Judge — June 29, 1889 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes the failure of the justice system to hold anyone accountable for disasters. The central figure is Justice (blindfolded woman), depicted playing "blind man's buff" while surrounded by small figures representing responsible parties for various catastrophes. The surrounding vignettes show: a steamship disaster, railroad accident, flood, building collapse, street explosion, and bank failure. Each represents real tragedies of the era. The cartoon's message—"Nobody to Blame, as Usual"—mocks how investigations into major disasters consistently failed to assign responsibility or punish wrongdoing. Justice appears helpless and ineffective, literally blindfolded and stumbling, unable to identify or catch the guilty parties who scatter around her. This reflects late-19th/early-20th century frustration with corporate malfeasance and regulatory failures going unpunished.