Judge, 1897-11-06 · page 8 of 16
Judge — November 6, 1897 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1897 Judge cartoon uses an infant as metaphor for England's economy. The baby, depicted with exaggerated facial features suggesting caricature, sits amid tools of trade and industry (visible in background items). A document labeled "PROSPERITY" lies nearby—ironically, given the crisis described. The satire illustrates the text's warning about England facing its worst trade crisis ever, with inevitable wage cuts and labor conflict looming. The crying infant represents Britain's distressed industrial state. The cartoon suggests England's economic troubles are causing national "distress"—hence the baby's anguished expression. The reference to "the terrible struggle of four years ago" likely alludes to labor unrest of the early 1890s. The point: England's industrial dominance is suffering, forcing painful economic medicine (wage reduction) that will only worsen labor relations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lonpon.—The English trade has reached the greatest crisis in its history, and the indications are that it will speedily culminate in a labor war which will be far worse than even the terrible struggle of four years ago. The situation is really a desperate one, for the fate of the in- dustry of England is practically at stake. ‘The confession now made that it can hold its position only by a substantial reduction in wages is a matter of very great im- portance, not only to the many thousand laborers directly affected, but also to the whole commercial world. —Daily Paper. COPYRIGHT 1897 BY THE JUOGE PUBLISHING COMPANY OF KEW YORK. NO WONDER THE |Bé comicbooks.com