Life — February 23, 1911 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Boy Grafters" Political Cartoon Analysis This satirical piece criticizes **J.P. Morgan and other wealthy financiers** for allegedly leading the "Boy Grafters" organization. The cartoons mock the hypocrisy of wealthy men claiming to develop youth morally while themselves engaging in financial corruption ("grafting"). The top cartoon shows fat, corrupt older men with boys bowing submissively—suggesting exploitation of youth. The bottom cartoon depicts these financiers "saluting" a National Bank, implying collusion with banking institutions. The accompanying text defends the concept of grafting as practiced by these elites, sarcastically arguing it's merely "scientific" and acceptable when done by "eminent financiers," while condemning ordinary theft. The satire attacks the double standard: wealthy men facing no consequences for financial crimes while criminalizing working-class theft.