The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-26

filled so important place in political | literature.
 The Grady-Salus bill which Governor l Pennypacker has deliberately made law Is directed at the work of MT. Charles Nelan, the cartoonlst on the l Philadelphia North American. MT. Ne lan's anti-Quay and anti-machine car toons were the potential factors in CO., ercing the Pennsylyanias legislature into l it's recent policy. The determination on 1 the part of Governor Pennypacker to muzze the cartoonists is indirectly the result of a cartoon In which MT. Nelan represented him as parrot during the campaign last fall.
 MT Nelan has been connected with the Philadelphia North American for two years. He has been making car toons since 1886. He is a native of Ohio. His first employment was with the Cleveland Press and later he was con nected with Scrlpps- McRae League of Western Newspapers.
 On the breaking out of the Spanish American war MT. Nelan. who was then on the staff of the New York Herald, directed his talent towards picturing the war situation and his cartoons were published in book form. They gave him at once a supremacy that indicated his originality and revealed that as a car toonist he was a force to be reckoned with. His recent work on the Philadel- phia North American has further em- phasized his power in vigorous political attacks.
 "Whether 1t will be possible to make l cartoons in the state of Pennsylvania since the anti-cartoon bill has gone into | effect Is a question that will be deter mined later" was MT. Nelan's answer l to my request for his views on the sub | ject.
 However the effectiveness of the car 1 toon Is demonstrated" he continued. Some men cannot endure ridicule. New ertheless the cartoon is here to stay and l as a medium of expression there Is noth- l ing more powerful for good to expose corrupt administrations and public abuses. Where language fails the car toon succeeds in uncovering to public view the rasoals In their hiding places"
 The part that the cartoon is taking in the worlds affairs Is indicated in the fact that he is an indispensable factor in l American journalism. Few newspapers | of any prominence are without staff of | cartoonists. The American humorous weeklies, Judge, Puck, and Life include on their regular staffs as brilliant carl | caturists as any who have made the | Fleet street contemporary famous. Sev- | eral of the serious American magazines 1 make a special feature of reproducing the leading cartoons of the month. l It has been truly said that the cartoon 1 is the editorial picture. It Is even more l It is photographed more indellibly on | the public eye. It has come to be feared even more than the leaders in the press. The successful cartoonist must neces- sarily be close student of passing events. He must possess a thorough knowledge of national and international affairs, and must be informed on polit- teal and social conditions. The cartoon | while having a political application must l present the questions of the day in such a manner that an opinion Is at once formed. It must emphasize situation. It must be broad. comprehensive, and convey an idea. As with the war Pres idents." so has the cartoonist fine op- portunities during the war crises, and to some extent owe his success to the in- cidents of his time.
 The war between the states developed the power of the late Thomas Mast, the father of American caricatnre. At the time that Nast's first cartoon appeared | comparatively few of the newspapers in this country printed cartoons. Mast was born in Bavaria but he came to America l when he was @ boy, his artistic career | beginning with his connection with the Frank Leslie Illustrated Newspaper.
 Mast inherited very radical opinions from his father, and at the outbreak of the civil war he turned his entire atten- 1 tion to the issues involved. The car toon that made him famous was pub ! lished in 1864 He expressed the peace at any price, sentiment then sweeping over the north.
 The Peace cartoon pictured the Am l erican flag flying up side down. In the center was Union soldiers grave, and the kneeling figure of Columbia, weep ing At Its head was a crippled, un- armed Union soldier with bowed head, his extended hand held by a victorious Confederate with his right foot resting