The Rise and Fall of John Redmond in the Irish World

Home , John Redmond, The Irish World (London), Thomas Fleming (bishop), Willie Redmond

Chapter Six

Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse: The Rise and Fall of John Redmond in the Irish World

Úna N í Bhroim é il

In a series of publications entitled “Coming Men and Coming Questions,” reprinted in the Irish World on June 24, 1905, W. T. Stead stated that John Redmond “is the fighting chief . . . his readiness in debate, his self-control, his keen appreciation of the vital points in parliamentary strategy speedily made him a power in the House of Commons.” 1 The Irish World concurred. Placing the Stead article on the front page alongside a three-column-sized image of Redmond gazing into the distance surrounded by a wreath of shamrocks and titled “the Irish Leader,” the paper marked the fact that while Stead had been critical of Redmond in the past, he now recognized him as the leader of a united, organized, and disciplined party and complimented him on his astute ability, stating that he was “a politician first, a politician second and a politician third.” 2 This was a fulsome tribute, the leader writer suggested, from “one of the foremost English critics of men and events . . . who perhaps beyond any other writer of his time in England has the faculty of dissecting character and presenting the strong and weak points of public men in cameo-like sentences.” 3 In this article, the Irish World encapsulated the power and significance of Stead, especially the condensed style of the New Journalism that he espoused, and a justification of its own support for Redmond and his party. The impact and influence of Stead’s New Journalism on the changing representation of Redmond in the Irish World , and on the nature of that representation, is the focus of this chapter. The New Journalism of the late nineteenth century was regarded as having its apotheosis in America, where the impact of mass journalism was allied to a vision of the democratization of the press and an emphasis on “sensation as opposed to reason.”4 One of the key ways in which news could be condensed and represented was through

K. Steele et al. (eds.), Ireland and the New Journalism © Karen Steele and Michael de Nie 2014 120 Úna Ní Bhroiméil political cartoons. Long a staple of American newspapers, illustrations commanded attention from the reader and conferred “a self- authenticating truthfulness upon a news story.” 5 Pulitzer, for example, believed strongly in visual journalism, publishing illustrations, political caricatures, and cartoons on the front page of the World , aim- ing to “entrap the eye by making pictures a complement to text.” 6 As a method of maintaining what W. T. Stead termed “touch with the public,” political cartoons were an innovative practice of political display, “more enterprising, more energetic, more extravagant” than columns of newsprint. 7 This was particularly critical given that, as Joel Wiener suggests, editorials often remained unread in America. 8 As a time-based form of visual opinion discourse, political cartoons both reflected and shaped the climate of public opinion and revealed, according to Michael DeSousa and Martin Medhurst, “the interre- lationships of people, events, and power.” 9 Viewed as a “tool in the editorial arsenal,” these cartoons had the ability and power to propa- gate opinion and to punish wrongdoing. 10 This was decisively demon- strated by the undoing of William Tweed by the cartoonist Thomas Nast in the 1870s, a process that marked “the genesis of ‘visual think- ing about political power’ in American journalism.” 11 The Irish World and American Industrial Liberator set itself apart from other Irish American newspapers by consistently publishing on its front page a one-panel political cartoon. Edited by Patrick Ford from its foundation in 1871 until his death in 1913 and subsequently by his son Robert Ford, the Irish World was published weekly in New York and was the most widely circulating Irish American newspaper in the early twentieth century, having a readership of 125,000 in 1904, although this had shrunk to 60,000 by 1914.12 The paper also had a broad audience in Ireland. 13 The main function of the Irish American press was, according to Ford, to provide interpretative editorial con- tent and information on Ireland and so was suited to a weekly edition rather than a daily. 14 As well as endorsing and advancing Irish causes, its editorial line was pro-labor and anti-imperialist, and it championed American ideals of independence and liberty. As their newspapers did for Stead and T. P. O’Connor, the Irish World provided a forum for the Fords to publicize pro-Irish and anti-British views and indeed was banned from the US mail in 1917 because of its trenchant anti-British stance. 15 Throughout the period 1900–1914, however, the paper was a keen and strong supporter of John Redmond and of Home Rule. During this period, Redmond personified Irish constitutional nationalism, and the front-page cartoons of the Irish World presented him to its readers as the central and crucial figure in Ireland’s efforts to Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 121 achieve political self-determination and autonomy. This visual representation made Redmond a familiar and iconic figure. By examining the changing representation of John Redmond in these graphic texts, it will be possible to bring to light the attitudes and understandings that were current among Irish Americans about Ireland and about their own role in its future. 16 As the leader of the reunified Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) in 1900, John Redmond embodied the hope of the Irish people that a unified party could complete Parnell’s mission of achieving Home Rule for Ireland. Having visited America in 1886, 1895, and 1899, he was well known to Irish American supporters, but it was his 1904 visit to the United Irish League (UIL) convention that spurred the strong and consistent support of the Irish World .17 He was coming, declared the paper, to

tell the friends of Ireland in this country that for any and all the ills of Ireland—educational, financial, industrial—there is but one remedy and one only, namely national self government: to give the Irish people full control over their own country and its affairs and thereby enable them to make laws to suit themselves and their interests, and to use their own capital in their own way for their own industrial and commercial welfare. 18

