Judge, 1914-06-27 · page 6 of 25
Judge — June 27, 1914 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques American diplomatic incompetence through an extended manufacturing metaphor. The text argues that while America possesses quality raw materials (natural resources/talent), management failures and political corruption produce inferior diplomatic "products" internationally. It charges that campaign contractors supply poor materials, politics corrupts diplomacy, and finished work is repeatedly scrapped and replaced with untried alternatives—damaging American credibility abroad. The bottom cartoon pair titled "A Lesson in Patriotism" illustrates the consequences: the left panel shows a stern father figure disciplining children amid scattered belongings, while the right depicts a man distributing gifts to children outdoors. The contrasting scenes suggest parental chaos versus stability—likely satirizing how erratic diplomatic policy (the "management") undermines American standing like parental inconsistency damages children's security. The "Wordy" joke about appearing wise is unrelated filler.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
equal, if not superior, to the best foreign brands, They may call theirs diploma- tists and ours diplomats, but in the final analysis we have fre- quently put it over them just the same, which is the imprescriptible right of quality. If we had an \ (i unbroken record of in- equality, we could only Fas 23) keep the works going and * hope that, as we grew older and more experienced in manufac- ture, we might improve and equalize; but our record is broken in places by quali- ties of diplomacy that would be a credit to any power on earth. It might appear, then, that if we have the material to produce a brand of such quality, something must be wrong with the works when they continue to turn out these inferior grades, But there is noth- ing wrong with the works, or they would have failed even when they had good raw material, and the conclusion is inevitable that the fault lies with the management, the men who conduct the works. It can- not be otherwise, for with proper raw material and proper machinery a_ first- Are you sane A LESSON IN class article must be produced, unless those in control do not know their busi- ness, are negligent of their duties, or have some r nof their own for manu- facturing cheap stuff for the foreign trade. It has been charged that we do not pay the price for good raw material, that inferior material is supplied by cam- paign contractors, and, further, that there is too much politics in our diplomacy. Whether any of these charges are true or not has never been fully proved, but the fact remains that at intervals the finished product, which has been tested for years and given perfect satisfaction to foreign customers and to the stock- holders who own the works, has been re- moved, and new and untried brands sub- stituted, to our discredit at home and abroad, It is evident our supply of raw mate- rial exceeds the demand for the finished product, and this being the case, some definite and satisfactory answer should be made to the question: What shall we do about our diplomatic works? Lots of men have trouble keeping up appearances when they try to look wise. Wey MINN POS Mp bene YOU AIN'T NO BOY DOG.” “ YOU CAN COME IN, NELLY. Wordy “Your wife appears somewhat moody !"" “Yep—imperative moody!’ PATRIOTISM comicbooks.com