Judge — August 15, 1885 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon titled **"The Judge"** depicts a man with a shovel standing before a large tree labeled with various commercial interests: "CHESS," "DICE," "TRADE," "THE SILVER MAPLE," and "DAMAGE OF SILVER DOLLAR." The tree is personified as a woman in flowing robes, appearing to be injured or damaged. The epigraph references Woodman sparing the tree in youth—suggesting nostalgia for a protected past. **The satire likely critiques** the destruction of American commerce or institutions through unchecked exploitation and greed. The figure with the shovel represents a force of economic or political damage, while the wounded tree symbolizes something once protective and valuable that's now being harmed for profit. The specific commercial labels suggest this targets gilded-age financial abuses and corporate exploitation.