Both the Irish World and Redmond linked the prospect of a revived Home Rule bid to the IPP regaining the balance of power at Westminster. This, they believed, would be achieved with the mon- etary support of the Irish Americans who would enable the IPP to “carry the next General Election in Great Britain.” 19 Most importantly, however, the Irish World linked Redmond to Parnell and placed its expectations and hope with the new IPP leader, stating that “Charles Stewart Parnell in his prime did not have a reception more warm, more unaffected or more affectionate than that which greeted this resourceful, calm, plain-speaking leader.” 20 The paper’s promotion of Redmond and Home Rule coincided with the regular publication on its front page of a political cartoon. While the Irish World had published political cartoons before 1904, the first by cartoonist T. Fleming was published on October 1, 1904; apart from the odd occasion, he contributed a weekly cartoon to the paper throughout the period 1904–1918.21 During that period, there were 57 cartoons featuring John Redmond and many more on the issue of Home Rule. 22 The significance of placing the editorial cartoon on the front page cannot be underestimated. Some of the key innova- tions of New Journalism were the creative use of large typeface, cross 122 Úna Ní Bhroiméil heads, and illustrations. Of all these aspects of visual design, however, Medhurst and DeSousa argue that it is image placement that is the most important aspect of the editorial voice. 23 Because placement commands attention, they argue, situating the cartoon on page one directly under the letterhead attracts the eye and has the power to become an immediate source of attention. 24 As T. P. O’Connor put it, condensing the central editorial opinion into a front-page graphic was the essence of the New Journalism’s ability “to tell the story of each day in the briefest, the most picturesque, the most graphic fashion.” 25 The initial cartoons grew out of the editorial text and compressed the central tenets of the editor’s message to his readers. In the very first political cartoon featuring Redmond published by the Irish World in April 1905, a dapper Redmond observes Balfour and Chamberlain fight each other in a duel. Both Balfour and Chamberlain wear medi- eval costumes of doublet and hose and fight with rapiers, signaling that they are men of the past, whereas Redmond, in his twentieth- century attire, stands disinterestedly as the up-and-coming man, biding his time. 26 Using a literary allusion to Shakespeare’s Othello, the cartoonist casts Redmond as Iago, who sets Casio and Rodrigo against each other, little caring which one succeeds in killing the other as “everyway makes my gain”27 (see figure 6.1). As one of Shakespeare’s more malign and sinister characters, Iago is hardly a heroic figure

