The return of the prodigal party
Subject(s): Currency question, Gold standard, Hanna, Marcus Alonzo, 1837-1904, Political parties--Platforms, Presidents--Election, Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
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A tattered old man labeled “Silver Republicans” runs into the open arms of Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, “Chairman of Rep. Natl. Com.” Behind Hanna is a building flying the banner of “McKinley & Sound Money” and with a cow labeled “Prosperity” looking out an open window.
comments and context
Comments and Context
A fact largely forgotten by history is that on the great issues of the end of the 19th century in American politics, the two major parties were not clearly divided. Before President Cleveland’s decisive Annual Message on the tariff in 1887 (still the lone State of the Union message devoted to one subject), there were protectionists and free-traders in each party. Until the radical platform of William Jennings Bryan and the McKinley prosperity, there were a sizable number of “Silver Republicans” who resisted the gold standard of East Coast and Wall Street Republicans. The 1878 Bland-Allison Act was a bipartisan, bi-metallic measure vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, but overridden by Congress. McKinley himself flirted with silver coinage around 1890, and Ohio Senator John Sherman’s name was on a Silver Purchase Act, which Cleveland believed precipitated the Depression of the 1890s. By 1900, the silver-coinage issue was dead, both for apostate Republicans as this cartoon illustrates, and for the country as a whole.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1900-09-19
Creator(s)
Period
Governor of New York (October 1898-1900)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
The return of the prodigal party. [September 19, 1900]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275634. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905. The return of the prodigal party. [19 Sep. 1900]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275634.
APA:
Dalrymple, Louis, 1866-1905., [1900, September 19]. The return of the prodigal party.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o275634.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
