The lost child
Subject(s): Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Chafin, Eugene W. (Eugene Wilder), 1852-1920, Children, Debs, Eugene V. (Eugene Victor), 1855-1926, Hisgen, Thomas L. (Thomas Louis), 1858-1925, Police, Police--Legal status, laws, etc., Political parties, Presidents--Elections, Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930, Voting, Watson, Thomas E. (Thomas Edward), 1856-1922
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Six policemen labeled “Chafin, Taft, Debs, Watson, Hisgen, [and] Bryan” gather around a young boy labeled “Reactionary Voter” standing on “Radical Ave.” The boy appears confused by all the political parties represented by the various candidates – Eugene W. Chafin of the Prohibition Party, William H. Taft of the Republican Party, Eugene V. Debs of the Socialist Party of America, Thomas E. Watson of the Populist Party, Thomas L. Hisgen of the United States Independent Party, and William Jennings Bryan of the Democratic Party. Caption: Chorus of Kindly Cops — Don’t you know where you belong, little boy? / The Waif — No-o-o! I’m a-all turned round. Boo-hoo!
Comments and Context
“The Lost Child” is a curious cartoon in the Puck Magazine canon, and in its portrayal of the contemporary political situation. S. D. Ehrhart, who had been moonlighting or freelancing for a small radical publication The Square Deal, presents an unusual scenario in the double-page cartoon.
The distressed lost boy representing the “reactionary votes” — and in 1908 there were still many people who dissented from Muckrakers and reformers — is depicted sympathetically by the cartoonist. Moreover, the six policemen, representing the six parties who fielded candidates in the presidential race, are themselves solicitous; a few of them skeptical, perhaps, but none hostile.
Neither Puck by its long-standing editorial policy, nor any of the candidates, were publicly sympathetic to reactionary or conservative policies in 1908. The closest might have been William H. Taft, some members of whose Republican Party in 1906 made a slogan against reformers of “Stand Pat — Leave Well Enough Alone!” (And he was to evolve to exercise generally conservative policies as his subsequent administration proceeded; but Puck, voters, and Taft himself could not have predicted such at the time this cartoon was drawn.)
The candidates in 1908 — least of all William Jennings Bryan and Socialist Eugene V. Debs — would have been so sympathetic to reactionaries. The other candidates shown, with the possible exception of the Prohibition candidate, would likely have been similarly unconcerned with the wayward reactionary vote. It must be assumed that cartoonist Ehrhart meant merely to indicate how lonely, virtually, the reactionary voters must have felt in that election.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1908-09-23
Creator(s)
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937
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 lost child. [September 23, 1908]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o288553. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937. The lost child. [23 Sep. 1908]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o288553.
APA:
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937., [1908, September 23]. The lost child.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o288553.
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. August 3, 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.