Figure 6.1 Irish World , April 8, 1905. Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 123 with which to compare Redmond. But for sheer Machiavellian cun- ning and political flair, Iago is an apt comparison. It was, the Irish World believed, only a matter of time before Balfour’s government assailed by Chamberlain would fall, and then Redmond’s political opportunity would come. In the meantime, the paper counseled its readers to bide their time and have faith in Redmond and the Irish party. Throughout 1905, the Irish World published supportive editorials proclaiming Redmond as “the authorized spokesman of the vast bulk, the immense majority of Irish people,” and as “an ideal leader [possessing] all the qualities of leadership which the most patriotic Irishman could desire or suggest.”28 More importantly, the paper carried a multicolumn article on April 22, 1905, “A Week with Redmond” by John O’Callaghan of the Boston Globe . Alongside the same shamrock-garlanded image of Redmond that accompanied the W. T. Stead laudatory article, this article purported to give readers an insight into John Redmond “the man” as opposed to John Redmond “the politician.” The practice of interviewing public people to convey a sense of their private lives to a newspaper’s readership was a mainstay of New Journalism. 29 In Redmond’s case, this was brave indeed as Redmond was, as Patrick Maume suggests, a “reserved figure” whose “private life remained private.” Even loyal party colleagues such as Stephen Gwynn com- plained of difficulty gaining access to him. 30 While not an interview in the “rapid fire questioning” sense that Wiener attributes to New Journalism, the article nonetheless implies an intimate knowledge of the man and his personal character traits. 31 Stating at the outset that the Irish leader was a “genial, hospitable, kindly Irishman, beloved by rich and poor,” it followed Redmond in his “cheerful home” among his “happy family,” walking in the Wicklow hills and shooting at his lodge at Aughavanagh. The article abounds in allusions to 1798 and Parnell, not merely through place names such as Avoca but also through the fact that Redmond’s gamekeeper Toole was also the gamekeeper for Parnell. Redmond is, the article attests, a sober “family man” who is an “early riser” and proves methodical in his work. Although he “prefers the quiet of his home to any outside attraction which he can avoid . . . he is not by any means averse to social enjoy- ments within a reasonable limit,” including “smoking in the most democratic fashion” on the way to his office in Dublin. 32 While the textual descriptions of Redmond call to mind a steady, consistent, and trustworthy man whose credentials are impeccable when it comes to Irish nationalism, it was the visual cartoon images that reinforced and cemented readers’ perceptions of Redmond’s 124 Úna Ní Bhroiméil political character. During the Devolution crisis in 1906 and 1907,33 the Irish World depicted Redmond in two political cartoons as a powerful figure, first as a Roman warrior and then as a captain at the helm of his ship.34 In both cartoons, Redmond defies John Bull, abet- ted by Sinn F éin, which as a party was hostile to both Redmond and the Devolution bill. John Bull offers Redmond gifts and recommen- dations, but Redmond ignores him and looks disdainfully away from Devolution. In this cartoon, he closes his eyes to the Sinn F éin threat while focusing on the task ahead. Commenting on similar cartoons of Parnell in the 1880s, Lawrence McBride suggests that this type of portrayal implied the subject’s political independence, leadership, and ability to steer a steady course. 35 This is clearly also the representation of Redmond that the Irish World wanted to depict. Along with the concept of consistent leadership, Redmond was shown wearing a tunic, emblazoned with a rising sun, a motif, McBride maintains, that signified Ireland’s hopes for the future and for Home Rule. 36 No character traits, according to Medhurst and DeSousa, can be totally manufactured by the cartoonist; in Redmond’s case, the fact that he had reunited the IPP signified his leadership skills. 37 By printing the words “Irish nationalist party” on Redmond’s clothing in these cartoons, the cartoonist ensured that Redmond personified the unity and pledge-bound steadfastness of his once factionalized party. The unity of the party was of the utmost importance to Redmond. He was, as Paul Bew states, fearful of growing divisions and thus “came to exalt the unity of party above any other strategic c onsideration.” 38 Certainly, the party was volatile, and Redmond was constantly aware of the possibility of dissension. 39 The necessity of party unity was reinforced by the Irish World in editorials and in political cartoons throughout 1908 and 1909. One of the key reasons the Irish World was so vehemently supportive of Redmond’s focus on unity was because of the real possibility for dissension among Irish Americans, particularly as its main newspaper rival the Gaelic American and its editor John Devoy were unenthusiastic about the IPP and, instead, supported Sinn F éin. In this way, the agendas of both Redmond and the Irish World coalesced and found expression in three separate political cartoons (appearing in June, July, and November 1909) that illustrated the achievements of the IPP and what it had accomplished on behalf of the Irish people. 40 Encapsulating support for the IPP and derision for the American Clan na Gael, one of whose leaders was John Devoy, the cartoon in November 1909 took the same format as the previous two published in June and July: Erin was represented as a woman with shamrocks in her hair and around the hem of her Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 125 skirt, pointing to a list of acts achieved in Westminster by the IPP, including Land Acts and the National Universities Act; meanwhile, the Clan na Gael’s “Do-Nothings” list is blank. Using a caption from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “Look on this picture and then on that,” the contrast is clear. 41 Because the cartoonist is required to convey a message in a single frame at a single glance to the reader, contrast, as a graphic disposition, invites attention and is plain and unambiguous. 42 The Irish World conveys the message that talk is cheap but that the consistency of the IPP has improved Irish life, albeit incrementally, and that it should be supported. All of the other “flapdoodlers,” whether Irish or American, should be judged on their record, and in this case the lack of achievement was plain for all to see. The cartoonist invites condemnation for the opponents of Redmond by presenting its readers with the contrast of words with deeds in a condensed graphic. The political cartoonist needs to be aware of and to attend to the general political inclinations of the paper’s readership. Roger Fischer maintains that the most effective cartoons are those that “reinforce and build on apriori beliefs, values and prejudices.” 43 The Irish World recognized the necessity of binding together Irish Americans of different classes and generations in support of Ireland, particularly in contrib- uting money to the UIL fund. Yet, the paper also wanted to maintain an anti-imperial, anti-British outlook. This made for a complex editorial position. The political campaign to limit the power of the House of Lords in Britain and the celebratory cartoons of John Redmond published in the Irish World convey a clear attempt by the paper to reconcile its appeal to a more middle-class readership with its disdain for hereditary privilege and for its hope for Irish i ndependence.44 The key significance of limiting the power of the House of Lords was of course the ending of the Lords’ veto over legislation passed in the House of Commons, which had clear resonance for the prospects of Home Rule. In a cartoon entitled “John Redmond warns Lords” in November 1909 (see figure 6.2 ), a strong and forceful Redmond is dressed as a knight with a shamrock on his breastplate; holding the Home Rule Bill in one hand, he casts out a bent and aging Lord, who is walking offstage using a cane. 45 The cartoonist reinforces his key message through using a quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It . 46 According to Medhurst and DeSousa, “to decode the cartoon, one must be somewhat familiar with the literary or cultural source to which it refers.” 47 The line used in this cartoon is taken from the Jaques’s “Seven Ages of Man” soliloquy, one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches, depicting a person’s lifetime in seven distinct stages. The penultimate stage of humanity described here as “his shrunk 126 Úna Ní Bhroiméil

