Payne, Sereno Elisha, 1843-1914

Several congressmen labeled “Gardner, Champ Clark, De Armond, Sulzer, Goldfogle, Ollie James, Fitzgerald, [and] Burton Harrison” and others are engaged in a brawl on the floor of the House of Representatives. In the background, Sereno E. Payne is addressing the Speaker of the House, Joseph Gurney Cannon.

comments and context

Comments and Context

As the sixty-first Congress was seated in March 1909 the Democrat Party had reason to feel confident about their future in the House of Representatives. The party still was in the distinct minority, but a growing restlessness in the electorate presaged political changes; more and more Republican representatives declared themselves anti-Establishment Insurgents likely to resist the House’s Old Guard; and the popular Theodore Roosevelt would be abroad for more than a year, his Republican influence absent from politics.

An oversized, bloated man labeled “Protected Monopoly” receives a blood transfusion from Uncle Sam who is being attended to by (left to right) Vice President J. S. Sherman; Senator Nelson W. Aldrich (Rhode Island); Representative Sereno Elisha Payne (New York); and Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon. Sherman stands on the left, on a stepladder, taking the pulse of the “Protected Monopoly.” Caption: “Uncle Sam–They say he needs it, but he doesn’t look sick to me.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The subject of the cartoon is the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909, the first upward revision of rates since 1897; and which proved massively unpopular with voters, particularly farmers. The Republican tariff was so unpopular that the party suffered major defeats in the 1910 midterm elections. President William H. Taft attempted to ameliorate the perennial tariff woes by drafting reciprocity treaties with many countries, but even the difficult Canadian negotiations could not please the angry consumers and disaffected voters.

A Chinese play is being acted on a small stage with Joseph Gurney Cannon and Nelson W. Aldrich offering two small doll-like figures labeled “Small Dealer” and “Consumer” to a dragon labeled “High Protection” manned by two men labeled “Special Privilege” and “Graft.” J. S. Sherman, John Dalzell, and Sereno E. Payne play musical instruments on the left side of the stage. On the back of the stage is a Buddha icon labeled “Greed.” In the foreground, at the foot of the stage, are Chinese men labeled “Lumber Trust, Paper Trust, Steel Trust, [and] Beef Trust.” On the far right, beneath a sign that states “Box Reserved for Amer. Protective Tariff League,” is a Chinese man labeled “Chas A. Moore” holding a tray with two small figures labeled “First Voter.”

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Comments and Context

“Like a Chinese Play, It Goes On Forever” is an abecedarian and awkward variation on “trusts bad, politicians subservient, consumers powerless” themes. Cartoonist Frank A. Nankivell, who had lived part of career in Japan, had a difficult job in approximating Asian pictograph lettering, and he relied on stereotypes of culture and attire for the cartoon.

A runaway pig labeled “The Tariff Issue” drags Joseph Gurney Cannon behind it. They are being chased by John Dalzell, Nelson W. Aldrich, Sereno Elisha Payne, and J. S. Sherman. An overturned cart labeled “Steel Trust” has spilled its contents of steel railroad rails. Andrew Carnegie, wearing a kilt, stands next to the cart waving his hat and gesturing to the congressmen. In the background is a large crowd, some in pursuit, and the U.S. Capitol.

comments and context

Comments and Context

After the Republican party’s sweeping victory in the 1908 elections, the major goal of the party establishment, after the oath-taking of William H. Taft, seemed to be the passage of a tariff bill. It had been a decade since the last revision of import duties (the Dingley Act of 1897), and the tariff was a hot topic in the campaign.

A fire at the Treasury Building is billowing clouds of smoke labeled “Deficit.” Nelson W. Aldrich is the fire chief, and he is telling firefighters Stephen B. Elkins, Joseph Gurney Cannon, Sereno Elisha Payne, and Jacob H. Gallinger to send a fire engine labeled “Lower Tariff” back to the station. President William H. Taft and Elihu Root carry a large fire extinguisher labeled “Corporation Tax” and race up the steps of the building, attempting to extinguish the blaze. Caption: Chief Aldrich (at the great Treasury blaze) — Send that engine home! We’ll put her out with the extinguisher!

comments and context

Comments and Context

Udo J. Keppler’s cartoon, for all its drama while debates over tariff legislation were raging in the Capital, betrays a certain ambiguity. Editorially, Puck frequently through the years occasionally was ambiguous about its position on tariffs and trusts. So were the political parties, despite the Republicans (who received the cartoonist’s attention here) generally being the party of big business and high tariffs. President Roosevelt had begun to warm to the concept of “fair trade” and reciprocal trade agreements, on a country-to-country basis. Such concepts would be strongly advocated by President William H. Taft, particularly with the Philippines; and famously with Canada. He was to stake — and lose — much of his political capital, urging Canadian reciprocity.

