In the first cartoon, a newsboy carries a daily paper that reads, “1905: amount embezzled for speculation this year: $6,520,000,” and President Roosevelt says “Wake up” to a policeman. In the second cartoon, a newsboy carries a daily paper that reads, “1906: amount embezzled for speculation this year: $7,481,000,” and Roosevelt says, “Wake up” to a policeman. In the third cartoon, a newsboy carries a daily paper that reads, “1907: amount embezzled for speculation this year: $41,458,000,” and Roosevelt says, “Get busy.” In the fourth cartoon, Roosevelt watches as the policeman marches toward several men who say, “Now see what you’ve done,” “You talked too loud,” and “You’re disturbing capital.”
comments and context
Comments and Context
This cartoon by John T. McCutcheon in the Chicago Tribune illustrates a situation that was believed in some quarters and charged from others, that President Roosevelt’s criticisms of abuses in corporate America and the banking system contributed to the recent Wall Street panic. Roosevelt accepted with equanimity that such would be the case, and wrote to many friends that he accepted the accusations philosophically.