Figure 6.2 Irish World , November 6, 1909. shank” lost in his hose and “his big manly voice” disintegrating into a “childish treble” unmistakably communicated a key fact to its readers: the day of the Lords is over and Ireland’s hope resides in the knight bearing the Home Rule scroll. 48 Between the general elections of January and December 1910, when the IPP held the balance of power at Westminster, John Redmond was portrayed alongside Prime Minister Asquith, the two men working together to abolish the Lord’s veto over legislation. In both cartoons, Asquith and Redmond are represented as equals, standing side by side in the House of Commons, working toward the same goal, an image that resonates with McBride’s reflections on Parnell and Gladstone. 49 Significantly, in the July cartoon, Redmond is seen to be dictating the agenda of the government. As Asquith cuts the religious clause from the Coronation oath with a scissors, Redmond hands him the House of Lords’ veto for removal. 50 On Redmond’s table in the House of Commons is the Irish Home Rule program, which is next on the list. By March 1911, the Irish World cartoon (see figure 6.3) had Asquith and Redmond, both dressed as knights, standing on a plat- form emblazoned with the words “Home Rule” and jointly holding a pennant for the abolition of the Lords’ veto. Redmond, significantly, Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 127

Figure 6.3 Irish World , March 11, 1911. has the upper hand on the banner, suggesting his dominant position in British politics at the time. His status as politician and leader of the Irish people was so enhanced that the Irish World quoted the “exclamations” of the British press, attesting to his leadership; the paper also calmly asserted that indeed John Redmond had won the first battle for Home Rule in Ireland: “He has won, because having the right policy as well as a just cause, he has stood by it bravely, stubbornly, perseveringly.” 51 On the same editorial page, the Irish World noted with deep satisfaction the rage of the London Saturday Review, which “shrieked” at the Irish World :

It is often said Mr. Redmond is master of the position and has the government in his hand. But is not the real boss behind Mr. Redmond? Is he not an Irish American and his name Mr. Patrick Ford? Mr. Redmond may be master but is not Mr. Ford paymaster? 52

The profound gratification of the editor of the Irish World at these accusations led to a series of cartoons where American dollars were represented as being essential for the achievement of Home Rule. Between August 1910 and January 1911, the Irish World published seven front- page cartoons portraying the scale and influence of American money. 128 Úna Ní Bhroiméil

Figure 6.4 Irish World , August 13, 1910.