A troop of soldiers wearing red coats, some labeled “Clothing Trust, Franchise Grabber, Food Trust, [and] Land Trust,” march past Daniel Chester French’s sculpture, “The Minute Man.” Among the soldiers are Nelson W. Aldrich wearing a miter and carrying a flag decorated with an emblem of a crowned hand pointing thumb-down in a squashing gesture, John Dalzell, J. S. Sherman, and Sereno Elisha Payne. Joseph Gurney Cannon is pictured kissing the boot of a fat officer labeled “Privilege” riding on a horse. In the background, more red coats are ransacking “The American Home” and tearing down the American flag.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Udo J. Keppler’s Fourth of July cartoon was a scathing indictment of the American economy, 1909, and specifically a gallery of politicians and business leaders he portrayed as dismissive of patriots and patriotism.

A chef labeled “Special Privilege” holds a large platter on which rests a huge turkey with the face of Theodore Roosevelt. He is about to place the platter on a table around which sit several men labeled “Cannon, Rockefeller, Archbold, Haskell, Payne, Dalzell, Elkins, Sherman, Foraker, Harrimen, Day, Rogers” and Nelson W. Aldrich.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The “Teddy-Turk” cartoon by Udo J. Keppler in Puck was the magazine’s strongest — in fact one of its only — comments on the election just concluded.

Joseph Gurney Cannon, as the cruel, autocratic Sultan of the Turks, Abdülhamid II, sits on a throne, smoking a hookah labeled “Obstruction,” as two men, in the background, dressed as Turks labeled “Payne” and “Dalzell,” suffer from a chill or other deprivation.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Udo J. Keppler, a brilliant caricaturist, seldom practiced the iconic method of representation — a large head on a small body. But in the exception, and despite the thematic statement that Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon’s odious character could be suggested by hoary facial features as well as by actions or labels.

President Taft balances a cone of papers, labeled “Administration” and showing the Republican elephant, on his nose. Struggling to get in the cone is “Ballinger” while already inside are “Elkins, Hitchcock, Wickersham, C. Taft, Crane, Dalzell, Cannon, Payne (holding on to a large question mark labeled “Tariff”), Aldrich, [and] Sherman.” Rolled-up papers in the cone are labeled “Standpat Legislation” and “Cost of Living Investigation.” Also in the cone, a dog labeled “Regulars” and a cat labeled “Insurgents” are fighting.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-08-31

In the left background, “Mount Sam” is erupting, spewing lava labeled “Revolt Against Cannonism, Havens’ Victory in New York, Indiana Upheaval, Increased Cost of Living, Demand for Lower Tariff, Democratic Gains, Consumer’s Revolt, [and] Western Insurgency” which is flowing toward an area labeled “Republican Majority in Congress.” In the left foreground, Nelson W. Aldrich and Eugene Hale flee the scene, while Joseph G. Cannon stands firm as the “Foss Landslide in Massachusetts” races toward him. On the right, President Taft with “Lodge, Root, Depew, Crane, [and] Payne appeal to a shrine containing a diminutive “Saint Ted.” On the far right, James S. Sherman is praying. Caption: Appeals to a patron saint to stop its flow.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-05-11

President Taft, as Alexander the Great, is accompanied by James S. Sherman, Sereno E. Payne, Nelson W. Aldrich, Joseph G. Cannon, and George W. Wickersham. They stand before Uncle Sam, shown as Diogenes. Uncle Sam sits at the base of an overturned dome in the shadows cast by Taft and the others who are blocking his sun. The sun shows the face of Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-04-27

A wave labeled “Republican Voters’ Revolt” crashes into the dining room of a ship where “Cannon, Payne, Taft, Knox, Sherman, Root, Aldrich, Woodruff, Dalzell, Crane, Wickersham, Lodge, Parsons, Hitchcock, Depew, Hale, Elkins, Ballinger, Smoot, Penrose, [and] Cox” are dining, and upsets a dish of “Party Plums,” as well as a bottle of “Stalwart Grog.” Caption: “We were crowded in the cabin, / Not a soul would dare to sleep; / It was midnight o’er the waters, / And a storm was on the deep.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-04-20

A comet labeled “Allds Investigation” strikes a planet labeled “Albany Legislature,” causing it to explode among planets labeled “Aldrich, Penrose, Payne, Vreeland, Dalzell, Cannon, Hitchcock, Woodruff, Ballinger, Root, Platt, Depew, Parsons, Sherman, Bliss, Black, Cortelyou, Odell, Lodge, Hale, [and] Elkins.” A lone planet showing the face of Theodore Roosevelt hovers on the far right. Caption: A comet that has cut loose in the Republican constellation.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-03-09

In the interior of a recruiting office for the presidency, Uncle Sam and Puck examine potential recruits against a height chart labeled, from low to high, “Notoriety, Popularity, Capability, Honesty, [and at the top] Statesmanship.” A number of men, in various states of undress, have been rejected for a variety of reasons: “Evarts Too Long-Winded, [U.S. Grant] Retired, [Conkling] Too Pigeon-Breasted, [Thomas Collier Platt] Me Too Little, Mahone Must be Readjusted, J. B. Rejected Too Crooked, Dana Rejected – Too Shortsighted, [Logan] Grammar Feeble, [Arthur] Rejected No Backbone, [Davis] Short Winded, Sherman Bloody Shirt Mania, [Kelly] Pig-Headed, Payne Oil on the Brain, Randall Protection Madness, Bayard Unstable, [Tilden] Rejected Cipher Catarrh, [and] B[utler] Can’t See Straight.” Five tall men, “Admitted to the Competition,” stand on the right: “Hewitt, Carlisle, Morrison, Lincoln [and] Edmunds O. K.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-30

