Catching Up, International Edition

By rights, today's Graphical History Tour ought to take us into cartoons from October of 1926. But we still have a couple of international stories to take care of from that September.

We start with the federal election in Canada.

"Definitions" by Douglas H.N. Russell in Vancouver Daily Province, Sept. 11, 1926

We've been following the 1926 campaign, but Douglas Russell kindly reintroduces us to the major parties contesting for power in the above cartoon. 

Arthur Meighen's Conservatives were nominally the incumbent party, but never had a coalition partner to achieve a working majority in Parliament in the three days they were in power. The coalition of William Mackenzie King's Liberals and Robert Forke's Progressives had lost their majority in November, 1925. Labour and other minor parties had more in common with the Liberals or Progressives than with the Conservatives.

"The Liberal Champion Still in the Lead" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Daily Star, Sept. 10, 1926

Most of the partisan cartoons leading up to the vote predicted victory for their favored candidate and defeat for the other side. As election day neared, even the partisan cartoonists had to acknowledge that the vote could tip either way.

"Waiting for the Verdict" by George Shields in Evening Telegram, Toronto, Sept. 14, 1926

Sam Hunter was a committed Liberal, and George Shields was an unyielding Tory. Accordingly, whereas Shields depicts Meighen waiting confidently with John Bull at his shoulder (you surely recall that Canada was a part of the United Kingdom at this time), King sweats nervously, backed by his alleged patron, a scowling Uncle Sam.

"Class Selfishness Versus Canadian Progress" by Arthur G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, Sept. 11, 1926

Arthur Racey was another dyed-in-the-wool Tory, but I find hardly any cartoons of his boosting Meighen. Instead, Racey put out an occasional cartoon critical of Progressive leader Robert Forke. This one attempts to say too much, yet artlessly and without wit, as if it were one of those godawful imitation editorial cartoons extruded by ai.

Where were we? Oh, yes…

The Progressives, with their constituency in the sparsely populated, agrarian plains provinces, ran a consistently distant third to the Liberals and Conservatives, but were indispensable to any Liberal government.

Forke had resigned as leader of the Progressives at the end of June, running instead as a Liberal-Progressive. A number of Albertan Progressives in Parliament also quit the party, switching to the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) Party.

"The Come-Back" by George Shields in Evening Telegram, Toronto, Sept. 17, 1926

Election Day was September 14. When votes in all the ridings were tallied, Meighen's Conservatives lost 24 seats. Concentrating their efforts on ridings where they stood the best chance of winning, King's Liberals gained 16 seats, despite earning fewer votes overall than the Tories.

Meanwhile, although the leaderless Progressives lost 11 seats, Forke and his Liberal-Progressives picked up eight and the UFA gained nine. Their gains were enough for the Liberals to forge a governmental majority, and King returned as Prime Minister, to the disappointment consternation of the Telegram and its cartoonist.

"Foolish Gosling" by Fred O. Seibel in Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 13, 1926

Moving right along: Coming in too late to be in our August visit there, Fred Seibel came up with one more paternalistic metaphor to explain why the Philippines should remain a colony of the United States. 

A proposal by rubber industry magnates to grant independence to the largely Catholic north of the archipelago while retaining the more Moslem southern islands as an American fiefdom ultimately went nowhere.

"A Noble Ambition" by Fred Seibel in Richmond Times Dispatch, Sept. 12, 1926

Fred Seibel drew this complimentary cartoon about Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, a fellow Virginian who was elected to the British Parliament upon the death of her husband, Waldorf Astor. 

Lady Astor was an outspoken suffragist and advocate for education reform, temperance, and recruiting women into civil service. On the other hand, she was an anti-Catholic Nazi sympathizer, so her career  did not survive World War II. For the time being, however, she was quite popular in her riding and back in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"Everything Bows to His Dominating Will" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Sept. 21, 1926

Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini survived a second assassination attempt in September. 

