Free trade--Protection

On the left a man labeled “Tariff Coddled Manufacturer” votes with one hand and receives a bribe in the other, in the form of a “High-Protection Schedule,” from a large hand labeled “Rep. Congress” extending above the U.S. Capitol. On the right a diminutive man votes with one hand and receives money with the other from a man leaning out of a saloon. Caption: It’s only a question of size.

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Puck‘s drawing by its chief political cartoonist Udo J. Keppler, is generic — that is, a political cartoon with no politics — addressing no specific candidate or office-holder, nor discussing any pending legislation. In fact, through its existence, Puck routinely and often attacked political corruption and, as here, unholy alliances whether in high chambers of corporations or saloons in lowly slums.

Uncle Sam, dressed as a woman and holding a switch of bound rushes in his left hand, talks to a young girl labeled “Philippines.” They are standing on a beach with the water labeled “Free Trade in Tobacco and Sugar.” Caption continues: “Oh, yes, my darling daughter! Hang your clothes on the hickory limb, but Don’t You Go Near the Water!!!”

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Frank A. Nankivell, Puck‘s Australian immigrant by way of Japan, reflected the artistic trend of the day, one related to the Art Nouveau and current poster style, “Japonisme.” Also derived from ancient stained-glass techniques, the style was largely two-dimensional, tending toward flat colors and heavy outlines of prominent figures in the composition. It made Nankivell’s work popular, evidently, in magazine cartoons and sheet-music covers.

A large William H. Taft wears a stars and stripes turban, with a large knife labeled “The Big Bolo” stuck in his belt and a notice attached stating “For Stand Patters.” He is speaking to a group of diminutive figures labeled variously “Congressman” with a “Manila Souvenir Spoon,” “Philippine Industries, Free Trade Promises, [and] Senate Bill.” In the background, on the left is the boarding ramp to a ship, and on the right are two entrances to a railroad station platform labeled “To Washington Direct.” One entrance is labeled “Philippine Free Trade” and the other is labeled “Stand Pat.” Taft is telling them to be sure to choose the correct train, i.e., not to enter through the “Stand Pat” gate. Caption: Our Foremost Filipino — Now, boys, after all my talking, don’t go and take the wrong train.

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In 1900, President William McKinley named William H. Taft to be civilian governor of the Philippine Islands. It was position that carried responsibility and diplomatic skills, because the new United States territory was restive and rebellious, more so than any of the new acquisitions won in the Spanish-American War. In the next three years more than 100,000 deaths resulted from the Filipino Insurrection.

A troop of senators, as Confederate soldiers being led by an officer on horseback labeled “Trusts,” march down a street past the house with “Barbara Fritchie” labeled “Dingley Tariff” leaning out the window, waving a flag labeled “High Protection.” Caption: “Who touches a hair on yon swelled head / Dies like a dog! March on!” he said.

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The reference-point of cartoonist Pughe’s cartoon is the famous poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, “Barbara Fritchie.” The legend about the old lady is almost certainly apocryphal — the Union patriot who waved her stars and stripes as occupying Confederate forces rode by her house in Frederick, Maryland.

The newly elected Democratic governor of Massachusetts, William L. Douglas, appears as a gladiator holding a sword labeled “Popular Approval” and a shield showing the Seal of the State of Massachusetts. In the arena, he faces a dragon with the head of a bull and fashioned out of industrial parts labeled “Leather Trust, Flour Trust, Beet Trust, Steel Trust, Cotton Trust, Tobacco Trust, Oil Trust, Woolen Goods, Iron, Copper, Steel, [and] Glass.” The dragon’s back and tail are labeled “Monopoly” and “High Protective Tariff.” On the ground between its front legs is a woman labeled “Fair Trade.” Standing in the audience are Republicans O. H. Platt, Henry C. Lodge, Nelson W. Aldrich, Nathan B. Scott, John C. Spooner, and Redfield Proctor.

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An interesting figure in American politics was William Lewis Douglas. He was a prominent shoe manufacturer in Massachusetts, a state known for that product. He was friendly to unions (but a foe of socialism); a staunch opponent of monopolies (as depicted in Pughe’s cartoon, where he challenges the Trust Monster); and an advocate of free trade with Canada (if for no other reason that his business bought hides and coal from the neighbors to the north). He pioneered the concept of manufacturer-owned retails outlets, growing W. L. Douglas Shoe Stores to 60 across America at their busiest.

