Judge, 1896-10-17 · page 16 of 16
Judge — October 17, 1896 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This political cartoon attacks the free-silver movement, which advocated unlimited coinage of silver at a 16-to-1 ratio with gold. The "Silverite" (a silver-advocate politician) encounters a farmer and blames all agricultural problems—chinch bugs, rust, falling crop prices—on the "Crime of '73" (demonetization of silver in 1873), claiming free silver would magically solve everything. The farmer responds with scathing logic: the Silverite's claims are absurd—you cannot legislate away natural disasters or control nature through monetary policy. The cartoon's final section sarcastically references false Democratic promises to farmers (likely Cleveland's tariff/free-trade pledges), warning farmers against being fooled twice. The satire ridicules silver-advocacy as economic nonsense that exploits farmers' genuine hardships with false solutions. The author is identified as George M. Reynolds.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
He was sett’ on a shoe-box at th! corner uy th street, ag terbacker an’ waitin’ fer treat. reed his terbacker-juice at an i inestecatee fy, in honest farmer come a-walkin’ slowly by. Bebe Fioued ep ts seisses aa he wak aster how, An’ boldly waded inter him, an’ this is what he blew’: a yu you.tell me, my friend. why the chinch-hug is eatin’ up yer grain? Have yer ciphered on the problem why we git so little rain Cas y2r tele, plocdie’ farmers why tre artey worm’ arcana ? ‘Why th’ tarnal yeller sunlight is burnin’ up the ground? Can yer tell me why th’ weevil, th” rust an’ Hessian fly Are eatin’ up yer substance? Do yer know th’ reason why ? Why the price uv eggs an’ butter, oats an‘ corn an* wheat an‘ rye Are a-tallin’ io th’ market as th’ years are passin’ by ? m. “The reason why these dismal clouds cast their shadders ‘crost th’ sun, Why yer debts are gittin” bigger, as th’ seasons go an’ kum; Th’ reason fer this trouble is plain enough ter see; {Tis that orful, fearful, nasty thing, * th’ crime of '73." ‘Tew be sure. yer didn't know it fer thirty years er 80, Rut it worked this orful havuc, it dealt this deadly blow, old bugs down in Wall street, under cover of the law, Hav’ goboics up yer earnin’s in their thirsty, hungry may pDizteea to one | will cure you—tis the only thing that can— yer take iin large doses on "allopathic plan w The farmer stopped and listened, tho’ it almost ma‘ laft At the stupid, senseless logic uv this whittlin’, ct calf, ‘An’ bis dander * Ap! he kracked Bist sean” orcas’ an" argily with sch taraal fouls cs pou, You'll legislate the weevil, chinch-bug, and Hessian-fy, You'll resolute the rain-drop er know the reason why. You'll upset the laws uy natur, you'll change the seasons You'll st I stop {ne golden sunlight {rpm shinin’ on the ground; t fixes prices, you'll change it jest fer With coininuvthe siver sisteen totone.t Half a dollar's worth uv metal will be worth jest twict as Whea melted by the gover'ment as’ giv’ ‘nits magic touch, You'd bust up all the railroads, shops an’ savin's-banks, With th’ driviia’ silly nonsense uv you crazy silver cranks. v. ¢iteremete me thar | remember whea things were al askew — Some time about November, in Rat the same guon by feces proctised anciber treat That you told the grubbin' farmer that you'd gin bi \ doltar* wheat, "d surely then be happy, an’ his fortun’ would be Et he'd jest upset the tariff, vote fer Cleveland an‘ free-trade. Now we don't pertend tew know much, fer we never had much show, But there's quite a grist o' things that even farmers know; y know when they've been lied tew, an’ taken fer a dunce, Aa’ they're goin’ tew be deuced careful that they don't git fooled but once. GEORGE M, REYNOLDS. COPYMOMT 1966, BY THE JUDGE PUBLISHING COMPANY OF NEW YORK ‘Sachets Warelms Litho Co New York THE FARMER AND THE SILVERITE. ; ! comicbooks.com