Anarchist Gino Lucetti had been hiding out in Marseille after shooting Fascist Alessandro Perfetti during an argument the year before, and getting shot himself . Having crossed the border back into Italy under an assumed name, Lucetti threw a bomb at Mussolini's car in front of the Porta Pia in Rome on the very day Lucetti's trial for the Perfetti shooting was to start.

Mussolini was unscathed, although eight bystanders sustained minor injuries, and Lucetti was quickly captured. Mussolini's response to the incident included a veiled warning to France: "We must put an end to the gentle tolerance of parties capable of such matters. It would be well for responsible governments to take note of this, because otherwise their friendship with the Italian people may be fatally compromised, and we are ready to apply suitable methods for this purpose."

"Hands Across the Mediterranean" by William C. Morris for George Matthew Adams Service, ca. Sept. 13, 1926

Mussolini forged alliances with his fellow fascist dictator, Miguel Primo de Rivera. De Rivera had overthrown Spain's elected republic in 1923, receiving the support of King Alfonso XIII after the fact.

Morris's cartoon portrays not only the friendship of the two dictators, but also the relationship between them and their respective royals, the diminutive figures peering out between de Rivera's and Mussolini's legs.

But let's close the book on that September with some cheery news: 

"Germany's Admission to the League" by Arthur Racey in Montreal Evening Star, Sept. 16, 1926

Germany and France have promised never to go to war again! Hoorah!

A Hot, Keenly Contested, Scrappy Campaign

Our Graphical History Tour has been revisiting recent history lately, so it must be time to catch up on the news from 100 Augusts ago. 

"So Busy He Didn't Notice Him" by E.R. McTaggart in Vancouver Daily Province, July 26. 1926

On July 18, 1926 the Boston Post printed a letter from Channing H. Cox, a former Governor of Massachusetts, proposing a union of the United States and Canada. The Post lauded the idea, apparently a pet cause of its Financial Editor, Arthur J. Bean, who wrote, "It is of paramount interest to New England, which, as shown by the map, reaches up into Canada like a giant hand of friendship."

The Post editorial barely registered elsewhere in the United States, but was front page news north of the border, where parliamentary elections were underway. The campaign of Conservative Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, heading a minority government that lost a no confidence vote in record time, seized upon the spectre of annexation by the U.S. as a weapon against recently ousted Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

"Summer Studies" by Arthur G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, August 10, 1926

King had nothing to do with the Boston Post editorial, but that didn't stop Canada's Tory press from running with the story.

On the campaign trail, King brandished a full-page article in the August 26, 1926 Toronto Telegram, purportedly taken from the Wall Street Journal, headlined "Mackenzie King Pictured as Wall Street's Hero — Financial Interests of U.S. Are Told That King and His Followers Believe Canada Should Be Free of British Influence."

King told his audience, "The article, according to the statement which appears at its head, has been written not in the States but in Canada. I venture to say it was written not very far from the office of the Toronto Telegram itself."

"Welcome the Wanderer" by George Shields in Toronto Evening Telegram, August 6, 1926

Shields's reference to John D. Rockefeller apparently comes from the Wall Street Journal article in question, which, according to the Telegram, identified King as "a graduate of Harvard University and late head of the Rockefeller Foundation."

In 1914, during a stretch when he was out of office, King did in fact come to New York to advise Rockefeller how to resolve a coal miners' strike in Colorado. Rockefeller asked King to stay on as a Standard Oil executive, but King returned to Ontario to resume his career in Canadian politics.

The Telegram article quoted the Journal as saying, "If Mr. King and his party succeed then Great Britain might just as well give up on the idea of a united empire. If, on the other hand, the Conservative Party is successful, it will mean that a Conservative Premier will take his place at the Imperial Conference and that Canada will have assured Great Britain that she has turned her feet toward a closer relationship with the Empire."

"The Axe Is His Way" by George Shields in Toronto Evening Telegram, August 9, 1926

Thomas L. Church was the Conservative candidate running as the incumbent for the Toronto Northwest constituency in the House of Commons. As such, the former Mayor of Toronto was strongly favored by the Telegram, so their cartoonist depicted him touting several of their shared causes as a sturdy platform for the Tories. They included "forcing" Canadian coal into Ontario in place of coal from the U.S.; and stopping Canadian farmers from illegally smuggling grain, oats, and barley to U.S. grain elevators for better prices than they could find domestically; and extending the Tories' longstanding "National Policy" of high protective tariffs.

