Appropriations for the military were difficult to obtain in the late Victorian period, and the various colonial enterprises were supposed to be self-supporting, yet in each theatre the local British authorities wanted more troops and resources from the homeland.

The cartoonist is pointing out the emotive power of the British disaster at Khartoum, which caught the popular and the political class's imagination at the zenith of Imperial jingoism. Kitchener was one of many British administrators seeking resources for military adventures to secure and expand their jurisdictions, but by the mythology built up around Khartoum and the capture of general Gordon, he had an easier time than most in securing support in London.