The return of the scouts
Subject(s): Belmont, Perry, 1850-1947, Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Campaign funds, Democratic Party (U.S.), Kern, John Worth, 1849-1917, Mack, Norman Edward, 1858-1932, Moses (Biblical leader), Parker, Alton B. (Alton Brooks), 1852-1926, Presidents--Elections, Ryan, Thomas Fortune, 1851-1928, Watterson, Henry, 1840-1921, Wetmore, Moses C., 1846-1910
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Moses C. Wetmore and Norman E. Mack carry a shoulder pole labeled “For Contributions” from which hangs a tiny bag. They explain to William Jennings Bryan, as Moses, seated with Henry Watterson, John W. Kern, and Alton B. Parker around him, that there is very little money flowing into the Democratic campaign coffers. Standing on the left are Thomas F. Ryan and Perry Belmont. Caption: And they returned after forty days, and they said unto Moses: “Surely it is a land flowing with milk and honey, but there is nothing doing in collections.”
Comments and Context
Puck Magazine’s artists, and many cartoonists of the era, frequently relied on Biblical analogies and stories as contexts for their drawings; and mythology, operatic narratives, legends, and Shakespeare as well. “The Return of the Scouts,” with Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan as Moses, is based on the Book of Numbers, Chapter 13.
Without precise Biblical analogy, the political point and visual humor in Udo J. Keppler’s cartoon arises from the exaggerated shock of Bryan and his fellow wanderers in the desert when they behold the spies Caleb and Joshua bearing a minuscule moneybag on a mighty pole.
In the Biblical account, the Israelites has spent a year on Mt. Sinai and prepared to enter the Promise Land. Before doing so it was decided that twelve spies or scouts, one from each tribe, would secretly espy the land and its possible dangers. Ten returned with the warning: “There are giants in that land!” Caleb and Joshua counseled that the wandering Jews take hold of the land according to God’s promises. The Israelites acted on the warnings of the ten spies, and were condemned by the Lord to wander another 40 years.
In the cartoon the figures of Caleb and Joshua are filled by (ironically named) Moses Wetmore, the Democratic Party’s Finance Committee Chairman, formerly a power in the Farmers Alliance and a tobacco mogul favored by Bryan; and Norman E. Mack, publisher of the Buffalo Times and the new Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In the midst of President Theodore Roosevelt’s popularity and a universally expected victory over Bryan by Republican William H. Taft, their “scouting” for contributions were slim.
Other figures in the cartoon include two of the Democrats’ few supporters among trust magnates, Thomas Fortune Ryan (a Tammany boss who wealth was made in urban rail systems) and Perry Belmont, one of three Belmont brothers (politician whose fortune derived from banking and inheritance) active in the Democratic Party. It is interesting to note that among the distressed is former judge Alton B. Parker, once a party rebel against Bryan (and presidential
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1908-09-16
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
The return of the scouts. [September 16, 1908]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o288529. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. The return of the scouts. [16 Sep. 1908]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o288529.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1908, September 16]. The return of the scouts.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o288529.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