Church would win this election, after which he threatened to launch a rebel “ginger group” within the party if Meighen were reelected as its chief standard bearer.

"The Anti-English Cry" by George Shields in Toronto Evening Telegram, August 17, 1926

King and the Liberals heaped criticism upon Governor General Baron Byng, who, as the crown's representative, had called upon Meighen to form a government when King had asked him to call for new elections.

The other head in Shields's cartoon is Henri Bourassa, a former Liberal from Quebec recently returned to Parliament as an Independent. Also the publisher of Le Devoir, Bourassa declared his full support of King and accused Byng of playing politics: "He put himself at the service of Mr. Meighen to satisfy either personal rancor or perhaps to serve the Imperial policy, for, after all, the Governor General is an employee of London, responsible for his acts to England and not to Canada.

"Poor Shooting" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Daily Star, August 17, 1926

"That is where the question becomes more grave than the customs inquiry," Bourassa concluded, bringing up the scandal hyped by Meighen's Conservative Party that was the reason for Lord Byng to dismiss Prime Minister King's government in the first place.

According to Sam Hunter's cartoon, the Canadian public agreed that the charges fell short of justifying a change in the government.

"Doesn't Desire to Be Rescued" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Daily Star, August 28, 1926

Neither did Hunter think Meighen's policy of restoring higher National Policy tariffs on U.S. goods and services from the 1920-21 Conservative-led government was a winning issue for the Tories. The sheet held aloft by Tax Payer reads "The Robb Budget Suits Me!", referring to James Robb ("Baldy" Robb in the Toronto Evening Telegram), Finance Minister in the Mackenzie King cabinet.

"I Was Assured This Was to Be a Hot, Keenly-contested, Scrappy Election Campaign" by Arthur G. Racey in Montreal Evening Star, August 23, 1926

Ah, well, and zut alors. I suppose it was as difficult to keep Jean Q. Publique interested in politics in the heat of summer. Especially when he had to vote on a new government every couple of months.

Hello, You Must Be Going

This week's Graphical History Tour remembers Canada's King-Byng affair, and the extremely brief and forgettable Meighen era.

For U.S. readers, it will be useful to know that Canada's Liberal and Conservative (and Labour) parties were kissing cousins of their British counterparts. Its Progressive Party was akin to the same named party in the U.S. at the time: agrarian, anti-tariff, with its base in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. 

The Conservative Party had more seats in Parliament after November, 1925 elections, but was still shy of a majority. The incumbent coalition of Liberals and Progressives came out of the election with even fewer seats than the Conservatives, but with the support of Labour and other splinter parties were able to form a government.

Arthur G. Racey in Maclean's Magazine, June 15, 1926

The scandal that brought down the Liberal-Progressive coalition government of William Mackenzie King grew out of the Department of Customs and Excise. Minister George Boivin was found to have interfered in the case of one Moses Aziz, convicted three times of smuggling liquor into the United States. Charges of bribery on behalf of Aziz led to King firing Boivin (but appointing him to a seat in the Senate) and to investigations of further graft and fraud in the Customs Department.

The above cartoon is A.G. Racey's only cartoon about the scandal in the month of June, 1926, in spite of his longstanding opposition to King and cheerleading for Conservatives. It appears to me that he went on vacation for the entire month, completely missing out on the King government's fall. Instead, he left behind for his Montreal Star readers a selection of anodyne cartoons about June weddings, cigarette-smoking youth, new-fangled fashions, reckless drivers, and other evergreen topics.

"Clean-up Wanted" by George Shields in Evening Telegram, Toronto, June 4, 1926

This leaves George Shields as the Conservative Party cartoonist to take us through the the gathering storm from the starboard side. There is an amateurish quality to his work, but it was enough to keep his cartoons in the Telegram for 62 years — at this point, on its front page.

