This illustration entitled, "Can He Make the Animal Drink?", by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Post on May 6, 1900, shows William Jennings Bryan trying to make another Presidential bid based on the free silver issue, depicted by the 16 to 1 silver to gold ratio, which he strongly advocated. The cartoon shows Bryan trying to force the Democratic donkey to drink out of a trough labeled 16 to 1.

In this political cartoon, William Jennings Bryan, who ran for president several times, appears sitting at a desk in a classroom where Uncle Sam is teaching in front of a board that says “Plan of Cuban Military Government.”  Bryan is wearing the uniform of a US Army colonel.  He’s turned around in his chair looking outside where several men stand giving speeches on tree stump.  Each tree stump has “16 to 1” written on it, a reference to the ratio of silver to gold that Bryan championed in his presidential campaigns.