Judge, 1899-08-12 · page 16 of 16
Judge — August 12, 1899 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This six-panel cartoon satirizes corrupt electoral practices in late-1890s America. Two politicians need forty votes to pass a macadam (paved) road project. Rather than campaign honestly, they purchase bicycles cheaply from a dealer and distribute them to rural voters ("hayseeds") across the county. The scheme works: once country people experience the smooth macadam roads while riding their new bicycles, they're impressed and vote for the politicians at the next election—presumably for the same candidate who "gave" them the wheels. The satire targets machine politics and vote-buying through bribery disguised as gifts. It mocks both the cynical politicians exploiting voter simplicity and the rural voters whose support can be purchased with consumer goods. The title's pun ("where there's a wheel there's a way") underscores how the bicycle becomes the tool of political manipulation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
[meENEe as eeeT ese 1 I. POLITICIAN NUMBER ONE—"* We need just forty more votes to win out on BICYCLE DEALER—"* I'll sell the lot of fifty for five dollars each.” our macadam-road job. Can you git ‘em?’ Pourrictan—"'TI'll take ‘em. Ship ‘em to this address.” POLITICIAN NUMBER TWO—"*T'll see.” POLITICIAN NUMBER TWO— In order to introduce our new wheel we are HAYSEED NUMRER ONE (fwo weeks later}—"* Say, let's git the boys together giving away a limited number throughout the country.” nd take a run over inter the next county ; the roads are great over there. HAYsEED NUMBER TWO—" All right.” A Ny Wes Vv: Vi. (When they strike the macadam.)—“* Gosh, bat this is slick ! We must vote The result on election morning. for good roads at our next town election.” ; COmrweNT 1899 BY JUCGE COMPANY OF NEW YORK. ‘Sackatt & Witbatms Lita 8 ork. WHERE THERE'S A WHEEL THERE'S A WAY; beacar! OR, HOW THE POLITICIANS ELECTED THEIR MAN, comicbooks.com