Judge — September 22, 1906 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of "The New Spelling—Which Goes?" This political cartoon satirizes the spelling reform movement of the early 1900s. Two figures—appearing to represent political candidates or public figures—hold signs advocating for "Bryan for President in 1909" and related political messaging. The cartoon likely mocks William Jennings Bryan's political ambitions while also commenting on the contemporary simplified spelling reform initiative (promoted by President Theodore Roosevelt and others). The juxtaposition of political campaigning with spelling reform creates absurdist humor, suggesting these reform movements were equally questionable or ridiculous to the cartoonist. The title's question "Which Goes?" implies skepticism about whether either movement would succeed, treating political aspirations and linguistic reform as equivalently dubious propositions worthy of mockery.