Spiders

Nelson W. Aldrich appears as a large spider on a cobweb labeled “Senate Committee Room” spread between the U.S. Capitol and a “Standard Oil” tower, on which several flies labeled “Anti-Trust Bill, Free Alcohol Bill, House Bill, Philippine Tariff Bill, [and] Legislation Needed” have landed.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Nelson W. Aldrich was not the most senior member of the United States Senate, but by wily tactics, ability, and connections he clearly was the most powerful in the Republican-dominated Upper House during the administration of President Roosevelt. From his chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee he managed to affect virtually every piece of legislation that passed (or did not) through the Senate.

Uncle Sam, as a sleeping Swiss guard of the “Public Funds,” is being overtaken by trees and cobwebs. Two dogs are also asleep at his feet. A building on the right labeled “Public Funds” is being overgrown by a tree labeled “Corruption” with spreading limbs labeled “National, State, [and] City.” A snake labeled “Lobbyism” hangs from the branches, and rats flee with coins from its coffers. Two spiders labeled “Graft” and “Bossism” ply the webs, a tree on the left is labeled “Ring Rule,” and an alligator labeled “Greed” prowls the foreground among tree roots labeled “Dead Conscience.” In the background, a vulture labeled “Monopoly” keeps an eye on a candlelight vigil by a person labeled “Dead Letter Laws” for a female figure labeled “Honesty.” The candle glows with “Hope.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon illustrates the magazine’s evolution from humor-tinged reform advocacies to a more urgent, more radical agenda. In its past, the magazine would have addressed these social and governmental ills, but without the apocalyptic tone of this cartoon.

William Jennings Bryan is a large spider labeled “Free Silver” with three flies labeled “White, Schurz, [and] Godkin” caught in his web labeled “16 to 1,” “Anti-expansion,” “Chicago Platform,” and “Bryanism.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The radical economic policies and agrarian roots of William Jennings Bryan kept many Eastern, aristocratic liberals from making alliance with his Populist-based campaigns. The old-line liberal reformers Horace White, Carl Schurz, and Edwin Godkin — all on the staffs of the New York Post and The Nation magazine — were tempted to support Bryan in his presidential candidacy of 1900 on the issues of Expansionism and anti-Imperialist views. The cartoon’s layout and labels indicate that cartoonist Pughe saw Imperialism as an issue that would lead to their doom.

Justice, an old woman, sleeps at a desk, with cobwebs, spiders, and mice taking over the courtroom. Outside a window an armed group of vigilantes have broken down the door to a jail and removed a man whom they are about to hang from a nearby tree. One man carries a flag that states “Lively Lynchers.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-07-04

Jay Gould is a spider on a web of “Western Union” telecommunication lines that extend from several utility poles and cover (ensnare) Justice atop a “Courthouse.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-22

A large spider labeled “Flim Flam Finance,” with a disgruntled look on its face, sits on a cobweb labeled “Wall Street,” looking at a bunch of flies labeled “The Public” hovering just beyond the cobweb, mocking the spider.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-01-22

A spider labeled “Interstate Commerce Commission” has caught in its web labeled “The Law” a large fly labeled “Harriman.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

As the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) recently had been empowered with teeth — or, in Udo J. Keppler’s cartoon analogy, pincers and a fuller ability to weave webs — it really was unknown whether the railroad trusts or government regulators would prevail in the early showdowns.