The first of these cartoons (see figure 6.4) showed Redmond dressed as a gentleman at an Aunt Sally stall (a traditional throwing game at a fairground), a symbol of contemporary popular culture with which many readers would be familiar. 53 Irish landlords and English Lords form a joint Aunt Sally as William O’Brien peeps out from behind the curtain, proposing conciliation. 54 He appears to be as much a tar- get as the Lords; Redmond throws bags of American dollars bound with a label “For Home Rule” at them, all the while being handed the bags by a woman wearing an “Irish American” label on her dress. Subtitled “the missiles of the Irish party,” these dollars are hated by the “enemy” whether the enemy is represented as Tories, Unionists, or William O’Brien. The power of Redmond to maintain his independence is represented as literally in the hands of Irish Americans in this cartoon. The message to Irish Americans was plainly written on the side of the table holding the money: “Form branches and throng to Buffalo” to the UIL convention where they could send even more dollars to Redmond’s cause. In spite of being accused of living on the money of the servant girls of America and of being a “dollar dictator,” Redmond asked for more support and received $150,000. He stated at the time that half the power and value of the national movement would disappear if “shorn of assistance from America.” 55 Elated at the amount of money raised and at the reaction in Britain, the Irish World reprinted five “Tory cartoons” that had been published Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 129 in the “London Unionist Press” on its front page in December 1910.56 The cartoons represent the clout and dominance that American money gave to Redmond in the form of bags of dollars. In three cartoons, Redmond makes Asquith and the “Radical Party” do his bidding. In the first, he is dressed as a Western cowboy, shooting at Asquith’s feet and making him dance. In the other two cartoons, Redmond appears, by turns, as Yankee Doodle riding a horse and as a Native American war chief clutching a tomahawk, chanting “Home Rule.” 57 Interestingly, all of the cartoons draw on stereotypical images—the implied lack of civilization, disorder, and chaos of the American West and the somewhat comic figure of the eastern Yankee Doodle Dandy. None of the cartoons refer to Irish Americans or indeed evoke any of the common stereotypes associated with them. In these cartoons, it is Americans in general who are implicated in advancing Redmond’s cause. A caption on one of the cartoons states that it is “a cartoon without words,” as the graphic image of Redmond being politically empowered by America needs no textual explanation. Most significantly, all of the cartoons are sourced from newspapers that exempli- fied the New Journalism—the Pall Mall Gazette , the Daily Express , the Daily Mail, and the Westminster Gazette . Clearly, the Irish World was not the only newspaper that valued the effect of political cartoons to condense a news story and drive home a salient point. These newspapers were conducting condensed conversations through cartoons that summarized their editorial viewpoints on Irish issues and thus were, as Joel Wiener suggests, “transatlantic in sensibility.” 58 More soberly, the Irish World ’s own cartoon the following week showed a graphic image of a dollar sign functioning as a causeway over the chasm of the Lord’s veto. Erin, with shamrock in her hair, prepared to cross over to the straight road of Home Rule. American money was paving the way; the way ahead was clear. The issue of American influence on Irish nationalism was one that the Irish World portrayed in a positive and supportive light in these cartoons. Even though Redmond had stated as early as 1901 at Hoffmann House, New York that “no Irishman living 3,000 miles away from the homeland ought to think he has a right to dictate to Ireland,” it was evident to W. T. Stead in 1902 that America had a key role in Irish nationalism when he commented, “For the revolutionary party in Ireland[,] America is their base, their banker, their recruiting ground, and their safe retreat.” 59 The fact that the Irish World represented American money as indispensable to the Home Rule campaign provides an insight into the part Irish Americans saw themselves playing in the national movement. Expectations were therefore 130 Úna Ní Bhroiméil created, not least by the Irish World , that Home Rule was assured under the capable leadership of Redmond and that, in spite of the opposition of Ulster Unionists who were depicted in Irish World cartoons as Lilliputians, pygmies, and yapping pups, no obstacle could stand in its way once Irish America lent its full support. 60 In 1911, the Irish World portrayed Ireland as a man rather than a woman in need of protection and assistance. 61 In these cartoons, Redmond was represented, first, as a railway operator keeping the parliamentary points switched to the straight track and signaling the all clear to the Home Rule express. In a second cartoon, which echoes ear- lier approving cartoons depicting Parnell, Gladstone, and others as ship captains with the usual motto, “Do not disturb the man at the wheel,” Redmond is the now the captain. Unlike other images of political leaders steering a ship, this one expresses an ambiguous message: Redmond and Asquith are ringing Ireland’s “Liberty Bell” of Home Rule, while Carson (and threats of war) cling precariously to the clapper.62 Each of these cartoons allowed readers to unpack what Medhurst and DeSousa call “layers of available cultural con- sciousness” that the cartoons evoked in them.63 The shared meanings expressed in the cartoons of an express train labeled with the phrase “full steam ahead” and, most significantly for Irish Americans, the iconic representation of the Liberty Bell emphasize and explain the inventiveness of the political cartoon in that it can present an argument in visual form that is not explicitly written or said. 64 After war was declared in Europe in the summer of 1914, the Irish World still promoted financial support for Ireland. John Redmond appealed for contributions to the Irish Volunteer fund, and the paper published a supportive cartoon on August 15 in which Irish America handed yet more dollars to Erin to “arm and equip Ireland’s defenders.” 65 Insisting in an editorial that the Irish race would “be jus- tified in spitting contempt” on any volunteers who joined any English expeditionary force against Germany, the Irish World sent a message “to our Irish brothers across the Atlantic” to “subordinate everything to your loyalty to Ireland.” 66 By the following week the Irish World was asserting Irish Americans’ “right to demand of the IPP to stamp out any attempt to make Ireland a recruiting ground for the British army.” 67 After Redmond’s Woodenbridge speech in September, urg- ing Irishmen to go wherever the firing line extended, the Irish World announced that while giving Redmond full credit for having Home Rule placed on the Statute Book, it must now “part company with him when he asks the Irish Volunteers to help him in his recruiting campaign for the British army.” 68 Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 131

From that point on, the Irish World referred to John Redmond as England’s recruiting sergeant, and after October 1915, the paper con- ducted a hard-hitting cartoon campaign against him. Redmond was now represented as abandoning Home Rule and of revealing himself as “a self-avowed imperialist.”69 When he refused a place in the war- time coalition cabinet, as the Home Rule Bill had not been actually enacted, the front page of the Irish World reflected dismay that the protection of Home Rule was now outside of Redmond’s control. He was pictured (see figure 6.5 ) helplessly gazing in the window at a distraught Home Rule baby, which was throwing the rattle of “hope” out of the cradle; meanwhile, Asquith and the “Ulster– Orange step- mother” went out, arm in arm, to an evening engagement. 70 Redmond’s lack of power and authority was now reflected in cartoons that depicted him as one-quarter of the size of a domineering John Bull, a stark contrast with previous representations, where he stood shoulder to shoulder with British statesmen. 71 Within the frame of a cartoon, Medhurst and DeSousa point out that “size embodies valuative statements,” and the diminishing size of Redmond clearly suggests his weakness in the opinion of the Irish World . 72 By 1917, in a cartoon entitled “Making a monkey of him” (see figure 6.6 ) Redmond

