It can’t be shut off
Subject(s): Corruption, Freedom of the press, Law, Pennsylvania, Pennypacker, Samuel W. (Samuel Whitaker), 1843-1916, Press, Quay, Matthew Stanley, 1833-1904
Click on image to zoom in
Samuel W. Pennypacker, governor of Pennsylvania, wearing a fools’ cap, tries to block the light of “Publicity” with a sheet of paper labeled “Pennsylvania Gag Law.” The light from a lantern held by a hand labeled “Press” is exposing Matthew S. Quay, a senator from Pennsylvania.
Comments and Context
One of the great episodes in the history of political cartooning in America occurred in 1903, and is largely forgotten today… but might repeat itself if circumstances align. Governor Samuel Pennypacker of Pennsylvania had been annoyed by gibes from two former New York City cartoonists in Philadelphia, Charles Nelan and Walt McDougall, then of the Philadelphia North American newspaper. The paper was Republican — later, in 1912, one of the most prominent papers to support Theodore Roosevelt in Republican primaries and thereafter — but recognized the state’s Republican political boss, Senator Matthew Stanley Quay, and his cousin the governor, as corrupt. It was their cartoons of Pennypacker as a parrot, repeating the words of Quay, that were especially nettling.
The Salus-Grady Act, making editors as well as cartoonists liable for supposedly defamatory drawings, actually was passed into law, although never enforced. It banned “any cartoon or caricature or picture portraying, describing or representing any person, either by distortion, innuendo or otherwise, in the form or likeness of beast, bird, fish, insect, or other unhuman [sic] animal, thereby tending to expose such person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule.”
In the end — in the eyes of the nation, and the eyes of history — the politicians were held up to more ridicule and contempt than any drawings could garner. There were, by the way, other anti-laws and proposed laws in other states in that time.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-06-03
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
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:
It can’t be shut off. [June 3, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277283. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. It can’t be shut off. [3 Jun. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277283.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1903, June 3]. It can’t be shut off.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277283.
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.