Here Shields added a controversy over the Toronto Harbor Board to the Conservatives' list of indictments against the King government. As far as I've been able to figure out, the Liberal head of the Harbor Board had fired two hold-over board members, one of them Toronto's former mayor, who claimed that their dismissal had taken place at an illegal meeting of the board after its regular business had been concluded.

As for the "Peace River Rascality," Conservatives charged that the election of the Progressive Member of Parliament from Peace River, Alberta, was due to voters being kept from the polls. M.P. D.M. Kennedy replied to calls for him to surrender his seat, "I wouldn't resign if I could, and I couldn't if I would."

"Cold Picnicking" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Daily Star, June 7, 1926

Pro-Liberal cartoonist Sam Hunter left the Customs Department and other scandals largely ignored during the month of June, save for twitting Conservative leader Meighen and his Conservative Party Board of Strategy. Liberals charged that Meighen's Board of Strategy (a group of party leaders who determined party priorities and messaging) was unduly politicizing the Customs Department investigation. An April 30 editorial in Ottawa Evening Citizen sniffed,

"It is a form of crass political humbug. From the point of view of the people of Canada who are interested in getting a strong, business-like report, to clean up the Department of Customs, it has the appearance of putting sand in the bearings."

Hunter appears to have gone on vacation in time for Dominion Day, too, just as the Liberal Party's troubles came to a head. It was, after all, the end of the legislative session, as good a time as any for a cartoonist to lay down one's pen.

"The Tight-Rope Walker" by Douglas H.N. Russell in Vancouver Daily Province, June 24, 1926

"This parasol of mine's not very reliable," says P.M. King of "Progressive Support" in Douglas Russell's cartoon. The breaking point came as Progressive leader Robert Forke withdrew his party's support of King's Liberals, leaving them well short of a majority in Parliament. 

King asked Governor General Baron Byng of Vimy to dissolve Parliament and to call for new elections. Instead, Lord Byng took the unusual step of asking Arthur Meighen to form a Conservative government.

"Canned" by George Shields in Evening Telegram, Toronto, June 29, 1926

Meanwhile, with the Progressives splintering among radical and moderate factions, Forke (one of the moderates) resigned as his party's leader on June 30. 

"Dominion Day" by George Shields in Evening Telegram, Toronto, June 30, 1926

The Conservative Evening Telegram celebrated Prime Minister King's ouster, of course; but I come up short in finding any explanation that ties all the elements of George Shields's cartoon together. Yes, it was Dominion Day Eve; the oak leaf is a well-known symbol of the nation; and King, so Shields thought, was through. But do they make a coherent cartoon? And what's with "Peek-a-boo"?

"Climbing Aboard" by Douglas Russell in Vancouver Daily Province, June 30, 1926

D.H.N. Russell welcomed Mr. Meighen onto the saddle of the government in the only cartoon I've come across to do so. Brevity was not the soul of Russell's cartoons, so in case you are reading this on a tiny screen, Mr. The People says, "That's right Sir. You ride him for a bit... It's time you were in the saddle again, and I hope you stay there!"

"Going Home" by D.H.N. Russell in Vancouver Daily Province, July 4, 1926

Barely back in town from the Dominion Day holiday, however, the Meighen government lost a motion of no confidence on July 2, 1926. Lord Byng had no choice but to dissolve parliament, setting a new general election for September.

I apologize for the gray stripe over the right side of  this last cartoon; it appears that a strip of adhesive tape or other not-quite transparent object might have been affixed to the right edge of the page when it was scanned, and I have found no other print copy of the cartoon. It's also the only cartoon I've come across about the end of the abortive Meighen government — although, since July 4, 1926 was a Sunday, it could well have been drawn before the no confidence vote on Friday.

Judge for yourself. As the party leaders headed home with speeches in hand, here's the cartoon dialogue:

Lib. [King]: "Of course I'm glad it's all over, and I can take a rest, - but I find this air of uncertainty about the future rather depressing!"

Con. [Meighen]: "Good-bye, old chap. Take care of yourself until I come back!"

