Judge — April 6, 1907 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "April First: He Fits the Season" This April Fools' Day cartoon depicts a caricatured demon or devil figure wearing a cowboy hat labeled "FREE GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP." The figure carries signs reading "KICK ME AGAIN IN 1908" and references "WIDOW BENNETT" and "5,000 SIMOLEANS" (slang for dollars). Additional labels include "APRIL FOOL," "DEMON," and "POLITICAL." The satire targets government ownership proposals—likely of railroads or utilities—which the cartoonist portrays as foolish and destructive. The 1908 reference suggests this relates to upcoming electoral politics. The figure's grotesque appearance and fool's costume mock advocates of government ownership as naive or villainous. The "widow Bennett" reference appears to invoke sympathy-based arguments from reform advocates, which Judge's conservative editors dismissed as sentimental trickery.