Mr. Payne’s mistaken diagnosis

In the first vignette, Postmaster General Henry C. Payne points at a “Post Office scandal” stick of dynamite and says, “Aw! — It’s only a squib” as Perry S. Heath and August W. Machen look on. In the second vignette, the stick of dynamite explodes, sending Payne, Machen, and Heath flying.

Comments and Context

Henry Clay Payne served as President Theodore Roosevelt’s Postmaster General. Regarded by history as an undistinguished appointment, Payne was a railroad and streetcar entrepreneur from Milwaukee whose activities both benefited the city’s expansion and leisure opportunities for the working poor, and, somewhat typically of the day, was less than generous with workers’ pay and conditions. In the Roosevelt cabinet he was a loyal Republican organizer — Postmasters General still dispensed patronage in large measure — and largely was a functionary.

In early 1904 he assumed the additional duties of Chairman of the Republican National Committee upon the death of Marcus Alonzo Hanna. He resigned that portfolio after four months in favor of George B. Cortelyou. 

His role, or limited capabilities, as Postmaster General proved unfortunate when a major scandal erupted in 1903. At first — as Stewart’s cartoon suggests — Payne was dismissive of the scandal’s severity or consequence. When the cartoon’s second panel also virtually occurred, a major cancer on his department, the president fired many officials, brought in new personnel (including Joseph Bristow, James Garfield, and Charles Bonaparte), but retained Payne, at least as a figurehead but also as a buffer against other parties like Senator Hanna.      

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-06-20

Creator(s)

Stewart, Donald Farquharson, 1880-1945

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)

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