Judge — April 19, 1890 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine, April 19, 1890 This political cartoon satirizes corruption in urban government. A well-dressed judge or official examines two departments—the Police Department and what appears to be a district attorney's office (visible signage on the right). The caption quotes the judge observing that these departments escape investigation through "trickery" despite being "a great deal more rotten than the sheriff's office." The cartoon critiques selective enforcement of accountability: while local sheriffs face scrutiny, more powerful urban institutions (police and prosecutors) evade oversight. The caricatured figures in shabby clothing represent either corrupt officials or those victimized by the system. This reflects late-19th-century concerns about machine politics and institutional corruption in American cities, particularly New York.