Figure 6.5 Irish World , June 5, 1915. 132 Úna Ní Bhroiméil

Figure 6.6 Irish World , March 24, 1917. was represented as a pawn and a fool, a minuscule puppet controlled by a crafty Lloyd George. 73 Ridiculed as a wretched, credulous enthu- siast for empire, he was portrayed as a hapless dupe. Even if these images could be interpreted as releasing him from some of the respon- sibility for the disintegration of the prospect of Home Rule, his per- sistence in supporting Britain in the war made the Irish World more aggressively hostile. The most severe anti-Redmond cartoon was published in October 1915. Featuring a self-satisfied Redmond checking his reflection in a mirror as he models his new jacket emblazoned with a Union Jack and a “Made in England” tag, the cartoon is entitled “The Turncoat” (see figure 6.7). Redmond personifies the revulsion and loathing of the Irish World toward all things British. In nearly every succeeding cartoon featuring Redmond throughout 1916, he is portrayed with an iconic symbol of Britishness, whether that is represented by the Union flag, John Bull, or the British lion. 74 As the IPP crumbled with the rise of Sinn F éin and the June 1917 election of É amon de Valera to Willie Redmond’s seat in Clare, the Irish World published two final cartoons of Redmond. The first one represents Redmond as “His own accuser.” A ghostly Redmond- of-the-past reminds his alter ego, Redmond-of-the-present, of his words in 1886: “The Irish leader who would propose to compromise Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 133

Figure 6.7 Irish World , October 9, 1915. the national claims of Ireland . . . would be a traitor . . . and no longer a leader.” 75 The attitude of the Irish World is clear. The second depicts him crouching on a small, diminishing patch of dry ground along with Devlin, Dillon, and T. P. O’Connor as the rising tide of Sinn F éin threatens to engulf them. 76 Not only is Redmond discredited by his association with British emblems, but also he is yesterday’s man, unworthy even of graphic representation. When he died suddenly in March 1918, the Irish World reflected that it was his loyalty to the British Empire that destroyed his popularity, ruined his career, and led to a parting of the ways between him and the paper that had loyally supported him in his Home Rule bid. Stating that Redmond was tricked out of Home Rule and duped into mutilating his country, the editor made a distinction between being devoted to Ireland and devoted to the British Empire. 77 In the opinion of the Irish World , these were incompatible with each other. When in March 1913 William Jennings Bryan gave a statement to the New York Evening Post that implied that the Irish question was solved as Home Rule was inevitable, the British ambassador to the United States, James Bryce, commented that “Mr Bryan, I incline to think, culls his history from the morning papers, cursorily read.”78 Had Bryan been reading the Irish World, a mere glance at the front- page cartoons would have produced the same conclusion. What this 134 Úna Ní Bhroiméil short study of the John Redmond images published in the Irish World between 1904 and 1918 reveals is the nexus of power in political cartoons and the essence of New Journalism. In the case of the John Redmond and the Irish World , cartoons had the capacity to distill suc- cinctly a political career, as well as a lucrative relationship with Irish America. Cartoons allowed readers to grasp the editorial message of the paper at a glance without ever reading a word. While it is impos- sible to gauge the effect of the cartoons on contemporary readers, the fact that cartoons do not “work” effectively without the cartoonist knowing the values, beliefs, and attitudes of his audience suggest that the assumptions embedded within these cartoons were current among the contemporary readership. 79 The simplified situations portrayed in the political cartoons encompass more complex issues. Yet, it is the visual narrative of John Redmond’s political life portrayed on the front pages of the Irish World that is paramount as the paper estab- lished itself as his champion, his accomplice, and finally, when it dis- carded him as a renegade, his adversary. The complexity of politics, nationalism, empire, and war were condensed into an ever-shifting set of rhetorical emblems, as Redmond embodied the trajectory of Irish political change in the cartoons of the Irish World .

Notes

1 . The Irish World and American Industrial Liberator ( IW ), June 24, 1905. 2 . Ibid. 3 . Ibid. 4 . Joel H. Wiener, The Americanization of the British Press, 1830s–1914: Speed in the Age of Transatlantic Journalism (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 4. Richard D. Fulton, “Sensational War Reporting and the Quality Press in Late Victorian Britain and America,” in Anglo-American Media Interactions, 1850–2000 , ed. Joel H. Wiener and Mark Hampton (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), 11. 5 . Christopher Kent, “Matt Morgan and Transatlantic Illustrated Journalism 1850–92,” in Wiener and Hampton, eds., Anglo American Media Interactions , 75. 6 . Wiener, The Americanization of the British Press, 166. 7 . W. T. Stead, “Government by Journalism,” The Contemporary Review 49 (1886), accessed February 2, 2012, http://www.attackingthedevil .co.uk/steadworks/gov.php . 8 . Joel H. Wiener, “ ‘Get the News! Get the News’: Speed in Transatlantic Journalism, 1830–1914,” in Wiener and Hampton, eds., Anglo American Media Interactions , 54. Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 135

