A hazardous business

President Roosevelt carries a tray that is barely balanced and includes a teapot of “Jap. Treaty Rights,” “T. R.’s Western popularity,” and his big stick. Meanwhile, a dog–“Western legislature”–is tangled in his feet. “Japan” says, “My tea, please.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

With less than a month remaining in his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt continued to prioritize the troubled relations between the United States and Japan. Specifically, the largely local San Francisco-area friction related to Japanese immigrants and residents was a matter that he refused to ignore, instead recognizing its malignant prejudice and injustice, its immediate effect on diplomatic and trade relations between the two nations, and the dangers of provoking long-range strategic and even military responses in the future.

Cartoonist Nelson Harding never advanced his drawing style past the relative awkwardness displayed in this cartoon, but this is an example of his continual demonstration that effective political cartoons might be two-thirds concept and one-third graphics. Typically, his prescience is displayed in this cartoon.

The idea that Japan was as demanding as the cartoon suggested is open to question, although in apparent retaliation for California school Boards excluding Japanese students, and San Francisco housing restrictions, anti-American measures and even riots were occurring in Japan. And Harding did well to note that Roosevelt’s personal popularity was employed to influence citizens and cajole local officials. He even invited San Francisco officials who were then juggling unrelated problems with corruption charges to the White House for some sweet persuasion.

The cartoonist was also correct to note that legislatures (specifically California’s) was a major irritant. However the local population contained many amateur provocateurs, motivated by factors ranging from racial prejudice to job security. Ironically, many “locals” were themselves recent immigrants, chiefly Irish. It was Chinese newcomers, generally more than Japanese, who were hired as day laborers; the Japanese often established retail shops in closed communities.

But a major roadblock to amity, not mentioned by Harding, was the yellow press, largely led by the publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, William Randolph Hearst. It might reliably be assumed that Hearst’s motives were incendiary and circulation-building, in the way that other issues and imputed scandals — urban misery, society whispers, Cuban independence, Wall Street predators, celebrities’ turpitude — were foundations of booming circulation figures in all of his newspapers across America.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-02-10

Creator(s)

Harding, Nelson, -1944

Language

English

Period

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

Repository

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

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