Unpleasant news

President Roosevelt with his “Nobel Peace Prize” attached to his vest and his “big stick” in hand utters profanities as he grips “former Senator Burton’s speech” with a piece labeled “criticism” coming off. A dog running away from the president says, “Another member for the Ananias club.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

A surfeit of minor issues, local politics, and obscure politicians provide the context of this cartoon; nevertheless it reveals much about American political history and about President Roosevelt’s policies.

The pertinent headlines that inspired the drawing by the forgotten cartoonist N. Eingen surrounded the recent release of former Senator Joseph Ralph Burton (R-Kansas) from prison. He and his wife began his road to public rehabilitation by acquiring the Central Kansas Publishing Company and publishing the Salina Union. Burton had been charged and convicted of accepting money illegally to represent the Rialto Grain and Securities Company (called, then, a get-rich-quick enterprise, frankly and without opprobrium) before Post Office regulators.

Roosevelt was a consistent and bitter foe of political corruption, and scandals touching the Post Office were of particular focus extending back to his days as Civil Service Commissioner (1889-1894) and again in the early months of his presidency. He brooked no mercy in cases like Burton’s conviction, for which he served six months, was fined $2500, and resigned after two pleadings before the Supreme Court.

The Burton-Roosevelt feud was older and deeper, however. Once allies, the pair experienced friction when Roosevelt began to make patronage appointments to the senator’s political opponents. As a Kansas neighbor to St. Louis, Burton was one of many men interested in promoting the 1904 World’s Fair, and when he showed his plans to support an exhibition replicating Jerusalem at the time of the Savior’s birth, Roosevelt sent a letter of warm endorsement. Burton turned around and, without Roosevelt’s approval, reproduced the letter in a stock solicitation.

The president was incensed and publicly made clear that he had no financial interest in the projected attraction. He sternly informed Burton that henceforth the White House would regard him as a Democrat — in other words, not a member of party councils nor to be consulted about patronage. For all these reasons, Burton developed a case of political paranoia — he also argued that he was convicted of an offense under a statute that never had been invoked — and he commenced a personal crusade against Roosevelt.

It was almost inevitable, then, that the speech Burton made upon his release, and strongly renouncing Roosevelt, would have been endorsed in hyperbolic fashion in the Woman’s National Daily newspaper.

Although Burton was a Kansan, St. Louis was the natural hub of many financial and political activities of the Sunflower State, and the newspaper (and associated enterprises) of publisher Edward Gardner Lewis had headquarters in St. Louis. Gardner’s paper — and its cartoons — were already enemies of the Roosevelt Administration, having been legally pursued over Post Office and banking matters.

In the cartoon, the “Nobel Peace Prize” tag bears no relevance to Burton’s speech and international diplomacy, but rather straining to suggest irony that the winner of a peace medal could become belligerent. The comment of the puppy in the cartoon’s lower corner refers to Roosevelt’s unique designation of his opponents whom he accused of lying or manufacturing fake news. Citing the early Christian (in Acts, Chapter Five) who was struck dead for lying to the Church Fathers about tithes, Roosevelt condensed his criticism by consigning some opponents to the Ananias Club.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04

Creator(s)

Eingen, N.

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