Judge, 1911-09-23 · page 17 of 26
Judge — September 23, 1911 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early 20th-century American antitrust enforcement through animal fables. The main narrative features a **Lion** (representing big business) and a **Lamb** (small producer) debating whether they can legally cooperate. The satire's target: Congress members depicted as animals—**Owl, Ass, Jackal, Woodchuck, Turkey Cock**—who write antitrust laws they don't understand. The Lion notes these lawmakers "don't know it and refuse to be told," criticizing their incompetence. The punchline: though cooperation would benefit trade, strict antitrust law forbids it as a "conspiracy." The solution? A "merger" structured as a holding company—a legal loophole that achieves the same result while technically obeying the law. The cartoon mocks rigid, poorly-crafted legislation that prevents beneficial business cooperation while clever lawyers find workarounds. Additional puns about "Brown's horse" and Mary's tongue occupy the page's bottom.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
KINGFISHER. We should be indicted as a trust. The law requires that we slay each other if we can."’ “But that isn’t fair,"’ said the Lamb. “In the first place, you are too big for me to slay; and in the second place, I need help as a small producer, and an alliance with you would be just what I need."’ “‘Lcan't help that,’’ retorted the Lion. “The law is definite. If we made such an alliance it would be a conspiracy, and I should get my name in the papers as a malefactor of great wealth who was acting in restraint of trade’’—— “But you wouldn’t be restraining trade--you would be promoting it,” pro- tested the Lamb. “1 know that and you know that,” said the Lion; ‘‘but unfortunately the Owl and the Ass and the Jackal and the Woodchuck and the Turkey Cock, who make our laws down in Congress, don’t know it and refuse to be told.”” “Then my ideals of universal peace, helpfulness, prosperity, and settled con- ditions through a vast system of co- operation are’’—said the Lamb. “Criminal by statute !"’ said the Lion, sharpening his front teeth on a piece of flat stone at the side of the road. The Lamb sighed deeply and looked away, and the Lion’s heart was stirred to note a small tear coursing down his nose. “Never mind, old chap," he said sym- pathetically. ‘There may be a way around the law. I’il consult my coun- sel, Colonel Ferret, on the subject this evening; but, meanwhile, if you feel yourself out in the cold, I'll consent to a temporary merger of our interests, pending the colonel’s consideration of the points."” Whereupon they ‘‘merged,"’ the Lion for prudential reasons constituting him- self a ‘‘holding company’’ for the time being. Moral—There are times when a little foresight is more profitable than all the inside information in the world. A Variation. Mek had a little tongue, A temper far from slow, And everything that Mary said Was pretty sure to go! A Comparison. 6¢PQROWN'S horse reminds me of an umbrella.’’ “An umbrella?”’ “Yes; you can see his ribs without looking very closely.”’ HAVE MET. comicbooks.com