Judge — June 27, 1908 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1908 Judge magazine cartoon satirizes financial corruption and monopolistic practices. A grotesque figure in top hat and formal wear—likely representing a wealthy industrialist or railroad baron—stands triumphantly before the U.S. Capitol. He displays signs advertising schemes to extract money through "contributions," "subscriptions," "fees," and "legacies," while promoting "Smash the Rail-Roads" and "Bust the Trusts." The title "Making Monks" suggests these wealthy figures are creating a subservient class—people stripped of resources like monks stripped of worldly goods. The caricatured poor figure at lower left emphasizes the exploitation. This reflects Progressive Era anxieties about unchecked corporate power, monopolies, and how the wealthy manipulated both public sympathy and government institutions for profit while claiming to fight against trusts.