Of Monkey and Moon Shines

Your humble scribe is still trying to wrap up our look back the cartoons of May, 1923.

"??????" by Charles Kuhn in Indianapolis News, May 24, 1923

That month, William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential nominee and Secretary of State in the Wilson administration, was a candidate for Moderator of the 135th session of the Presbyterian Churches of the United States in Indianapolis, declaring his intention to have "the heretics of the church brought to task." There he made news fulminating against "the brute doctrine of evolution."

"There Are Worse Evils..." by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. May 29, 1923

Free Silver having become a moot issue by 1923, opposition to Darwin's theory of evolution had joined Prohibition as Bryan's main causes celebres. He had delivered a speech in 1921 entitled "The Menace of Darwinism."

"Not to Be Diverted" by Lute Pease in Newark News, ca. May 24, 1923

Bryan was defeated in balloting for the denomination's Moderator by Dr. Charles F. Wishart, President of Wooster College in Ohio. Bryan was offered the chairmanship of a church commission on Home Missions, but turned the position down. Delegates did, however, approve a Bryan plank requiring a pledge of total abstinence by all Presbyterian clergy and laity, as well as heads of colleges and schools of all faiths.

"Greatest Show on Earth" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1923

Daniel Fitzpatrick here depicts Bryan leading the Democratic donkey, followed by animal symbols for Prohibition and Darwinism. Other than a handful of editorial cartoonists, few people took Bryan seriously as a presidential contender any more; but he remained his party's foremost "Dry" advocate.

"The Damp Road or the Dry Road" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. June 19, 1923

There was no unity in Democratic Party on the issue of Prohibition, however. (Dorman Smith here employs then-common usage of "Democracy" to refer to the Democratic Party.) May of 1923 saw repeal by the New York state legislature of the "Mullan-Gage Act," which had authorized state police enforcement of Prohibition. New York's Governor, Al Smith, opposed Prohibition, even serving liquor in the Governor's office, and was preparing for a presidential run in 1924.

By signing the "Repealer Act," Smith invited the calumny of Mr. Bryan, who warned Smith to "expect resistance from the defenders of the home, the school and the Church." Smith, in return, observed that when given the opportunity to send the three-time presidential nominee to the White House, “a wise and discriminating electorate usually takes care to see that Mr. Bryan stays at home.”

"It's Sure to Cause Talk" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, June 9, 1923

Support and opposition to Prohibition crossed party lines. On June 15, a coalition of Republicans, Socialists, and the lone Democrat in Wisconsin's Assembly followed New York in passing a bill, inspired by the New York law, which would have stopped enforcement of Prohibition in my home state.

The Wisconsin State Journal, conceding that its editorial board had its differences with Wisconsin's Senior Senator, cautioned the "Wet" politicians that the Assembly's action might become an unwelcome embarrassment to Robert LaFollette's presidential aspirations.

The measure was not taken up in the State Senate, however, where "Dry" forces were firmly in control. 

"The Liveliest Stump" by Dorman Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. June 1, 1923

There will be more to come on both the Evolution and Prohibition stories to come. Stay tooned!