Background
Anthracite coal miners, mostly illiterate immigrants who have been exploited, in Pennsylvania went on strike to demand for less work hours per day and a 20% increase in pay. However, mine owners would not budge to the miner's requests because they thought that cold public would also act against the miners. This caused the country to be low in coal supplies and schools and factories could no longer run without the coal and hospitals were also affected. Here is where Teddy Roosevelt decided to step in. He invited representatives of the striking coal miners and also representatives of the coal owners. Upon meeting them, TR sided with the miners and was appalled by the "stupidity and bad temper" of the owners. Thus, he used his authority to threaten the owners that he would use federal troops to operate the coal mines if they did not come to a resolution. This was the first time that federal authority was used against capital and not labor. The owners finally agreed on giving the miners a 10% pay boost and a nine hour work day. However, the miner union was not recognized or acknowledged.
Political cartoon analysis
In this picture, TR has called the representatives of the coal owners to force them to solve the issue with the striking miners. They are portrayed smaller than TR because TR was the one wielding the federal authority that would threaten the owners to either come to a resolution or he would take the mines and operate them with federal troops. In the back, we see a big Uncle Sam figure pointing to the words "We must have that coal" because the nation was suffering from the lack of coal, with schools, factories, and hospitals not functioning. It was in the nation's best interest for TR to intervene and the people celebrated TR for his actions.