President Roosevelt appears as a knight on horseback carrying a lance labeled “Reciprocity” over his shoulder with a sack labeled “Campaign Funds” hanging from it. In the background is a giant ogre labeled “Infant Industries” sitting against a castle with a club labeled “Dingley Tariff” nestled against his right arm. Over the castle is flying a banner of “High Protection,” and a despondent maiden labeled “Fair Trade” is standing at the top of a tower.

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Invoking an earlier cartoon, when Puck was more charitable about President Roosevelt’s goals and challenges, the “after” part of this composition suggests that Roosevelt extorted campaign contributions from trusts, and that represented his design from the start.

John Bull crouches as a bulldog labeled “England” on a narrow bridge spanning a river. He has a large bone labeled “Free Trade” in his mouth and is looking over the side. In his reflection in the water, the bone is labeled “Protection.”

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Cartoonist Pughe, in this cover cartoon, encapsulates the issues surrounding the Free Trade debate in Great Britain. The country was considering a radical adjustment to its policy of international trade, the resolution of which would have great consequences for the United States and the rest of the world. As far as spheres of influence and commerce, “the sun never set” on the Empire when trade was concerned.

The Republican elephant, wearing a hat labeled “G.O.P.” and “High Protective Tariff” and a swimsuit labeled “Tariff-Protected Trusts,” wades offshore toward huge waves labeled “Public Patience.” President Theodore Roosevelt is standing closer to shore with one hand on a “Reciprocity Life Line” and the other hand raised, as he calls out a warning about going too far. The U.S. Capitol is visible in the background. Caption: Roosevelt–Don’t go beyond your depth!

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Pughe’s cartoon is a straightforward statement of the political situation — the policies of the new president, Theodore Roosevelt, recommending lower international tariffs and an acceptance of reciprocal trade agreements with foreign partners (policies toward which President William McKinley was warming at the time of his death). The illustration of current events is as logical as an elephant in women’s beach costume is not. But political cartoonists are masters of all they survey.

Joseph Chamberlain holds a pair of shears labeled “Protection” and is about to trim the mane labeled “Free Trade” of the British Lion.

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The subtext of this cartoon is the policy altercations occurring within the British government of the day. Joseph Chamberlain was one of the most consequential British politicians who never became Prime Minister. His peregrinations from party to party — Liberal, Unionist, Conservative — effectively realigned Westminster twice. He played an important role in advancing the Boer War, and he upset Britain’s long-standing policy (once considered sacrosanct) of free trade with the world.

President Roosevelt stands next to Uncle Sam who is sitting on a stool in a “U.S. Custom House.” Roosevelt has his left hand on Sam’s right arm and is gesturing to the left, toward a customs official who is inspecting the bags of a Filipino man just inside a door labeled “Philippines” and “Prohibitive Tariff.” The door is locked and barred by “Seventy-Five per cent of Dingley Rates.” In the background, a woman exits through a door labeled “Cuba” and “Reciprocity” and a man exits through a door labeled “Porto Rico” and “Free Trade.” Caption: President Roosevelt–You’ve been fair to the other two. Now, keep faith with this one.

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In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, different tariff duties and trade policies were imposed on America’s new territorial possessions. Given their retention, this was logical because they each had different histories, geography, economies, and levels of sophistication. One of the prices of empire was dealing with the inevitable complications. Cuba, with a relatively mature infrastructure and major industry, sugar, received more consideration from Washington than did the rather unsophisticated island of Porto Rico (as it was then spelled). The Philippine Islands were a special case for several reasons: they were the farthest of the new lands from the continental United States, the population was the most resistant to American occupation, and as part of the Treaty of Paris that ended the war, Spain received trade conditions equal to those of the United States. William Howard Taft, a federal judge who had been Theodore Roosevelt’s friend since he was United State Solicitor-General under Benjamin Harrison when Roosevelt was head of the Civil Service Commission, served as governor-general of the Philippines from 1901-1903, and tried to effect what historian Michael Cullinane has called the “Filipino-American collaborative empire,” characteristically seeking middle ground. Manila was represented by two representatives in Washington (the other possessions got one each), and strong arguments were made for favorable trade considerations. Pughe’s cartoon dates from the time when relatively harsh tariffs were imposed on the Philippines. Ultimately Roosevelt achieved Congress’s approval for nearly full reciprocity on each nation’s goods.

