Teddy Roosevelt against Railroads
The railroad corporations were sprawling in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They needed to be controlled so Congress passed railroad legislation, such as the Elkins Act of 1903 and the Hepburn Act of 1906. Roosevelt, a trustbuster, attacked the Northern Securities Company in 1902. This company was a railroad holding company organized by a financial titan called J.P. Morgan and an empire builder called James J. Hill. Morgan and Hill ought to achieve a virtual monopoly of the railroads in the Northwest. Roosevelt ordered that the Northern Securities Company be dissolved. This decision called the Northern Securities decision, had a shock effect on Wall Street and angered big businesses, but Roosevelt's reputation as a trust smasher was enhanced.
This cartoon illustrates this situation. The bull is labeled "R.R. trust, and represents the Northern Securities Company. The man wrestling the bull represents Teddy Roosevelt, as his hat is labeled "Roosevelt." The woman in the tree represents "Northwest Trade". Roosevelt is wrestling the bull to protect it from the woman in the tree. It is just as Roosevelt attacked/fought the Northern Securities Company to protect trade in the Northwest, as the Northern Securities Company wanted monopoly of all the railroads in the Northwest.
This cartoon illustrates this situation. The bull is labeled "R.R. trust, and represents the Northern Securities Company. The man wrestling the bull represents Teddy Roosevelt, as his hat is labeled "Roosevelt." The woman in the tree represents "Northwest Trade". Roosevelt is wrestling the bull to protect it from the woman in the tree. It is just as Roosevelt attacked/fought the Northern Securities Company to protect trade in the Northwest, as the Northern Securities Company wanted monopoly of all the railroads in the Northwest.
01/15/13