The partners

A man labeled “The Railroad,” with “Land Grants” and “Franchises” in his pockets, reads a ticker tape from a device labeled “Speculation,” while walking next to Uncle Sam who is bent under the weight of several large bundles labeled “Operating Expenses, Taxes, Fines, Corruption Fund, Overcapitalization, Water for Stocks, High Tariff Rails, Cost of Construction, [and] Rate Discrimination.” Caption: The people remembered that they were at least silent partners in the railroad business by reason of the franchises they had granted and the investments they had made in the railroad properties themselves.–Attorney-General Hadley on the railroad as a common carrier.

Comments and Context

A notable subtext of this powerful cartoon by Udo J. Keppler makes it a political cartoon without partisan politics. The two major parties had their well-known platforms and policy positions; and by this point, Spring of 1908, the putative candidates were set: William H. Taft for the Republicans and William Jennings Bryan for the Democrats.

The theme of the cartoon was a clear and almost brutal as it could be, deeper than criticism of federal largesse to railroad builders. As far back as Clay and Lincoln, the “national idea” mandated the federal government’s vigorous promotion and support of expansion, development, and improvements.

Keppler’s criticism was focused on the exploitation — corruption — of that policy, that the builders of railroads created monopolies; that they grew to interlocking trusts; that competition was stifled and small entrepreneurs crushed; that governmental aid often was perverted — such as land grants, given for rail development, frequently was used, or sold, for private profits. These mixed blessings often were carried on while trusts evaded taxes and regulations, and taxpayers subsidized the ill-gotten gains.

Railroad barons of the day, like Edward Henry Harriman, were getting their due criticism and legal hounding, even as this cartoon was published. There were reforms of rate regulations and assignments of lines, as well as dissolution of some combinations, but for the most part the facial expressions of the railroad executive and Uncle Sam, as drawn by Keppler, continued.

The “Attorney General Hadley” named in the caption was Herbert S. Hadley of Missouri, one of a growing number of mayors, governors, and state officials around the United States who emerged at this time, dedicated to reform and cleansing the “systems” that had prevailed and allowed such abuses. Hadley was notably successful in prosecuting Standard Oil and other monopolies. A Republican, he was elevated by the voters of Missouri to serve as governor later in 1908.

In 1912 Hadley was floor manager for the Theodore Roosevelt delegates at the Republican National Convention. The bold and handsome Hadley was universally admired, and at a critical moment in the contentious floor fight between the proponents of President Taft and Roosevelt, the President’s representatives offered to shift their support to Hadley as a compromise candidate. Hadley went to Roosevelt, who was present at the convention — an unprecedented situation — with this news. Roosevelt warily said he would agree on the condition that the delegates be “purged” of those fraudulently seated, in the eyes of many, and if the offer were sincere and not a ploy by Taft forces.

Indeed, while Hadley left to determine the offer’s sincerity, Senator William Edgar Borah of Idaho, sought a meeting with Roosevelt to report that he, too, had been offered the same temptation. The Roosevelt campaign then adjudged that the Taft campaign was engaged in mere chicanery.

But if things had gone differently, the Hadley referred to in this cartoon’s caption might have become president. Hadley, by the way, was flattered by the possible interest, but was not sure he could have withstood the rigors of the presidency; he had health problems. Roosevelt shared his own view that the honor of the presidency is worth any personal risk. Hadley lived, after all, until 1927.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-04-01

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

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

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation