Judge — February 29, 1896 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1897 cartoon satirizes a business management change. The announcement states that G. Cleveland's services as manager will be "dispensed with," replaced by a new firm called "Protection Prosperity & Co." The caricatured figure emerging from the storefront appears to represent Cleveland being removed from his managerial position. The joke targets Cleveland's economic policies—specifically his support for free trade, as evidenced by the "Free Trade, Hard-Times & Co." sign visible on the building behind him. The cartoon criticizes Cleveland's administration for economic hardship, suggesting that protectionist policies (represented by the incoming "Protection Prosperity" firm) would be better for American business and prosperity. This reflects the late-1890s political debate between free-trade Democrats and protectionist Republicans over tariff policy and its effects on the economy.