Allen, William V. (William Vincent), 1847-1924

An oversized Abraham Lincoln, holding an ax, addresses a diminutive Rear Admiral William T. Sampson regarding the case of Gunner Charles Morgan’s efforts toward advancement in rank in the U.S. Navy. Caption: “Don’t you think, Sonny, that your ‘five o’clock tea’ rule might shut out some good men?”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The background of this cartoon was a colorful clash, coming to a head on the floor of the United States Senate, when Senator William V. Allen of Nebraska upbraided Admiral William T. Sampson, who had recommended against the promotion of a Naval Gunner, Charles Morgan. Sampson granted that Morgan had technical and professional ability, but that warrant officers should not advance to ensign grades because they had not enjoyed social advantages perviously. He urged the Secretary of the Navy to deny such promotions. Senator Allen’s Senate speech, represented in the cartoon in milder terms by the figure of Abraham Lincoln, used terms of approbation like “snobbish aristocracy,” “disgrace,” “conceited ass,” “a class of bejeweled aristocrats,” and “arrant coward”… all directed at the Naval hero Sampson. The “tea” reference in the cartoon suggests that men in Sampson’s class were effete. 

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt urges Secretary Long to advise President McKinley not to conduct a joint investigation with Spain into the sinking of the USS Maine. Roosevelt believes that, in spite of opposition, Long should recommend that Congress authorize the building of as many as four battleships.

Collection

Massachusetts Historical Society

Creation Date

1898-02-19

Edward Oliver Wolcott as the biblical Joshua rides on a horse labeled “U.S. Senate” at the head of a small infantry comprised of John Sherman, George F. Hoar, George G. Vest, William A. Peffer, David B. Hill, Julius C. Burrows, Thomas H. Carter, William V. Allen, William J. Sewell, John M. Palmer, Roger Q. Mills, Justin S. Morrill, Matthew Quay, and others unidentified. Many are carrying spears or bow and arrows. They are chasing the sun labeled “Gold Standard” and descending upon a small community of farms and factories. One man carries a military standard that states, “Resolved, that some legislation be had by the U.S. Senate looking to an international conference with the nations of the world for the promotion of Bimetallism. Wolcott’s Resolution in Caucus.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-01-06