Judge — December 5, 1903 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Cartoon Analysis: "Dee-Lighted!" (Judge, December 5, 1903) This cartoon satirizes the Panama Canal project under President Theodore Roosevelt's administration. The central figure appears to be Secretary of State John Hay or a State Department official, depicted as a military officer relaxing "Under Bamboo" in Panama, seemingly indifferent to construction challenges. The sign reading "I like Panama (canal) And I like the scenery Under the BAMBOO" mocks the administration's optimistic public stance while suggesting complacency about the canal's actual difficulties. The caption—"We'll cut the canal, and we ain't going to let any time go to waste"—attributes this quote to "Secretary Shaw at the New York Chamber of Commerce dinner," indicating this references a specific recent speech promoting the canal project. The satire criticizes overconfidence in the ambitious engineering endeavor.