Fraud

The “editor of the New York World” and the “editor of Indianapolis News” jump in their seats as President Roosevelt tells them, “Criminal court: the next stop.” There are two newspapers on the ground, one of which reads, “New York World: Allegation of Panama Fraud.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

As usual in Jay N. “Ding” Darling’s political cartoons, he scored several points simultaneously in one drawing. The inspiration for the cartoon was the money-and-influence allegations surrounding the negotiations, purchase, and contracts for construction of the Panama Canal. Two newspapers aired the charges — particularly inciting President Roosevelt’s ire because the stories implicated his brother-in-law Douglas Robinson — The Indianapolis News and Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World.

President Roosevelt brands a Republican elephant with his initials “T.R.” underneath a crown. The elephant is chained to the ground and wears “pension order” and “postal fraud” covers on its front legs. Chair of the Republican National Committee, New York Governor Benjamin B. Odell, New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, and Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge all watch from behind a fence.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-17

Francis J. Heney informs Henry Martyn Hoyt that Thomas B. Neuhausen of the Interior Department investigated William C. Bristol. Neuhausen reports that Bristol’s conduct is not questionable. Additionally, Judge Cotton and attorney Joseph Nathan Teal have given statements exonerating Bristol. Neuhausen will send the report to Hoyt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-07

This portion of the Congressional Record reports proceedings of the United States Senate in which Senator Benjamin R. Tillman calls attention to a circular going around that is using his name to spread a land grant scheme. Tillman wants to publicize this fraud so that people are not drawn in by it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-19

Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus sends Attorney General Bonaparte an excerpt from the arguments of New Mexico Attorney General Albert B. Fall in the land fraud case there. Fall describes the disparaging attitude taken towards the officials overseeing land sales. In the current case, the Territory of New Mexico will finally be able to show the facts to the public and be vindicated in court. The specific details of the sale of the lands and whether the contracts will be voided are questions for the Territory of New Mexico alone to determine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-30

Charles J. Bonaparte reports that he will return to Washington, D.C., as soon as his current case comes to trial. Bonaparte also warns President Roosevelt not to entertain the idea of a pardon for Joseph H. Cling, who was convicted of census fraud, as this would be perceived by the public as intended to prevent Sydney Emanuel Mudd’s further exposure of the fraud. Mudd was implicated in the case, although no positive evidence could be produced against him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-28

John Crosby provides information concerning T. E. Byrnes of Minneapolis, Minnesota, to President Roosevelt. He relates an 1887 case where Byrnes fraudulently induced his mother-in-law to sign mortgages, and then Byrnes altered the descriptions to include additional premises.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-24

John Campbell reports that Colorado’s delegation will support President Roosevelt at the Republican National Convention. He comments on the recent resignation of Colorado’s former U. S. Representative John F. Shafroth.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-16

A devil wearing a business suit holds a fire brand labeled “Arson” in one hand and a large knife labeled “Murder” in the other. He is accepting a payment for $10,000 from a hand labeled “Vast Sums on Uninvestigated Risks.” The hand extends from a “Fire Insurance” company with a motto that states, “We Insure Everything and Anybody” on the corner of the building. Caption: The big insurance companies, by carelessness in their selection of agents, adjusters and risks, place a premium on crime.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-11-20

A man labeled “Pension Fraud” holds fists full of money and stands on a stage, singing, with two musicians on the left and the “U.S. Treasury” in the background. Includes text of the song – “Now I’ve got my pension, I’m a gent!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1894-05-23

An old woman labeled “G.O.P.” sits on a throne with her arms around two men labeled “Monopolist” and “Fraudulent Pension Grabber” who are winking at the viewer. Caption: Mrs. G.O.P. – “These are my jewels!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1894-04-25

