Judge, 1883-09-22 · page 1 of 16
Judge — September 22, 1883 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# The Franco-Chinese Difficulty This political cartoon from *The Judge* (September 22, 1893) satirizes international tensions between France and China. The left figure, labeled "France," wears a military uniform with epaulettes. The right figure, labeled "China," wears traditional Chinese robes and appears distressed. France threatens China with a hammer while holding what appears to be a document labeled "Tonkin" (a French colonial territory in Indochina that was a major point of Franco-Chinese conflict in the 1880s-90s). The caption reads: "JOHN—You wantee too muchee. All same try to rob me. We fightee first," using period-typical stereotypical "pidgin English" dialogue to mock the dispute. The cartoon depicts Western imperial aggression—France attempting to coerce China through military intimidation over colonial disputes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
f\ WE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK AS SECOND CLASS MATTER. COPYRIGHT 188: BY THE JUDGE PUBLISHING CO. NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 22, 1883. 10 Cents. -j I | oY c 3 | O es THE FRANCO-CHINESE DIFFICULTY. JOHN—You wantee toomuchee. Allesametry torobme. We fightee first. comicbooks.com