The Judge, Vol. 6, No. 138

"Famishing Democracy," The Judge, June 7, 1884

A bearded workman in tattered clothes holds a tin cup before three barrels marked with faces and dollar signs, positioned outside a building advertising the Democratic National Convention. The caption reads: "I wonder which one it will pay best to tap?" The cartoon satirizes the Democratic Party as controlled by corrupt monied interests rather than serving ordinary laborers. Published during the 1884 presidential campaign, this image reflects Republican attacks on Democratic financial management and alleged machine politics. Judge, the GOP-leaning weekly, deployed such imagery to challenge Democratic claims of representing working people while suggesting the party served only wealthy faction leaders.