Hint to the Hague Conference

President Roosevelt and Japanese Emperor Meiji play tennis on the lawn of Oyster Bay as “international umpires” look on. Caption: Why not settle international disputes by peaceful personal combats between the heads of nations — let the president challenge the Mikado.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Addressing matters of war and peace by other means is a conceit that goes back to The Birds by Aristophanes in ancient Greece. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle‘s cartoonist Claude Maybell took that concept, President Roosevelt’s well-known affection for the game of tennis, and the recent diplomatic contacts with Japan, and fashioned a cartoon. The president recently was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for his role in settling the war between Japan and Russia; and Roosevelt had personally intervened, with much deference shown the Japanese, over prejudice against Japanese immigrants on the West Coast.

Despite his Pacific machinations, Roosevelt noted an increase in anti-Japanese sentiment, and throughout the country, for instance, from Senator “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman of South Carolina. These feelings were more racial than economic, and gave urgency to the president’s efforts to ameliorate friction with the Mikado and his people.

Additionally, not cause-and-effect but intertwined, public and private (diplomatic) reports had reached the White House concerning Japanese military plans in the Western hemisphere, for instance discussions with the Mexican government; and estimates of European diplomats that a war was eventually likely between the United States and Japan; and that Japan was assessed as the putative victor at “five to four” odds.

Roosevelt, or technically the United States, was the formal convener of the second International Peace Conference at the Hague, so peace was on the minds of many at the time this cartoon was published. Peace — or at least effective diplomacy — with Japan was also on President Roosevelt’s mind.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-11

Creator(s)

Maybell, Claude, 1872-

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