Judge — October 1, 1892 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes nativist labor protectionism. An American workingman (identified by his checkered shirt) demands the factory gate be closed against European pauper laborers competing for jobs. However, the cartoon's central joke critiques the contradiction in his position: he wants tariff protection against imported *goods*, yet simultaneously demands immigration restriction against imported *workers*. The caption's ironic tone—"It is a good thing to protect me against the competition of European pauper labor; but why not also protect me against the millions of pauper laborers who are swarming here?"—exposes the hypocrisy of selective protectionism. The workingman seeks "double protection" yet ignores that existing immigration already undercuts his wages, making his demands internally inconsistent.