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 The Trusts and Fundraising

 


 “The Lion-Tamer"
  Cartoonist:  William Allen Rogers
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   October 15, 1904, p. 1563

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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
Although Puck, the Democratic humor magazine, characterized President Theodore Roosevelt during the 1904 presidential campaign as the tool of large business corporations (“trusts”), this Harper’s Weekly cartoon shows him in control of the relationship, taming the ferocious trusts (depicted as lions) with his administration’s antitrust policy.

On February 19, 1902, Roosevelt’s Justice Department sued in federal court under the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) to break up J. P. Morgan’s railroad trust, the Northern Securities Company. It was the first of 45 antitrust suits filed by his administration, earning the Republican president the nickname, “Trustbuster.” In March 1904, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Northern Securities had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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