Prog. [Forke]: "Well, that was certainly pretty trying. I feel as if I were dis — disintegrating as it were!"

Lab. [J.S. Woodsworth]: "So that's that. I wonder if my seat will be there when I come back — or shall I come back?"

Ottawa [Baptiste Ladébauche]: "Well, goodbye, gentlemen — hope to see you again — most of you."

Capt. D.H.N. Russell (1878-1961), by the way, was a British-born immigrant to Vancouver, and a veteran of the Boer War. He retired as the Province's front page cartoonist in 1931.

Our Foreign Desk

"The World 'Do' Move" by Dean O'Dell in Dayton Daily News, May 18, 1926

This week's Graphical History Tour takes a quick look overseas to catch up with events in the rest of the world in May of 1926.

Well, Europe and North Africa, at least.

"Rolling Up His Sleeves" by Fred Ellis in Daily Worker, Chicago, May 5, 1926

That May started off with a general strike in Great Britain, to the alarm of commie-fearing cartoonists, but to the delight of their cohorts at the Daily Worker. 

An editorial in London Daily Mail called the general strike revolutionary and subversive, sparking a walk-out by its pressmen.

"A May Day Moving That Will Move" by Arthur G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, May 1, 1926

The U.S. had a hand in exacerbating issues for British miners. It its effort to stabilize the German economy, the Dawes Plan for Europe subsidized Germany's coal industry; that in turn enabled Germany to provide free coal to France and Italy under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. As a result of this and overvaluation of the Pound Sterling, British coal exports plummeted and miners' pay was slashed by 35%.

"I Always Bring Trouble" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 6, 1926

Meanwhile, working conditions in British coal mines were still basically pre-industrial. Whereas German and Polish mining firms had invested in mechanization, the British companies relied exclusively on manual labor.

"Why the Strikes" by T.E. Powers in New York Evening Journal, ca. May 8, 1926

Miners laid down their tools on May 1; the Trade Union Congress (TUC) called on all other workers to join them beginning at midnight May 3. 1.5 million workers from all over Great Britain joined the strike on the first day.

"Streik in England" by Wilhelm Schulz in Simplicissimus, Munich/Stuttgart, May 24, 1926

In response, the government sent police to escort busloads of strikebreakers to the mines and other affected industries, and posted troops at bus stations to ward off violent resistance. London's bus system was immediately overwhelmed. After a week or so, some striking workers began breaking the picket lines. Historian Jessica Brain takes it from there:

"The turning point came when the general strike was identified as not being protected by the Trade Dispute Act of 1906, except for the coal industry, meaning that the unions became liable for the intention to breach contracts. By 12th May, the TUC General Council met at Downing Street, to announce that the strike was being called off with the agreement that no striker would be victimised for their decision, despite the government stating it had no control over employers’ decisions.

"The momentum had been lost, unions faced potential legal action and workers were returning to their place of employment. Some miners continued to resist for as long as November, but to no avail.

"Many miners faced unemployment for years whilst others had to accept the bad conditions of lower wages and longer working hours. Despite incredible levels of support, the strike had amounted to nothing.

"The Sincerest of Flattery" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. May 22, 1926

"In 1927 the Trade Disputes Act was introduced by [Prime Minister] Stanley Baldwin, an act which banned any sympathy strikes as well as mass picketing; this act is still in force today. This was the final nail in the coffin for those workers who had taken part in one of the biggest events in industrial history in Britain."

"Gehnsucht" by Arthur Krüger in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, June 6, 1926

On May 11, Poland's former Chief of State, First Marshal Józef Klemens Piłsudski, launched a successful coup d'état against the newly elected Polish government of President Stanisław Wojciechowski and Prime Minister Wincenty Witos, the third administration in the previous six months.

"Polen" by Ernst Thöny in Simplicissimus, Munich/Stuttgart, May 31, 1926

Units of the Army loyal to Piłsudski quickly seized control of the major bridges in Warsaw. The Polish Socialist Party called for a general strike in support of the coup. The Railwaymen's Union brought transportation and communications to a standstill, and the government surrendered on May 14 to prevent further bloodshed.

