1-150-931 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

The Cherub!, 1884. Joseph Chamberlain is the cherub watching over the British sailor. This relates to Chamberlain's Merchant Shipping Bill which aimed to do away with the shipping owners who insured their unseaworthy buckets for vastly inflated sums. Many lives were lost each year through ships putting to sea over-laden or unseaworthy. Not surprisingly, the ship owners were vehemently opposed to the Bill, but Chamberlain was seen to be the good friend and protector of the sailors. From Punch, or the London Charivari, March 22, 1884.