This cartoon is an editorial depiction of the fear of war with Japan in later 1910. At the time, the army of Japan was growing, and they were seeking new technology and funding. This was combined with Japan seizing territory around it, such as parts of Korea. These military actions made relations between the United States and Japan more tense, even to the point where California was proposing legislation to limit the rights of Japanese citizens. The Chicago Tribune took a relatively relaxed approach to the situation, asserting relations between the United States and Japan were nowhere near a declaration of war. Journalists came to this conclusion, because the costs of war were too great for both sides. Ultimately, President Taft sought to avoid public fear by seeking to dismantle rumors of war by publicly announcing the United States intention of peace with Japan. This cartoon shows Taft crushing the personified Japanese war scare while on the phone saying "Hello, is that the coroner? Well, say, come up in about 10 minutes. I'll have a nice job for you." (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)
Published in the Chicago Tribune in 1910.
"130" -- Handwritten on verso.
"Mr. Hammer 314 Tribune Building" -- Handwritten on verso.
Pencil and ink on board.
Original in University of Missouri Special Collections, John Tinney McCutcheon Collection.
Digitized on September 2017. Equipment: Indus Color Book Scanner. Scanning software: bcs-2 version 3.4.9. Image specifications: 400 dpi, color. Access copies: tiffs with LZW compression, rotated and cropped.
Title from caption.