9 . Michael A. DeSousa and Martin J. Medhurst, “Political Cartoons and American Culture: Significant Symbols of Campaign 1980,” Studies in Visual Communication 8.1 (1982): 84. 10 . John McCutcheon, cartoonist with the Chicago Tribune , cited in Roger Fischer, Them Damned Pictures: Explorations in American Political Cartoon Art (North Haven, CT: Archon, 1996), 13. 11 . Thomas C. Leonard, The Power of the Press: The Birth of American Political Reporting (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), 97; cited in Fischer, Them Damned Pictures , 7. 12 . Ayers Newspaper Directory , Philadelphia, PA: Ayers, 1904; 1910; 1914; 1918, February 2, 2012, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vols/loc.gdc .sr.sn91012091/default.html. Circulation in 1904 is listed at 125,000; in 1910 at 75,000; and in 1914 and 1918 at 60,000, when it cost $2.50. 13 . J. P. Rodechko, Patrick Ford and His Search for America: A Case-Study of Irish American Journalism, 1870–1913 (New York: Arno Press, 1967), 49. I cannot find exact figures for readership in Ireland. There is evidence, however, of efforts by government authorities to seize the Irish World at the post office in 1867–1868 and at the ports in 1885, which suggests that it was regarded as an influential voice in Ireland. See Marie-Louise Legg, Newspapers and Nationalism: The Irish Provincial Press, 1850–1892 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999), 111, 163. 14 . William Joyce, Editors and Ethnicity 18 (1976): 176. 15 . Mick Mulcrone, “Those Miserable Little Hounds: World War I Postal Censorship of the Irish World ,” Journalism History 20.1 (1994): 15–24. 16 . Thomas Milton Kemnitz, “The Cartoon as a Historical Source,” Journal of lnterdisciplinary History 4.1 (1973): 81–93. 17 . Alan J. Ward, Ireland and Anglo American Relations, 1899–1921 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolsan 1969), 12. 18 . IW , August 27, 1904. 19 . IW , September 12, 1904. 20 . IW , September 17, 1904. 21 . The cartoonist appears to be Thomas Fleming (1853–1931), who was born in Philadelphia. He worked for the New York World , New York Sun , and Commercial Advertiser and was a member of the Society of Cartoonists. (See: http://www.askart.com/askart/f/thomas_tom_fleming /thomas_tom_fleming.aspx ). Although his short biography does not mention the Irish World , the signature on other cartoons seen at: http:// comicsdc.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html, appears to be the same as those on the Irish World cartoons. 22 . Forty-two other cartoons featured the issue of Home Rule and, later, the antienlistment campaign. 23 . Martin J. Medhurst and Michael A. DeSousa, “Political Cartoons as Rhetorical Form: A Taxonomy of Graphic Discourse,” Communication Monographs 48 (1981): 226. 24 . Ibid., 227 25 . Wiener, The Americanization of the British Press , 157. 136 Úna Ní Bhroiméil

26 . IW , April 8, 1905. 27 . William Shakespeare, Othello , Act 5, Scene 1, accessed July 12, 2012, http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/Othello/index.html . See Medhurst and DeSousa, “Political Cartoons,” 204, and Fischer, Them Damned Pictures , 122–127 for a discussion on literary illusions in political cartoons. Shakespeare’s plays were on the curriculum of at least some public high schools in the United States. See Shakespeare’s Macbeth for Use in Public and High Schools (1916). Othello was showing at the Princess Theatre on Broadway in 1904; it opened at the Garden Theatre on Broadway in October 1905, accessed October 1, 2012, http://broad wayworld.com/shows/Othello-313685.html . 28 . IW , April 28, 1905; IW , November 11, 1905. 29 . Wiener and Hampton, eds., Anglo American Media Interactions , 57–59. 30 . Patrick Maume, The Long Gestation: Irish Nationalist Life, 1891–1918 (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1999), 118. 31 . Wiener and Hampton, eds., Anglo-American Media Interactions , 57–58. 32 . IW , April 22, 1905. 33 . In 1906–1907, the Liberal government prepared a Devolution bill on an all-Ireland basis, but it fell short of Home Rule. 34 . IW , November 24, 1906; September 7, 1907. See Lawrence W. McBride, “Nationalist Political Illustrations and the Parnell Myth, 1880–1900,” in Images, Icons and the Irish Nationalist Imagination, ed. Lawrence McBride (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999), 76. 35 . Ibid., 76; 83. 36 . Ibid., 83. 37 . Medhurst and DeSousa, “Political Cartoons,” 202. 38 . Paul Bew, John Redmond (Dundalk: Dundalgan Press, 1996), 28. 39 . Maume, The Long Gestation , 119. 40 . IW , June 19, 1909; July 31, 1909; November 20, 1909. 41 . William Shakespeare, Hamlet , Act 3, Scene 4, http://www.shakespeare -online.com/plays/hamletscenes.html, accessed July 12, 2012. 42 . Medhurst and DeSousa, “Political Cartoons,” 205. 43 . Fischer, Them Damned Pictures , 15. 44 . In 1909, the House of Lords rejected Lloyd George’s People’s Budget, which imposed taxes on luxuries, land, and incomes, after it had been passed by the House of Commons. This led to the political campaign to curtail the Lords’ power of veto, which was achieved by the Parliament Act, 1911. 45 . IW , November 6, 1909. 46 . William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7, accessed July 12, 2012, http://www.literaturepage.com/read/shakespeare-as-you-like-it.html. As You Like It played at the Garden Theatre on Broadway in 1907 and opened at the Broadway Theatre in May 1910. Accessed October 1, 2012, http://broadwayworld.com/shows/As-You-Like-It-313780.html . Political Cartoons as Visual Opinion Discourse 137