"Clean-up Week Idea Reaches Poland" by Wm. Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer,May 27, 1926

At first blush, Hanny's cartoon appears to side with the coup, but he was actually referring to the name given to the new government by its principal leader. Piłsudski announced the creation of what he called a moral "Sanation" (Sanacja) dictatorship. In English newspaper reports:

"Marshal Pilsudski has stated that the policy of the Government immediately is for the restoration of the authority of the State and the introduction of administrative reforms, including the suppression of corruption in public life. He promises to hold a general election after the dissolution of Parliament. In the meantime he claims that only Presidential endorsement shall be required in order to enforce the law. He declares that his sole desire is to save Poland from the reaction of military operations which are not directed against the State or the people. I am, he said, fighting the Government, which since it assumed office has inaugurated a policy of defiance to the interests of the State and the army."

"Pan Pilsudki Imitating Senor Mussolini" possibly by Viktor "Deni" Denisov in Pravda, Moscow, ca. May 22, 1926

The Daily Worker gave no credit for this cartoon, so I am guessing its creator based on the style of the drawing (and overlooking the Roman rather than Cyrillic alphabet on Piłsudski's banner, which might have been used for a variety of reasons).

"Pilsudsky's In the Saddle But Where's the Horse" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, May 29, 1926

"Ding" Darling offered a different view of the Polish coup, but the anonymous cartoonist above hit closer to the mark. While Piłsudski never assumed a role as the titular head of state, he remained the real power behind the Polish government until his death in 1935.

Moving on:

"Frühlingslied in Morokko" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, May 30. 1926

Moroccan rebel leader Abd el-Krim surrendered to Spanish and French forces on May 27, 1926, bringing an end to the five-year-long Rif War (which we have been following here, here, here, and here) and the Al-Jumhūriyyah al-Rif. 

by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 27, 1926

Despite some early successes against the Spanish army, el-Krim’s 9,000 to 13,000 guerillas were no match for the Europeans once France entered the war in support of Spain in September, 1925. Spanish forces re-occupied el-Krim’s home base of Ajdir that October; by March, 1926, the Franco-Spanish armies had gained control of most of Morocco.

"The Triumph" by Ed Gale in Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1926

El-Krim sued for peace in April; but talks collapsed, and the Europeans resumed hostilities. El-Krim was left with no option but to surrender to the French, who promised his safety and that of his family in exchange for the safe return of Spanish and French prisoners of war. El-Krim lived out the rest of his days in exile on Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

"Abd-el-Krim" by Ernst Thöny in Simplicissimus, Munich/Stuttgart, June 21, 1926

As far as some Americans were concerned, the principal outcome of the Europeans' victory was that France could now focus her attention on her dismal economic situation. And, by the way, repaying those wartime debts to the U.S.

"A Stitch in Time—Maybe" by Cecil Jensen in Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, May 28, 1926

As West Middlesex Goes

Today's Graphical History Tour checks in on the Canadian political situation a century ago.

"So Long As All Hands Keep Their Party Oars Going..." by Arthur G. Racey in Maclean's, Toronto, March 1, 1926

You will, of course, recall that the parliamentary election of November, 1925, left no party with a majority. The incumbent Liberal Party and its partner Progressive Party both lost seats to the Conservative Party. 

Of the 245 seats in Parliament, Arthur Meighen's Conservatives won 115; William Mackenzie King's Liberals hung onto 100 (King losing his own riding but then getting elected to a vacated seat elsewhere), and Robert Forke's Progressives held 22. The number of seats needed to achieve a majority, however, was 123, just out of reach of the three major parties.

"Pretty Polly" by A.M. Barstad in Toronto Globe, March 29, 1926

King and Meighen both courted Forke's Progressives; Meighen needed to persuade only eight of them, whereas King needed all of them plus any of the eight minor party members. But on one of the Conservatives' major issues of the day, higher tariffs against U.S. goods, the agrarian Progressives stood with the Liberals. Most of the splinter parties were to the left of the larger three parties, further handicapping Meighen's chances.

