Throw 'Em Out!

At the end of the 19th century, currency issues inflamed public opinion in America. Politicians divided into camps between hard and soft money. The soft money forces wanted inflation to expand the currency and ease the burden on debtors, while hard money supporters defended those who had lent the money, insisting they were owed a fair return. Little neutral ground existed between the poles. During the depression of 1893, hard money advocates blamed the economic woes on the inflationists and advocated repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Soft money advocates, speaking especially for farmers, launched a filibuster that raged from late August until late October 1893, when the repeal finally passed. Fed up with the delaying tactics, Joseph Keppler used this cartoon, published in Puck on November 8, 1893, to suggest what to do with senators who had filibustered.