America in the War: Each cartoon faced with a page of comment by a distinguished American, the text forming an anthology of patriotic opinionRaemaekers, Louis
History
America in the War: Each cartoon faced with a page of comment by a distinguished American, the text forming an anthology of patriotic opinion
Raemaekers, Louis
World War, 1914-1918 -- Humor, caricatures, etc.
Every day reveals some new evidence that the German mole was working
in South America, in Central America, in almost every American state
and city, to prepare the minds of those who were to take part in the
infamous conspiracy. Before the war broke out in Europe, Germans were
trying to organize an active cohort within our boundary. The effort to
arouse Mexico against us while we were still neutral, is no worse than
other German diplomacy such as the “spurlos versenkt” radiograms of the
scoundrel Luxburg, directed against the Argentine; but the appeal to
Mexico to “reconquer” Texas and the Southwest was worse than a crime,
it was a blunder, especially resented by the people of that part of the
country. Nothing but an absolute breach with Germany has made possible
the revelation of the cynical violation of diplomatic privileges by
German and Austrian officials in this country from titled Ambassadors
down through consuls-general and consuls-particular and military aides
and secretaries and clerks and hangers-on and spies and jackals, all
uniting to stab the land which gave them hospitality. Whatever else may
happen, a hundred years will not efface from the minds of the people of
the United States the belief that “Germany cannot be a Gentleman.”
ALBERT BUSHNELL HART.
[Illustration]
_German “Militarist” Socialism_
Does not the cartoonist Raemaekers fail in this cartoon? The artist
Raemaekers is inspired--here as always. But does the cartoonist succeed
this time in burning the right idea, his idea, into the reader’s brain?
Here is the real Kaiser and here are real German workingmen. It is they
who are carrying the burden of Kaiserism. All this is convincing. But
do not other workingmen in other countries carry burdens?
The failure is only at first glance. Raemaekers is not concerned to
reproduce the conventional cartoon of workingmen carrying a burden of
other classes on their shoulders. The point lies not in the burden,
but in the nature of the burden, the contrast, so perfectly portrayed,
between the character of the Kaiser and the characters of his proud
and willing slaves. The Kaiser, crafty and contemptuous, but neither
so ignorant nor so stupid as to be wholly unconscious of the foolish
and contemptible position he occupies! The workingmen evidently once
strong, intelligent and enthusiastic, though now blinded and crippled,
are utterly unconscious of what they are doing. Carrying the heavy
burden of Kaiserism seems no more to them than their day’s work.
You see Raemaekers _knows_ both Kaiser and workingmen, and so will have
nothing to do with the conventional portraits of either. The Kaiser is
neither a beast nor a fool--however foolish his position may be. The
workingmen are neither labor heroes ready to revolt, nor conscious and
beaten serfs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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