A street on a winter’s day is crowded with horse-drawn sleighs, some of which are attempting to get ahead of the others. On the left, a sleigh labeled “J. Gould” carrying Gould, Whitelaw Reid, and Roscoe Conkling has caused another sleigh labeled “Villard” and “Northern Pacific R. R.” to overturn, spilling Henry Villard, and nearly hitting George H. “Pendleton” holding on to the arm of a young girl labeled “Civil Service Reform.” Behind them is a troika labeled “Standard Oil Co.” that is driven by Sereno “Payne.” Racing ahead at the center is a sleigh labeled “The P– be d–” and “Vanderbilt” driven by William H. Vanderbilt. On the right is a large “Labor Sleigh” loaded with blue-collar workers and drawn by a single, scrawny horse struggling to keep pace. To the far right are two sleighs. One labeled “Roach Contract Cutter” is driven by John Roach and the other labeled “Field” is driven by Cyrus Field. Bringing up the rear is a sleigh labeled “Huntington” driven by Collis P. Huntington and flying a banner that states, “It costs money to fix things.” A man with a bag labeled “Laborer Iron” has fallen in the street and is about to be run over by Roach and the Labor Sleigh.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-02-06

In a winter scene, a soldier labeled “Democracy” stands in front of a road sign that points in four directions “Free Trade, To Tariff Reform, To Protection, [and] No Policy.” Between his feet is a small dog that looks like John Kelly. “Speaker Carlisle” as a drum major for “Reform” is standing in the left foreground. Behind and to the left are Benjamin Butler “Butlerism,” Abram S. “Hewitt” with “Free Trade” banner, and Samuel S. “Cox” pointing toward “Free Trade.” Samuel J. “Randall” is standing in the right foreground, wearing a helmet labeled “Protection.” Behind and to the right are Sereno “Payne” with banner labeled “Straddle Every Issue!”, Thomas “Bayard” holding papers that state “Dodge the Question,” and Samuel J. Tilden labeled “Ancient Issues.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-01-30

Samuel J. Tilden, pictured as Moses with two rays of light emitting from his forehead, stands with his back to a mountainside where some rocks look like barrels labeled with “$”, and a sign that states “This Stream Stopped Running in November 1876.” He is confronted by a group of parched (for funds) political aspirants labeled “Hewitt, Watterson, Dana, [Hendricks], Cox, Bayard, Randall, N. Y. Democracy, [Kelly], Payne, Lamar, [and] Thurman,” and one man holding a jug labeled “For Campaign Funds.” They implore him to strike the rocks and make the money flow.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-04-02

A camel has collasped under the weight of its burden labeled “Amendments,” with Samuel J. Randall riding on top. Concerned travelers include John Kelly, Samuel J. Tilden, Henry Watterson, Sereno Payne, Morrison, Abram S. Hewitt, Grover Cleveland, Carlisle, Charles A. Dana, Thomas Bayard, Benjamin F. Butler, and Samuel S. Cox. Bones labeled “1880 Local Issue, 1876 Fraud, [and] 1872” lie in the sand nearby. A “November Simoom” is approaching in the right background. On the left, an elephant labeled “Republicans” carrying among others James G. Blaine, John A. Logan, and Roscoe Conkling, races toward an oasis. Caption: “If its back is broken, we are lost!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-03-19

A mermaid labeled “Presidency” swims in water with a clear view of the fish that are attracted to her. Depicted are David Davis, Grover Cleveland, Joseph E. McDonald, Benjamin F. Butler, Robert Todd Lincoln, John Sherman, Sereno Payne, Chester A. Arthur, William T. Sherman, John Kelly, Samuel J. Tilden, Allen G. Thurman, Abram S. Hewitt, Roswell P. Flower, John Logan, Thomas Bayard, James G. Blaine, Ulysses S. Grant, Roscoe Conkling, Samuel J. Randall, and Winfield Scott Hancock.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-03-12

A man labeled “Consumer” walks with crutches labeled “Free Oil” and “Free Hides,” and is heavily wrapped with bandages labeled “Free Valerianic, Free Cerium, Free Acorns, Gambier, Fossils, Free Orange Peel, Free Spunk, Coir, Rennets, Free Aniline Salts, Ipecac, Divi-Divi, Free Manganese, Free Turtles, Rags, Plumbago, Insects, Tonquin, Teeth, Free Brazilian Pebble, Free Pulu Litmus, [and] Free Rope ends.” He has just been discharged from the “United States Congressional Clinic” where “Matron Taft” stands at the door and doctors “Sherman, Payne, Aldrich, [and] Cannon” watch from a window as they clean their medical instruments.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-08-25