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Theodore Roosevelt stands between Uncle Sam and “Special Privilege,” who are arguing over a map of the United States. Signature: “K.- after E. Nicol.”
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
1908
Illustration shows Theodore Roosevelt delivering a jolt of electric current through wires spelling “Presidential Message” to two cats labeled “House” and “Senate” asleep on a wall. Caption: Before and after the current is turned on.
The cartoon of Frank A. Nankivell, illustrating the effect of President Roosevelt’s challenges to Congress, is a play on the popular and ghastly rodenticide of the day, “Rough on Rats.” That product was simple arsenic powder cut with coal dust to provide color, and it was likely that neither Roosevelt nor Nankivell wanted to go that far in insinuation.
Uncle Sam holds a map of “The United States” and Theodore Roosevelt stands next to him with a quill pen in his mouth, discussing the ownership of the country with a smug-looking man labeled “Special Privilege.” On a nearby table are papers labeled “Public Land Fraud, Yellow Dog Legislation, Graft Tariff, [and] Monopoly.” Caption: Who owns it?
Evidently based on a noted history-themed painting of the day (especially as was the custom to grant credit to the original painter), “The Disputed Title” in cartoonist Udo J. Keppler’s hand is a straightforward presentation of the perceived challenge posed to the United States by Big Business — more specifically, “Special Privilege.”