Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-11

| glance, where II would not be understood or b
convincing in the shape Of cold type. On
friendly cartoons are calculated to do harm I,
any man, however honest, whom they ma,
attack; the person pictured may have tn,
purest motives in all that he does, and yet the
public at large 10 not acquainted with thost
motives and may get . false notion of then
from the opposition cartoons they see. IN
| doubleday the caricatures that meet the view
| OF so large proportion Of the voting population
has q great:effect on public opinion. Al to
] whether / myself like to be oaricutured
| would rather not say
UNrRIENDLY TO MR.. CANNON.
Maj. McKinley's first lieutenant on the side
Of the republican majority, Chairman Cannon
Of the ways and means committee. said tina,
his own experience of being csriostured had
been unfortunate.
| such caricsturss as I have seen Of myself u
| he remarked, have mostly been of an un-
friendly character Mighty few fattering por-
traits Of myself have seen in the comic prints.
But all the same, have a large belief in the
usefulness Of caricature. 1t affords object
lessons to the masses, which in this way learn a
vast amount concerning public men and their
, work that would not be conveyed to popular
| knowledge by reading. In my opinion q man
| OF real merit Is not injured by being carica-
tured in a hostile manner. because people who
| are not his friends make allowance for what is
apparently malice or Misrepresentation, while
those who are friendly to him become indis-
nant and more active on account Of what they
conceive to be unjust persecution. Any man
prominently connected with political legislation
and administration cannot possibly escape
being carlcatured, and il he il not excessively
| thin skinned, he will be, or will soon become,
Indifferent on the subject"
ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE.
So much for the views of the three chief mon
on the republican side of the House. On the
democratic side Mr.. Flower of New York has
been singled out of late to considerable OK
tent for treatment by the caricaturists. He
expressed q rather humorous view of the
matter.
Why" said he, II should feel positively
lonesome il did not see caricatures Of myself
in Puck and other such publications. One Of
the funniest things ever saw in my life was
the cartoon picked up the other day in which
was represented as just having learned the
news Of Mr.. Reeds reelection. The artist de-
picted me as awakened in bed by the intelli-
gence, which had somewhat the effect OF .
dynamite cartridge upon my couch and its sur
! roundings, while I lay aghast at the disaster
So far as my recollection goes did not expe-
rience any such horrifying astonishment at the
Speakers success which more or less to
have been anticipated, buta caricaturist without
license would be in a worse way than a saloon
with the same embarrassment / like to be carl
catured; it would grieve me to find myself on
longer subjected to the pleasing ordeal A pub
lie man doesn't feel az il his reputation WAS
made unless he appears in the cartoons; it 10 q
recognition Of the fact that he has made him
self known to the people and he ought to be
grateful In my opinion even unfriendly car
toons do the subject good though my notion
Is that the Impressions conveyed by caricatu res
are not at all enduring ones; they last for an
hour merely"
CARTOONS ARE UsETUL.
Mr.. Flowers colleague, Amos j. Cummings
has been taken up to considerable extent
lately by caricaturists He declared that the
funny cartoons had great usefulness.
''They are most useful" he said, "for show
ing up reprehensible absurdities Of all sorts
Nonsensical fashions and customs they do much
to suppress, and in like manner they call atten-
ton in most sslutary way to the weaknesses Of
public men. A politician who runs to extremes
In anything il quickly brought to his senses by
| ridicule 80 applied. At the same time the
privilege OF caricature is greatly abused.
The weapon is often utilized to mis-
represent and to put in . false
light For instance, fragment of q
mans speech il taken out of the context and a
cartoon constructed upon 1t, which represents
the speaker In q manner altogether untruthful.
This IL obviously wrong. In general way
however, it may be said that, If q man is really
lie and conscientious, csricasure I: not
likely to do any serious injury. II always
amuses me to see caricatures Of myself, and
rather like it than otherwise. A dishonest man
il certainly very much harmed by the weapon
OF caricsture. Take the case Of Bill Tweed, for
instance. 1t was Nast's cartoons in Hurper's
Weekly that did more to fetch him down from
his position OF power to prison and public con-
tempt than all the other influences combined.
Leaving dishonesty out Of the question, the
weaknesses or peculiarities Of any public man
who has them are sure to be assRiled by the
caricaturists. The cartoonists attacked Mr..
Blaine unsparingly, with such tremendous
effect that he lost the presidency. No printed
articles could have done him the damage in
hicted by the cartoons in which he was made
to figure"
NH. BRECKENRIDGE AMUSED.
Silver-haired Breckinridge Of Kentucky
chuckled when he was asked how he liked 70
be caricatured and what he thought the effect
Of such treatment WAS upon the interests Of .
public man. Said be:
Il have been intensely amused by some Of
the caricatures have seen Of myself. There
WAS one in particular / remember, printed .
few years ago, that represented me in my seat
in the House with a regular flower garden in
my buttonhole and my cowlicks all disordered
and iuffed up from my head. 1t was . capital
likeness and made me look for all the world
like q great big Brahma rooster. often laugh
over 1t when it recurs to my mind. Caricatures
Of myself have come to regard very much as
| II they were Of third person and my vanity 10
uoG ulotuEUcu ny tutuu 6re6t ID the power
| OF caricatuIe in my opinion. Il strikes blow
| with q sharpness that mere print does not
achieve. For example, you will perhaps re-
| member the cartoon published during past
presidential campaign that represented Gen.
Hancock in military garments and in . state Of
serious mental disturbance. Who 10 this fell
low Tariff, he was made to inquire, and why
| does he 60 in for revenue onlyT THIS conveyed
| like fash the idea which the opposition party
was anxious to promuigate that Hancock was
| . military man, unscqusinted with politics and
therefore unit to administer the government
| from the White House. There you have an ex-
ample the OF vividness OF the cartoon - opposed
| to the printed editorial Every one was able
| to comprehend the notion expressed in that
way. My belief 10 that under ordinary circum-
| stances even unfavorable caricatures are bens-
fetal to public man. But il he II dishonest
they injure him by bringing him under . par
ncularly bright light Of publicity. II II in the
| superlatlve vividness with which the caricatnr-
| ist expresses his idea that the strength Of the
argument he presents Is found
PowxD Yon HDUcAfIoN.
One other republican leader In the House
had few words to say about his notions Of the
csricsturs. Il was David b Hsndsrson Of
Iowa, and he said:
II believe that the cartoons In the funny
papers have . great power for the educstion Of
the masses. They carry ideas quickly and pre-
| sent them in form TO attract people who
would never take them in BY the moro tedious
| aud difficult process Of reading. unffiendly
cartoons, like unjust Newspaper articles, fire.
quently make men. The work Of the caricA-