"After Monday's Vote" by D.H. Russell in Daily Province, Vancouver BC, March 30, 1926

Premier King's appointment of John C. Elliot to be Minister of Labour required Mr. Elliot to run in a by-election for his parliamentary seat representing West Middlesex, Ontario. The riding was a reliable Liberal stronghold, where Elliot had been in elective office since 1908.

"Slipped Again" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Daily Star, March 30, 1926

Perhaps the Conservative Party hoped to confuse voters by selecting Thomas E. Elliot as their champion to challenge John C. Elliot. If so, it didn't work; the Liberal Elliot outpolled the Conservative Elliot in every district.

"On the Way to Political Red Lake" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Daily Star, April 3, 1926

To explain the reference in Sam Hunter's cartoon, Red Lake in northern Ontario was anticipating a rush of gold prospectors as the ice broke. From later headlines, I take it that prospectors ended up being as disappointed as Hunter predicted Mr. Meighen would be. 

"Taking Willy for an Airing" by Arthur G. Racey in Macleans, Toronto, April 1, 1926

Blaming a lethargic voting public for Canada's political predicament, Conservative cartoonist Arthur Racey portrayed the Progressives' Forke at the wheel of Government, with a diminutive Premier King in his lap. "Willy, you sit still and stop trying steer," Forke says, "or I'll throw you out!"

Then, Tomorrow Was Another Day

Today's Graphical History Tour checks out the international scene in March of 1926, which means that we won't be seeing much from U.S. cartoonists. The Yanks weren't particularly interested in the outside world just then, although that doesn't mean that there was nothing going on. 

"Was Haben Wir von dem Grösser Mannern" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

For one thing, world leaders were still trying to hammer out arms reduction agreements, in accoradance with the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. Werner Hahmann here anticipated how the leaders of Italy, France, the U.S., Great Britain, U.S.S.R., and Germany would approach the summit (to use a term that came into use much later) about to get underway.

You should be familiar with Benito Mussolini and Calvin Coolidge, but Americans may not be familiar with the rest of these faces. Aristide Briand was Prime Minister of France off and on from 1909 to 1929; nobody warmed that seat for very long at a time in the 1920's. Austen Chamberlain was British Foreign Secretary, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate with Briand and Germany's Gustav Stresemann for negotiating the Locarno Treaty settling Germany's western border.

Georgy Chicherin was the U.S.S.R. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and I have no clue what Hahmann's reference to whistling was about. Chicherin, having been arrested in England for antiwar activity when Russia's October Revolution took place, promoted a pro-German, anti-British foreign policy; so I imagine that in spite of Kladderadatsch's opposition to communism, Hahmann regarded Chicherin as a relatively benign presence.

Hans Luther was Chancellor of Germany from January, 1925 to May, 1926. Kladderadatsch's cartoonists must not have found him particularly inspiring, since time and time again, all they could come up with for cartoons about him was to have him quote Martin Luther's famous "Here I stand" statement.

"That's a Good Idee" by Wm. A. Rogers in Washington [DC] Post, March 24, 1926

I'm including one U.S. cartoonist here, isolationist W.A. Rogers, depicting U.S. participation in disarmament talks as something eagerly sought by European powers. His Uncle Sam would consider coming along strictly as a favor. Why, his "national defense" was merely a toy!

"You Can't Always Tell by the Picture on the Packet" by Sidney Strube in London Daily Express, ca. Mar. 21, 1926

London cartoonist Sidney Strube drew Uncle Sam kibitzing over the fence at Europe, whose packet of Locarno lily seeds has produced some strange flowers. "Say! Bo! That's funny stuff you are growing!"

"Der Gute Bruder aus dem Westen" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

U.S. interest in the disarmament conference was disingenuous, in Hahmann's view. In this cartoon, Uncle Same brings to the table "Huge strengthening of the American air fleet" and "new travel loans for America's navy."