47 . Medhurst and DeSousa, “Political Cartoons,” 201. 48 . As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7. 49 . IW , April 23, 1910; July 9, 1910; March 11, 1911. McBride, “Nationalist Political Illustrations,” 78–79. 50 . The new monarch was expected to make a declaration in the pres- ence of the Lords and Commons, called the “Declaration against Transubstantiation” or “the Coronation Oath.” In 1910, the Accession Declaration Act changed the wording of the Bill of Rights of 1688. Instead of professing nonbelief in Roman Catholicism, the new king or queen pledged to secure and uphold the Protestant religion. 51 . IW , April 23, 1910. 52 . Ibid. 53 . IW , August 13, 1910. See Walt Werner, “On Political Cartoons and Social Studies Textbooks: Visual Analogies, Intertextuality, and Cultural Memory,” Canadian Social Studies 38.2 (2004), accessed February 2, 2012, www.quasar.ualberta.ca/css ; and Fischer , Them Damned Pictures , 136, for discussion on how popular culture and familiar, mundane activities are represented in political cartoons. 54 . William O’Brien had formed a splinter group, the All for Ireland League, working on a federalist program with members of the Tory Party. See Maume, The Long Gestation , 107–110. 55 . Dermot Meleady, Redmond: The Parnellite (Cork: Cork University Press, 2008), 341; IW, September 10, 1910; IW , October 22, 1910; IW, August 27, 1910. 56 . IW , December 17, 1910. 57 . The term and song “Yankee Doodle” had been known in America since the American Revolution, but the modern “Yankee Doodle Boy” was a song written for and made famous by the Irish American George M. Cohan in his Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones, which opened in New York in 1904. 58 . Wiener, The Americanization of the British Press , 4. 59 . Cited in Ward, I reland and Anglo-American Relations , 15; W. T. Stead, The Americanisation of the World or The Trend of the Twentieth Century, The Review of Reviews Annual (London: H. Markely, 1902), 25, accessed February 1, 2012, http://archive.org/details/americanizationo00stea . 60 . IW , February 4, 1911; IW , October 12, 1912; IW , March 2, 1911; IW, May 30, 1914; IW, August 31, 1912. 61 . IW , February 4, 1911; IW , August 31, 1912; IW , October 12, 1912. The gender stereotyping is interesting in these cartoons as it reinforces the use of the word “manly” used in connection with the achievement of Home Rule in some editorials. 62 . IW , December 28, 1912; IW , October 11, 1913; IW , May 30, 1914. 63 . Medhurst and DeSousa, “Political Cartoons,” 219. 64 . Catherine H. Palczewski, “The Male Madonna and the Feminine Uncle Sam: Visual Argument, Icons, and Ideographs in 1909 Anti-Woman Suffrage Postcards,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 91.4 (2005): 386. 138 Úna Ní Bhroiméil

65 . IW , August 15, 1914. 66 . Ibid. 67 . IW , August 22, 1914. 68 . IW , October 10, 1914. James McConnel suggests that it was misleading and inaccurate to describe Nationalist MPs stance on enlistment as a campaign. See James McConnel, “Recruiting Sergeants for John Bull? Irish Nationalist MPs and Enlistment during the Early Months of the Great War,” War in History 14.4 (2007): 428. 69 . IW , May 29, 1915. 70 . IW , June 5, 1915. 71 . IW , December 18, 1915. 72 . Medhurst and De Sousa, “Political Cartoons,” 213. See also Thomas H. Bivins, “The Body Politic: The Changing Shape of Uncle Sam,” Journalism Quarterly 64.1 (1987): 13–20. Bivins states that cartoonists usually construct heroic characters seven-and-a-half-heads tall. 73 . IW , March 24, 1917. 74 . IW , February 26, 1916; March 25, 1916; June 27, 1916; October 28, 1916. See also R. T. Matthews, “Britannia and John Bull: From Birth to Maturity,” Historian 62 (2000): 799–820. 75 . IW , August 18, 1917. 76 . IW , November 3, 1917. 77 . IW , March 16, 1918. 78 . Cited in Bernadette Whelan, United States Foreign Policy and Ireland: From Empire to Independence 1913–29 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2006), 51. 79 . See Medhurst and De Sousa, “Political Cartoons,” 204; Fischer, Them Damned Pictures , 16, 122.

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