Judge, 1919-09-13 · page 10 of 36
Judge — September 13, 1919 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Woodcutter" - Historical Satire This is a cautionary tale about a deposed European monarch, likely **Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany** (indicated by "Queen Wilhelmina's realm"—the Netherlands, where Wilhelm abdicated in 1918). The cartoon illustrates the consequences of unchecked ambition and greed. "Bill, the Ex" once ruled with absolute power but, driven by endless desire for more territory and dominion, mobilized armies and conquered neighboring nations. His greed destroyed him: he lost everything and now saws wood for survival, watching from poverty the lands he once owned. The moral is explicitly stated in the caption and poem: even those with supreme power should recognize limits. Wilhelm's real-world parallel was his aggressive expansionism during WWI, which resulted in Germany's defeat, his exile, and loss of his throne. For modern readers: this reflects post-WWI disillusionment with autocratic ambition and warns against the dangers of imperial overreach—a directly relevant critique to contemporary audiences witnessing the war's devastating consequences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Bur sy Nature I’m a Swine, ano I Hanxer Arter More.” The Wo By Watt Mason Illustration by N a gloomy neighborhood of Queen Wilhelmina’s realm, Bill, the Ex, is sawing wood, sawing hickory and elm; and his saw is out of whack, and its blade with rust is red; he has fantods in his back, and he wishes he were ¢ Once he sat upon a throne, had a sceptre rich and rare; and upon his lightest tone people scurried here and there. There in peace he might have sat till the German cows come home, had he had no buzzing bat in the center of his dome. But he had a thousand bats, and he let them have their way; now he stands with aching slats, sawing cordwood all the day. He is sawing elm and spruce, be the weather hot or cool; and he wonders why the deuce he was such a blawsted fool. Letting well enough alone is a sane and healthy plan, be a fellow on a throne or a common human man. Yesterday a neighbor went to the poorhouse on the hill; he is there, without a cent, leaning on the window sill; sad and sick at heart is he, and he sheds a weary groan; from the poor- house he can see miles of land he used to own. But he wasn't satisfied, in those peaceful days of yore; he was filled with foolish pride, and must own still more and more. And he went three vniles in debt, buying land he didn’t need; now we see him sigh odcutter Ratrn Barton and sweat, all his fortune gone to seed. From the poorhouse door he looks on the farmhouse built of stone, on the meadows and the brooks and the herds he used to own. Bill, the Ex, in other days, had the softest kind of snap; anywhere his eyes might gaze he was owner of the map. He had all a king could wish, in the way of pomp and state; people stretched a point, odsfish, and admitted he was great. But he said, “The land is mine, I’m the boss from shore to shore; but by nature I'm a swine, and I hanker after more, All the world I wish to rule; other monarchs all must wilt; it may be I am a fool, but it’s just the way I’m built.” Not contented with his lot, he his armies mobilized, sent them forth in haste to swat nations startled and surprised. By a castle’s donjon keep, by a woodpile long and lo may sce this dreamer weep, you may hear his wails of woe. He is sawing elm and bass, and he sighs, with sickly grin, “This is sure a beastly pass for a monarch to be in!” He is sawing oak and pine, and he mutters, with a groan, “If I hadn’t been a swine I might still be on a throne!” Be we kings or humble hicks, let us shoo vain dreams afar; let us profit from Bill's fix, and be happy as we are.