"Deutschland im Võlkerbund" by Ernst Schilling in Simplicissimus, Stuttgart, March 1, 1926

Over at Simplicissimus, Ernst Schilling saw plenty of disingenuousness to go around among the disarmament negotiators. I don't believe any of the characters on the right side of the cartoon are caricatures of actual delegates (with the possible exception of the very British looking chap in the foreground), but I think that the presumably German man on the left looking askance at the rest must be.

"Umtriebe" by Arthur Krüger in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

The fellow in the foreground of Kruger's cartoon represented Poland, as identified by the czapka on his head. The cap became a symbol of Polish independence after the war, and was adopted as cartooning shorthand for that country, as Michel and Marianne were for Germany and France.

At issue here was whether to admit Germany into the League of Nations (Völkerbund in German), which Poland and France opposed.

"Der Taufbeken in Genf" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

The feeling was mutual: Arthur Johnson was among Germans who were also highly skeptical of joining the League, especially if despised Poland were a member as well.

"Auf in den Völkerbund" by Wilhelm Schulz in Simplicissimus, Stuttgart, March 15, 1926

Wilhelm Schulz's cartoon depicts Mussolini and Poland (ach du lieber! a drunkard, too!) conspiring to sabotage Germany's seat at the League of Nations table.

"Polen Beansprucht einen Festen Sitz im Völkerbund" by Richter in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 21, 1926

The Polish position, rather, was that if Germany were to have a permanent seat in the League, so should Poland.

"Versuchtes, aber Mißglücktes Falschspiel in Genf" by Oskar Garvens in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 21, 1926

Poland had the support of both Great Britain (you'll notice that Chamberlain's King of Spades is wearing a czapka) and France, with treaties obliging both to come to its aid if attacked.  

"Mißglücktes Experiment" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, March 28, 1926

Poland was not the only country lobbying for a permanent League of Nations Seat. So were Brazil and Spain, the former of which was adamantly opposed to admitting Germany, earning it an especially grotesque characterization from Artie Johnson in this cover cartoon.

"Vorverkauf an der Kaffe in Genf" by Oskar Garvens in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 28, 1926

Oskar Garvens added China (and "War") to the waiting list in his cartoon. 

Cartoonists must have had little upon which to draw Brazilian stereotypes, in case the fourth fellow in line appears Mexican to you. Mexico repeatedly refused invitations to join the League of Nations until 1931.

"She Will Have to Get a New Canary Now" by Arthur Racey in Montreal Star, March 19, 1926

The Brazilian government would be gravely disappointed that Germany was admitted to the League and Brazil was not granted a permanent seat. Brazil quit the League later that year.

In A.G. Racey's cartoon, "European Peace" holds an empty birdcage bereft of its former occupant, "the Locarno Concord Canary." The Locarno Concord had been hailed as a great success at its December 1, 1925 signing by the great powers of western Europe (see the Graphic History Tour post here). I think that by asking "Whose cat are you, anyway?", Racey was taking into account that Brazil was not a party to the Locarno Concord.

"Endresultat" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 28, 1926

Agreeing with Racey's pessimism, Hahmann's cartoon quotes from the final stanzas of "Des Sängers Fluch" (The Singer's Curse) by Ludwig Uhland, set to music by Robert Schumann.

In the poem, a pair of minstrels entertain a cruel king and his court, pleasing the queen but enraging the king, who kills the younger of the minstrels. The older minstrel levels a curse at the king which comes true: in the end, the king's once beautiful castle lies in ruins but for one lone, crumbling column, its king forgotten.

Everyone was not ready to write off the Locarno Treaties as a failure just yet, but they ultimately did prove inadequate to ensuring a lasting peace in Europe.

The treaties delineated Germany's western border, ceding Alsace-Lorraine to France, but did not settle disputed territories on Germany's eastern border with Poland. There were Polish enclaves on the west side of the Oder-Neisse line and Germans living on the east side of the rivers. Danzig/Gdansk was a further bone of contention: as part of Poland, it separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany; without it, Poland would be landlocked.

"Powerful Brazil" by Billy Ireland in Columbus Dispatch, March, 1926

But sure, you can just blame Brazil if you'd rather.

Or the bossa nova.