A well-dressed, contented, obese capitalist labeled “Trusts,” wearing skates labeled “Protective Tariff,” skates near an area of thin ice labeled “Congress” and marked with a sign that says “Danger.” He seems to see no reason to be cautious.

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Through previous decades, cartoonists’ symbols for trusts and monopolies ranged from vultures to money-bags with faces to highwaymen. By 1903, partly through the popularization of an icon resembling an enormous, overweight, ostentatious boor as conceived by the former Puck cartoonist F. Opper, in New York Journal cartoons, the figure in Pughe’s cartoon is instantly recognizable. As the concept of his cartoon suggests, Congress, dominated by Republicans at this time, was beginning to be more favorable to regulating trusts.

A young woman wearing a hat labeled “Cuba” stands, with her arms crossed, trying to decide which of three paths to choose. The first path, labeled “Reciprocity,” leads to an angry “Beet Sugar Senator” who is offering “No Tariff Concessions.” The second path, labeled “Cuban Loan,” leads to Uncle Sam offering the “Platt Amendment.” The third path leads to the U.S. Capitol and “Annexation.” None of the paths look promising to her. Caption: Events are fast limiting her to one path.

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Despite a wide array of nuances, concessions, and amendments at this time and over subsequent decades, the choices Cuba faced are generally well-depicted in Keppler’s cartoon. Generally, Cuba chose the middle path of those shown. In the aftermath of Spain’s defeat by America and Cuban insurrectionists, annexation was never a serious option, although Cuba’s first president Tomas Estrada Palma actually had favored annexation at one point. The sugar trust in the United States (traditional sugar-beet growers and industries) objected to the provision in the Platt Amendment that generously opened, and even granted preference to, Cuban cane sugar in the United States market. The Platt Amendment (named for Senator Orville H. Platt, R-CT and not, as widely assumed, after New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt) required Cuba to accept provisions that granted the United States de facto sovereignty over the island, and control of prerogatives otherwise enjoyed by free nations. Many of these were, however, modified through the years, and generally so in 1934. But the granting of a permanent military facility at Guantanamo Bay remained.

The Republican elephant uses his trunk to support, overhead, an infant labeled “Infant Industries” in a cradle labeled “Protective Tariff.” The U.S. Capitol building is visible in the background.

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The meaning of this cartoon was the real situation and a growing dilemma in United States politics and the American economy. High-tariff and protectionist policies after the Civil War, and accelerating as industries thrived and prosperity asserted itself, became something of an anomaly. Industries largely thrived on their own as America achieved manufacturing and trade dominance in the world, monopolies frequently profited moguls as citizens sought lower retail prices, and the Republican Party’s identification with their vaunted “infant industries” needing protection had become burdensome.

A young woman labeled “Cuba” turns away from Uncle Sam who is offering her a plate labeled “Reduction of Tariff on Cuban Sugar” with an egg labeled 20% on it. In the background a man labeled “American Sugar Grower” is enraged because he feels the egg is larger than it should be. Caption: Cuba — Only this little egg for me? / Sugar Planter — All that big egg for her?

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In the years subsequent to the Spanish-American War, the United States betook itself of separate policies for each of its new colonies. Its role in Cuba can be contrasted with Puerto Rico, where long-term territorial ties were assumed from the start, and the Philippines, where insurrectionists fought any continuing presence of the United States. Cuban freedom fighters were used to agitating for freedom, and the island’s businesses were developed enough to reasonably assert independence. The United States had to navigate between these legitimate desires, and Cuba’s major export crop, sugar; and the demands of America’s powerful sugar lobby. The egg in the cartoon’s symbolism is a seasonal icon.

President Roosevelt, as a knight on horseback, carries a lance labeled “Reciprocity” and faces a giant ogre labeled “Infant Industries” and leaning on a club labeled “Dingley Tariff.” In the background on the left is a castle flying a banner “High Protection” and with a maiden labeled “Fair Trade” standing at the top of a tower. Caption: And so the knight promised to take up his late lord’s lance and carry on the fight.

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This is a brilliant cartoon by Keppler, wholly reliant on its surfeit of labels and slightly inaccurate as to history. That is, it predicts that the new president, Theodore Roosevelt, would take up the late President William McKinley’s lance and battle against high tariffs. McKinley’s views on may issues evolved, but as a Protectionist, his ideas about Reciprocity — fair trade with nations, one by one — were tepid. Roosevelt, who admitted that he never fully understood tariffs and economics, would prevent his Republican Party from enacting any tariffs, upward or reductions, during his presidency. He know that every administration that did so (e.g., the previous four) suffered from the polarized public debates. His successor, William Howard Taft, presided over both a high-tariff act and reciprocity treaties, both leading to electoral defeats. With a few changed labels — for instance, trusts and monopolies instead of high tariffs and protected industries — the cartoon better could represent a major theme of the Roosevelt presidency. 

