The municipal big stick
Subject(s): Executive power, Government ownership, Monopolies, Municipal government, New York (State), New York (State)--New York, Trusts, Industrial
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Father Knickerbocker, a symbolic figure for New York City, holds a large stick labeled “Municipal Ownership” at his side and confronts three animated figures labeled “Electric Light Monopoly, Telephone Trust, [and] Gas Trust.” Caption: Father Knickerbocker — I hate to use this, but-
Comments and Context
“Politics makes strange bedfellows,” and so do economics and social pressures. In the new century, American cities expanded, especially with poor immigrants; and technological innovations brought electricity, power, telephones, telegraphs, and modes of transportation to the masses.
When trusts and monopolies consolidated and brought efficiencies, the public at large benefitted. But when they exercised the worst aspects imputed to them — and too often manifested in other fields — that is, manipulating rates, fees, and fares, and stifling competition, public discontent resulted.
There was discontent among crusading publications and muckrakers, too. Strange bedfellows were radical followers of single-tex theorist Henry George and Republican politicians like Samuel “Gold Rule” Jones and Hazen S. Pingree, mayors of, respectively, Toledo and Detroit. They advocated municipal owner of municipal utilities and services.
Their theory, widely accepted, was that entities serving the broad public should be owned by the broad public, chiefly to insure that predatory acts would not erode the structure of a viable municipal governance.
Puck and its Republican rival Judge early subscribed to this point of view — regarding municipal, not necessarily national, services. Even Theodore Roosevelt was attracted to the concept as early as 1883 when as a young New York State assemblyman, he fought monopolists’ control of city streetcar systems.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-02-15
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
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:
The municipal big stick. [February 15, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278075. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. The municipal big stick. [15 Feb. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278075.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1905, February 15]. The municipal big stick.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278075.
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 13, 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.
