though they might at
any moment become unmanageable.
[Illustration: Rip Van Winkle wakes at last.
_By Gillam in "Judge."_]
[Illustration: They're off!
The Presidential race between Harrison and Cleveland in 1892.
_From "Puck."_]
[Illustration: "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 entitled "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 associates, 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.
[Illustration: 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 shore of the
Western Hemisphere. The original ships 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
entitled "The Political Columbus Who Will NOT Land in '92." It
represents the ship of the Democracy with Mr. Cleveland as Columbus
gazing anxiously and uneasily at the horizon. At the bow of the ship
is the lion's head and the shield of Britannia, in allusion to Mr.
Cleveland's alleged pro-English sympathies. The sail upon which the
ship is relying for its progress is marked "Free Trade" and is a
woefully patched and weather-beaten bit of canvas. The crew of the
ship is a strange assortment 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 ship, 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."
[Illustration: 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 assumption 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-glass 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.
[Illustration: Return of the Southern Flags.
_By Gillam in "Judge."_]
[Illustration: 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, shivering 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 entitled "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."
[Illustration: 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 entitled "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 indorsement of
_Judge_. A cartoon, dated February 18, represents Columbia in the
guise of an exemplary modern school-mistress, serenely holding in
order her turbulent class 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 entitled, "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.
[Illustration: 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,
circumstances 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 crushing under heel.
The fiasco of Mr. Cleveland's attempt to restore Queen Liliuokalani to
her throne was hit 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.
[Illustration: Mr. Mckinley as a Political Tam o' Shanter.
_By Gillam in "Judge."_]
[Illustration: Don Quixote Bryan meets Disaster in his Encounter with
the full Dinner Pail.
_By Victor Gillam in "Judge."_]
[Illustration: 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 passes 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.
[Illustration: To the Death.]
Mr. Bryan's appeal to the farmer in 1896 was hit off by Hamilton in a
powerful, but exceedingly blasphemous, cartoon entitled "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.
[Illustration: 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 assistance. 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.
[Illustration: "We are the People."]