A merchant labeled “Dealer in Protected Goods” stands in a customhouse, with a whip which forms the words “Protective Tariff Bought from Congress.” A paper labeled “Bribe” extends from his pocket. Horrified travelers watch as custom officials search their luggage for contraband. Caption: Home-coming Americans must submit to these indignities as long as the favored merchant is allowed to retain his whip.

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Keppler’s cartoon is an exercise in hyperbole… but that often is a stock-in-trade for political cartoons. Not every tourist in the era of high protective tariffs was subject to taxation for single items brought home after vacations. However, high-ticket items were targeted and taxed often enough that a growing chorus of complaints arose. 

An oversized, bloated human figure with the head of a pig, wearing a sash labeled “Steel Trust,” holds steel rails in both hands. He stands on the grounds of a steel factory labeled “U.S.” John Bull stands on the left, on a patch of ground labeled “England,” paying a reduced rate for the rails. Uncle Sam, standing on the right, pays an exorbitant rate due to a “Protective Tariff 43.58%.” Caption: The poor foreigner couldn’t get his rails for twenty-four dollars if we didn’t elect to pay thirty-five.

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The background of this cartoon is less about the mathematical results of tariffs and rates, though they were always matters of Byzantine debate between free-traders and defenders of “infant industries” and protective tariffs, and more about the headline of the day: J. P. Morgan’s purchase of Carnegie Steel Company. Its capitalization was touted at $1 billion when U. S. Steel was introduced to Wall Street. Merged with his own Federal Steel, Morgan introduced the business model of “vertical integration,” control of production from raw materials through transport and manufacture to ultimate marketing and shipments. Andrew Carnegie’s reluctant sale price was $480 million, which Morgan instantly accepted. Later, Carnegie told Morgan he always regretted not asking for $10 million more. Morgan immediately replied that would have paid it. Puck traditionally was a proponent of free tree and low tariffs, and generally was anti-monopoly from its earliest days. In the 1888 presidential election, it even published a campaign booklet, The Tariff ‘Question.’ 

Illustration showing President William McKinley as a chicken labeled “Republican Party” cackling at a duck labeled “Expansion” swimming in a pond labeled “Free Trade.” The caption reads, “No use cackling – ducks will swim.”

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President McKinley’s name was synonymous with high tariffs after the 1890 McKinley Tariff substantially raised rates. This cartoon illustrates his opposition to any new American territories and possessions receiving free-trade benefits in the wake of the Spanish-American War. Some of them eventually did enjoy such economic favors, but Puck, traditionally a free-trade journal, posted warning signals such as this cartoon. It was published soon after a Presidential position paper was delivered on the subject.

President William McKinley drives a carriage labeled “Free Trade,” with passengers Uncle Sam and a woman labeled “Hawaii.” Standing on the right is a woman labeled “Porto Rico,” holding a basket of fruit and looking forlornly at the carriage as it passes. Lying in the dust are papers that state, “McKinley’s message to Congress. ‘Our Plain Duty’.”

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The question posed by this cartoon is why the new territories and possessions of the United States, particularly those acquired in the recent war with Spain, were treated differently in matters of governance and trade. Hawaii received free trade status with the United States because their economy and exports were somewhat developed. Cuba had a legal and economic infrastructure that, although calcified under Spanish rule, also existed. Both territories, and others, had status that was heavily influenced by American corporations and trusts. In the case of Puerto Rico, the island was largely undeveloped. President McKinley, in a 1900 message to Congress that prompted this cartoon, and in the 1902 Foraker Act, proposed a set of legal, governmental, and economic reforms that included plans for infrastructure and a school system. Included was a provision for modified free trade with the United States, and tariffs lower than prevailing rates for foreign goods — with the generated revenues earmarked for internal improvements on the island. Puck depicted the bare-bone fact of disparity without nuanced policy bases.

Illustration showing a gigantic Andrew Carnegie standing between two large pumps, one labeled “Protective tariff” representing the Treasury building and the other labeled “Legitimate business” representing his factory buildings, with two men pumping his coat pockets, each labeled “$20,000,000 a year,” full of money.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1900-04-04