Judge — January 7, 1888 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Gilded Age satirical cartoon depicts a biblical reference to critique labor exploitation. A figure—likely representing capitalist employers or industrial magnates—addresses a crowd of workers (appearing impoverished and desperate) as "Moses," promising to lead them to a "land of Milk and Honey." The ironic caption reveals the deception: instead of prosperity, workers are offered only "products of my Pauper Labor"—meaning they'll remain trapped in poverty-wage work. The industrial buildings visible in the background emphasize the factory/manufacturing context. The cartoon satirizes how wealthy industrialists manipulated working-class hopes with false promises of prosperity during America's rapid industrial expansion. The "Moses" comparison mocks their pretense of benevolence while delivering only exploitation.