Another earthquake

President Roosevelt takes a big stick labeled “Japanese question” and hits “San Francisco” with it. Caption: “Another earthquake.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Fortunately or unfortunately, the tragedy of the San Francisco earthquake provided cartoonists opportunities to employ the event as a reference-point for drawings that addressed other matters. But it is what cartoonists do — deal in the relatable; and after more than a century, the earthquake provides talking-points in politics and other fields.

This cartoon by C. R. Macauley in the New York World in fact appeared well after the devastating ‘quake — the earthquake was in April 1906, and the cartoon appeared in December — but the disaster was still fresh in readers’ minds. Further to San Francisco’s focal point were trials underway based on widespread and unprecedented depths of corruption among its political, administrative, legal, and law enforcement communities.

This cartoon highlights yet another reason San Francisco was in the news at this very time. Up and down the west coast, but most rabidly in San Francisco, were incidents of anti-Asian prejudice. Japanese immigrants were the especial targets, partly because, among other Asian immigrants, they were a distinct minority that advanced in business and community organization. White workers (some of them recent arrivals themselves, such as the Irish) sometimes felt economically threatened, but the animus was racial too: there were efforts to ban the Japanese language in various enterprises, and to exclude Japanese students from schools. And there were proposals to exclude new immigrants from Japan.

President Roosevelt was alarmed at the injustice, and the occasional violence, and opposed such actions and feelings in public and private. A particular thorn in the side of civil amity was William Randolph Hearst and his newspaper The Examiner. Nativism and race-baiting was seen as a circulation booster.

As the proud Japanese government across the Pacific was offended and nurtured anti-American protests and violence in Tokyo and other cities (Christian missionaries were plentiful in Japan), the president saw only trouble ahead. A port-call to Japan was one function of the Great White Fleet’s cruise a year hence, to show respect and honor.

Roosevelt’s sole “weapons” to combat racism and discrimination in San Francisco, from the federal perch in Washington, were rhetorical and public persuasion; but he was active in this mission.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

Creator(s)

Macauley, C. R. (Charles Raymond), 1871-1934

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

Record Type

Image

Resource Type

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation