"Business is business" / Ehrhart., Political Cartoon

Illustration shows two cameo scenes separated by a telegraph pole labeled "Western Union"; on the left is a civic meeting claiming that "We must uphold our Public Morals and Civic Decency" where seated on a stage are businessmen labeled "Flagler, Schiff, Jessup [sic], Depew, Rockefeller, Hyde, Morgan [and] Sage"; and on the right are the same men sitting in a room where they are straining to hear the report of the "Annual Statement" regarding "Sundry other profits from our Subterranean wires increase this total applicable to dividends by $5,000,000" over the din of coins spilling from a cornucopia connected to a telegraph pole and overflowing a barrel labeled "Western Union Pool Room Receipts". Visible through a window are many buildings labeled "Pool Room".

Illus. in: Puck, v. 55, no. 1422 (1904 June 1), centerfold.
Copyright 1904 by Keppler & Schwarzmann.