The waters of reciprocity
Subject(s): Dams, Hobbyhorses, Reciprocity, Reciprocity (Commerce), Shaw, Leslie M. (Leslie Mortier), 1848-1932
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Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw, riding on a hobby horse labeled “Shaw’s Orations,” calls out to fleeing citizens in a valley to stand their ground in the face of a weakening “Stand-Pat Dam” in the background. Caption: Secretary Shaw — Courage, stand-patriots! You can save the dam yet!
Comments and Context
The context of Joseph Keppler, Junior’s, cover cartoon in Puck is recent remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw. As a politician (former governor of Iowa) but with banking experience, he cast an eye on the 1908 presidential nomination.
Shaw and his successor in President Roosevelt’s cabinet, George B. Cortelyou, were slightly anomalous in the reforming, crusading group of advisers perceived by the public, and by history. In fact, department heads like Elihu Root and William H. Taft were also conservative. Shaw, in this cartoon, argues for the conservatives’ “Stand Pat” policy.
Shaw was a proponent of an elastic currency policy, and a friendly attitudes toward banks and their freedom, their reserve requirements, and so forth, Shaw resigned his office on March 4, 1907, but his Treasury policies, continued by Cortelyou, provided paths for “Wall Street” (J. P. Morgan, chiefly) to staunch the bleeding in the 1907 financial panic.
Show here raising the tocsin to Stand-Patriots, a clever pun, Shaw marked his territory on the pre-presidential landscape among other aspirants.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-09-13
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
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 waters of reciprocity. [September 13, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278387. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. The waters of reciprocity. [13 Sep. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278387.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1905, September 13]. The waters of reciprocity.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278387.
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. March 12, 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.
