Not a Post About Monkey Pox

Having reviewed labor strikes with "Ding" Darling and the Texas run-off with John Knott, let's catch up on some of the other issues catching cartoonists' attention in August, 1922:

"Just When We Need Amusement, Too" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Ledger, Aug. 23, 1922

Election season wasn't limited to Texas, of course. In addition to the strikes by railroad workers and coal miners, a top issue in Washington was congressional wrangling over a tariff bill. Manufacturing interests pushed for raising tariffs on imported goods, while agricultural concerns worried that high tariffs would be answered in kind on their exports.

"More Callers" by Wm. Donahey in Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug./Sept. 1922

There were plenty of other pressing issues, besides.

"Behind the Political Scenes" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. Aug. 28, 1922

Nor had beer and wine interests given up on salvaging a domestic market for their goods in spite of Prohibition. Some proposed legalizing the sale of "light wine" and "near beer" (2.75% alcohol content).

"It Looks As If It's Gonna Be Kinda Crowded" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Aug. 19, 1922

Dorman Smith's "Aunty Prohibition" looks suspiciously like "Miss Democracy," whose origin and fate we attempted to discern two years ago. The "Drys" and "Wets" did not, however, divide neatly along party lines.

The same was true of several other issues, including the tariff situation, and a proposal to issue bonus payments to veterans of World War I.

"For Political Purposes" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aug. 31, 1922

The Senate passed a bonus bill in August, authorizing payment of a dollar per day spent in the military, plus an additional quarter per day spent overseas. The argument in favor of the bonus was that the nation owed its veterans a debt of more than just gratitude, particularly in light of the debilitating injuries suffered by some of them.

The argument against it, naturally, was that the country could not afford its $4 billion price tag. I suppose there may have been people who felt it was unfair to the veterans of the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, but I haven't run across any editorial cartoonists saying so.

"He Gets His Bonus" by Winsor McCay for Star Company, ca. Aug. 26, 1922

The Hearst newspaper empire was a vocal proponent of the bonus, presenting a truckload of petitions for it to Senators Hiram Johnson (R-CA) and Lester Volk (R-NY) on the capitol steps.

Given the opposition by Hearst and his newspapers to American entry into the War, his showy support of the bonus was unwelcome, even by its proponents.

"On the Outside" by Orville P. Williams in New York Evening Journal, ca. Aug. 30, 2022

Perhaps Mr. Hearst found more support in the political prisoner community.