Judge — March 5, 1904 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This **Judge** magazine cartoon depicts post-WWI disillusionment through two panels. **Left panel** ("After war PEACE"): Shows a winged Peace figure with a torch, labeled optimistically. **Right panel** ("After business is ruined, ARBITRATION"): Depicts industrial ruins with factory smokestacks in the background. A woman (likely representing Peace or Justice) gestures toward two men examining destroyed property and documents, suggesting they're engaged in arbitration proceedings over war damages. **The satire:** The cartoon critiques the gap between idealistic peace rhetoric and harsh economic reality. While WWI officially ended with talk of peace, the cartoon suggests that arbitration processes—meant to settle disputes fairly—arrive too late. Businesses lay in ruins, industrial capacity is destroyed, and arbitration cannot restore what war has demolished. It's a cynical commentary on the inadequacy of diplomatic solutions to remedy war's economic devastation.