What was the message the cartoonist was intending to portray using this cartoon?
Personally, I believe the message the Scottish cartoonist, Arch Dale, was aiming to portray with this cartoon titled 'Old Friends Meet', relates to how the use of weapons in wars, regardless of whether the nations were able to obtain these lethal weapons through legal agreements and were obliged to follow safety precautions, always results in massacres. The reasoning for my opinion is that in the background of the cartoon, weapons such as cannons and what seems to be bombs in a box, as well as giant gun bullets can be seen. However, they are only seen under the section 'armament trust', and none can be seen in the background of the skeleton. Now the 'skeleton' is famous mythological character that dates back to the late 1800s, where people believed the character of death, otherwise known as the Grim Reaper, is responsible for all lives lost, as he comes to take your soul. In the image, the Grim Reaper can be seen shaking hands with a person that is labeled 'armament trust' who can be seen holding 3 papers in his hands titled 'order Germany, order Russia, and order France' with order Austria at his feet. My speculation is that since all four countries engaged in the war with hazardous weapons, they would have to get an armament to obtain these weapons, and in order for these nations to get an armament they would have to state various benefits from acquiring these weapons during the war, and once the armament is set, these nations would attain these weapons with a justifiable reason. What this cartoon represents is that regardless of why or how individuals claim to use weapons, it always ends in a negative way (people dying). Ultimately, the person labeled 'armament trust' is seen shaking hands with the character of death with multiple weapons used in wars behind him, which could be interpreted as armament trusts are irrelevant and have no real effect, and that nations getting a hold of life threatening weapons for their own selfish reasons ends in thousands of lives taken away. I feel that the title 'Old Friends Meet' connects to how this situation has happened many times in the past and how this is the general pattern when it comes to wars.
