Judge, 1911-11-04 · page 4 of 24
Judge — November 4, 1911 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes the Rochester Chamber of Commerce's business-friendly positions on tariffs, antitrust law, and government regulation. The upper panel shows two figures labeled "TAFT"—likely President William Howard Taft—wrestling with tariff policy while holding a top hat marked with an American flag. The lower panel depicts a procession of businessmen marching under a "Rochester Division" banner, with the caption "THE PROCESSION HAS STARTED. FALL IN!" This mocks the Chamber's call for conservative business policies, suggesting businessmen blindly follow such recommendations. The five numbered statements express skepticism toward tariff debates, capital concentration, Sherman Act enforcement, Supreme Court decisions, and congressional investigations—positioning these as obstacles to business "evolution" and modern commerce methods.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
What the Rochester Chamber of Commerce says: 1—Tariff discussions at best tend to unset- tle business. II—The concentration of capital in large financial centers is not detrimental to legiti- mate business at large. I1I—Heroic measures of the Sherman act have served their purpose. What we need now is a more constructive policy. IV—The decisions of the Supreme Court have caused the managers of concerns to which the Sherman act may possibly be ap- plied to cease all efforts toward betterments or extensions until they know where they stand. V—Congressional investigations will only retard for the moment the natural progress of evolution which has been going on in adapting the business of the country to take full advantage of the improved methods of communication which now exist. George Corser THE PROCESSION HAS STARTED. FALL IN! comicbooks.com