Judge — October 20, 1883 — page 1: what you’re looking at

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# The Judge, October 20, 1883 This political cartoon satirizes a legal dispute involving **Jay Gould**, the wealthy railroad magnate and financier. The caption "The Question Settled" and accompanying text "Now, Jay Gould, you can water Stock to your heart's content.—Court of Appeals" references the practice of "watering stock"—artificially inflating a company's shares beyond actual value. The caricatured figure, depicted with an exaggerated beard and holding a watering can labeled "WATER," is shown literally watering a barrel, suggesting the Court of Appeals had ruled in Gould's favor regarding questionable stock practices. The cartoon mocks both Gould's financial manipulations and the court's apparent sanction of such deceptive business practices—a common target of Gilded Age satire criticizing wealthy industrialists and judicial corruption.