Within our gates

After the outbreak of war there was a growing public opinion that all Germans in Australia were a threat to security and should be interned. In this cartoon, this attitude appears as a fear that employees of German origin are protected in government jobs.

News items about public servants with Teutonic names appeared from January 1916 onwards, but it is unclear in which month this cartoon by Harry Julius was created. Julius shows a fortress-like building labelled a government department. A balding and bespectacled public servant pops his head out of the building and says, 'It’s very nice of these Australians. They go and fight to keep me in a nice fat job – Yes.' He produces a sack of money and looks around in a shifty manner. The words 'Better than being interned – Yes' appear.