A man labeled “Bossism” carries weapons labeled “False Count,” “Fraudulent Registration,” “Intimidation,” and “Deals.” Behind him are two policemen labeled “Independent Democrat” and “Independent Republican,” who are keeping an eye on him. They each carry a billy club labeled “Votes.” Caption: “Dere ain’t no more show for me, since dem two big policemen come on de beat!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1893-12-20

A man wearing a sash labeled “Harvey,” with a horn attached, stands on a platform with stacks of books, pointing to a board that states, “Coin’s Financial School – Declare fifty cents Silver to be Worth One Dollar in Gold and You will Make Two Dollars of One Dollar, therefore Silver has Twice the Purchasing Power of Gold. Figures Never Lie. If You Don’t Believe This, Buy My Book and Be Convinced! (Only 50 cents a copy).” Standing in front of the platform are several hayseed farmers.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-06-12

A fireworks display is being prepared. An “Anarchist” and John Peter “Altgeld” are lighting a rocket labeled “Altgeld Anarchistic Boom,” and several men identified as “Bland, Crisp, Teller, Waite, Blackburn, Wolcott, Morgan, [and] Stewart” are lighting rockets around a large medallion labeled “Free Silver Coinage Craze” with a silver coin labeled “In 16 to 1 We Trust.” Blackburn is holding a rocket labeled “Silver Speech” and on the ground are fireworks labeled “Snap Silver Resolutions.” At a table on the right, labeled “Coin’s Financial Hocus Pocus Game,” is William H. Harvey operating a shell game, and behind him is William A. Peffer, the “Windy Man from Kansas.” Caption: They are making great preparations for their Populistic Pyrotechnical display; but it will be only another fizzle.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-07-03

The “Rev. Dr. N. Dorser” sits at a table writing testimonials about the quality of various products, such as the “magnificent House Cleaning number” of a magazine, and “Before Using” and “After Using” portraits that illustrate the benefits of taking “Gold Brick Pills.” Caption: Obliging and “disinter[…] endorsement, at the service of every advertiser who applies to him.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-04-28

Émile Zola, as a bullfighter holding a cape labeled “La Vérité” and a quill pen labeled “Zola,” faces a charging bull that is wearing a phrygian cap labeled “France” and has been stabbed in the back of the neck with a banderilla labeled “La Débâcle.” After a military investigation and trial acquitted Ferdinand Esterhazy of treason, placing the guilt on Alfred Dreyfus, Zola published an open letter to the president of France demanding that the truth be made known and that the miscarriage of justice, “La Débâcle,” that has come to be known as the Dreyfus Affair, be corrected.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-02-16

A very old soldier labeled “Pensioner War of 1812” walks with a much younger woman wearing her wedding dress, on their way to the church in the background to get married. Between them they hold a “Pension Certificate ‘And in Case of My Death Pay to My Widow’.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-02-09

Print shows a lawyer taking papers that state “Fake Lawsuit for Damages” from a bag labeled “A Shyster” in a courtroom. As he turns toward the bench, he sees the judge point to a paper hanging from the bench that states, “Notice: To insure against the bringing of frivolous or blackmailing suits, lawyers will hereafter be held responsible for the costs of all the suits brought by them.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-07-19

Print shows Puck talking to a veteran of the Grand Army of the Republic and gesturing toward a shark in the background wearing a military uniform, holding a gaff, and standing on the steps of the “Pension Agency” where a sign hangs that states “Pensions for Everybody. Apply Early. War Record Immaterial.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-08-09

An octopus with the head of a French military officer (which may represent General Boisdeffre or General Gonse), wearing a plumed hat labeled “Militarism,” has settled over Paris, France, with its tentacles extending in all directions. The tentacles are labeled “Deception, Dishonor, Forgery, Assassination, Corruption, Falsehood, [and] Blackmail.” Caught in their grasp are military officers Georges “Picquart” and Alfred “Dreyfus,” two female figures labeled “Honor” and “Justice,” and the author Émile “Zola” holding a quill pen labeled “J’Accuse.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-10-26