A serious case

A man looks at “Doctor Cortelyou” and holds a bag of “$: Dr. Hayseed’s pills” while Uncle Sam lies incapacitated in a bed. Cortelyou says, “I’ve made a careful diagnosis of Uncle’s case, and I think your pills will put him on his feet.” President Roosevelt looks on and says, “I hope Uncle will get no worse.” J. Pierpont Morgan says to John D. Rockefeller, “They are very much alarmed about the condition of Uncle. I’m afraid John, the last dose you gave him didn’t do him any good. They don’t seem to think much of your skill when they called in a country practitioner.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The focus of this cartoon was that of the entire nation itself, a bare month into the Wall Street Panic of 1907. Cartoonist J. F. Collins had greater fame and a longer career as a strip cartoonist for Sunday newspapers than for political cartoons. “A Serious Case” is indeed a case study of why the case was so serious.

The subject of the cartoon, the Panic and its difficult treatment, was on the mark, but it is unclear why Collins represented Treasury Secretary George B. Cortelyou’s infusion of twenty-five millions of U. S. Government funds into the tottering banking system in the person of a rough rural “hayseed.” This is especially odd when compared to the nattily attired Cortelyou. (His face, a virtually photographic likeness, is strangely inappropriate amidst the other caricatured faces.)

Yet Cortelyou’s “prescription” was indeed administered, ultimately to little effect. The doctors in the corner disagree with the course chosen by Cortelyou. In these matters Collins correctly depicted the basic facts of the Panic and the immediate actions of the government, even to the anxiety of President Roosevelt, who oversaw the work of Cortelyou, the efforts of J. Pierpont Morgan, and who approved the complicated arrangements that salvaged the economy. The particulars of the cartoon then stray from the actual facts.

Regarding the doctors in the corner, for instance, John D. Rockefeller had little to do with the Panic’s resolution; but Morgan played a determinative role. The Administration was grateful for his help, more than would be gathered from Collins’s representation. So it is not clear who the “meddler” was at the time of the cartoon’s publication, except for the cartoonist himself; however, cartoonists are meant to meddle, and frequently to assist the understanding of contemporary readers and future researchers. It is noted that Collins’s greater cartooning achievements were with strips like “Pinkie Prim” and “Mr. Smarty.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11

Creator(s)

Collins, J. F.

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

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