Above, the title page from Homer Davenport‘s 1900 cartoon collection, The Dollar or the Man?. Davenport’s series’ title, derives from a quote from Abraham Lincoln — “Both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.” In the title page cartoon, we see Republican operative/money man Senator Mark Hanna, gazing lovingly at a bag of money, while behind him we see a laborer walking with what he loves — his children.

Click on cartoons, to view them in greater detail. Clicking some pictures take you to more detailed posts about that cartoon.

Beneath — “God’s in it. We’re in it. There’s money in it.” — depicting monopolist tool, President William McKinley striking a flag-soaked patriotic pose, while behind him, a man is being mugged by corporate monopolies (usually represented in The Dollar or the Man? series as Goliath-like barbarian behemoths), and their allies, the Republican Party (via Mark Hanna, wearing the suit of “$” symbols that Davenport nearly always show him wearing).

Above, Mark Hanna gives a speech to the people, telling them the benefits of the monopolies/trusts, while one “trust” hides behind a screen, out of view, with a club ready, in: “Ladies and gentlemen: Stick to the trusts. They’re your only true friends. Don’t you see how happy they’ve made you?”

Beneath, “A genuine ancestor and a mock descendant”, depicting the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves, and, Mark Hanna — representing current day (1900) Republicans, enslaving workers.

Above, “Gentlemen, let me introduce my friend”, showing Mark Hanna and his “friend”, the corporate “trusts”, while the bodies of some of their recent victims, lay in the background.

Below, the self-explanatory “Nearest his heart.”

Above, Uncle Sam/America, being served up as a roasted bird, to the corporate heads, in: When Rockefeller sits down to dine.

Beneath, Uncle Sam will be lucky if he saves his pants.

Finally, below, Uncle Sam & the people, against the corporate trusts & their Republican henchmen, in The threat before the fight. The forces of the opposition.

To find prior episodes of this series,click on The Dollar or the Man? And, to find earlier posts concerning financial reforms in general, click here.

Doug Wheeler

financial reform