This illustration entitled, “Busy Season for the Shortstop”, by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Post on May 12, 1906, depicts President Theodore Roosevelt attempting to field all of the amendments added to the Hepburn Bill in an attempt by the Senate to keep the bill from passing.
During the time that the Hepburn Bill was in the Senate, several restrictive amendments were tacked on to it. Cartoonist Clifford Berryman draws President Theodore Roosevelt as the “busy shortstop,” who tries his best to prevent these amendments from passing but is ultimately unsuccessful. The frightened teddy bear in the background echoes Roosevelt’s fear that the Hepburn Bill would not pass.
