Theodore Roosevelt: Coal Strike
Some 140,000 anthracite coal miners in Pennsylvania demanded, among other improvements, a 20 percent increase in pay and a reduction of the working day from ten to nine hours. Unsympathetic mine owners refused to arbitrate or negotiate. As coal supplies dwindled, factories, schools, and hospitals were forced to shut down. Desperately seeking a solution, Theodore Roosevelt summoned representatives of the striking miners and the mine owners to the White House. It is shown in this cartoon the meeting Roosevelt had with these miners. It is even written on one of the characters' shirts "Baer," who was a multimillionaire mine owner, attending the White House. Theodore Roosevelt resorted to his trusty big stick when he threatened to seize the mines and operate them with federal troops. This big stick of his is drawn in the picture as Roosevelt holds it behind his back. The stick has the word "authority" on it to represent how important it is to him to show that he is the one who has authority and the stick is part of what creates his authority. A compromise decision came about in at this White House gathering in which the miners got a 10 percent pay boost and a working day of nine hours.