Judge, 1915-01-23 · page 6 of 24
Judge — January 23, 1915 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes American legal procedure through an absurdist courtroom scene. The main cartoon depicts lawyers filing endless, ridiculous objections based on invented precedents (referencing "Antediluvia, Volume 48")—mocking how legal technicalities can obstruct justice entirely. Every question gets objected to; the judge sustains each objection without hearing evidence. The satire criticizes how procedural rules and lawyerly obstruction can paralyze courts, preventing actual testimony or truth-seeking. The accompanying illustrations ("Expert Advice," "Planning the Campaign," etc.) use similar absurdist humor about social manipulation and strategy. The shorter comic pieces below offer unrelated humor: a bride learning to cry for material gain; a "canny clam" that keeps secrets; domestic jokes about deferring tasks and eating pie. Overall, this is institutional satire targeting legal system dysfunction through exaggeration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
and explaining acquaintance with Browning and with Emerson."" “Objection sustained,”’ decided the judge. ‘I now wish to ask the witness if he is acquainted with the defendant in any way,"’ said the lawyer for the plaintiff. “*Lobject,"’ quickly vociferated the lawyer for the de- fense, ‘ton the ground that this is not admissible under the rules of evidence laid down in the Supreme Court decisions of Antediluvia, Volume 48, page 2119456 There it says, ‘Whenever it shall appear from a majority of the facts that interlocutory pleadings are necessary to establish in the mind of any one present a reasonable doubt or otherwise to be prejudicial to either defendant or plain- tiff in howsoever slight a degree, the duty of the court is clear.""* “Objection sustained,"' decided the judge. **T will now ask the witness if he has stated everything EXPERT ADVICE Young matron (to bride) —Why don't you learn to cry? I've bad four new suits and five bats this season and only had to cry three times. Planning the campaign A COUNTER ATTRACTION he knows bearing on or per- taining to, about, around, for or against this case?"" said the lawyer for the plaintiff. “LT object,"’ expostulated the lawyer for the defense, “on the ground t tion opens the wa that might be helpful in es- at this ques- y toevidence tablishing justice." “Objection sustained," de- cided the judge. “T should like’—began the lawyer for the plaintiff. object,"’ promptly inter- posed the lawyer for the de- fendant, ‘‘on the ground that" “As it is getting a little late,"’ put in the judge, ‘I will sustain the objection without argument.’* “IT take exception,’’ said Mobilizing the forces the lawyer for the plaintiff. ‘* Witness may step down."* ‘Before the witness is excused,"’ said the judge, ‘I should like to ask him if he feels that he has told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."" “I do,”” replied the witness. —Ellis O. Jones. The Canny Clam The canny clam lies on his back And keeps his eye glued to a crack, Then calmly closes up his shell, And what he’s seen he does not tell. His Application Mother—My son, you should never defer until to-morrow what you can do to-day. Son—Then, mother, we'd better eat the rest of that mince pie to-night, hadn't we? More Cobb—Is it a privilege to know Short? Webb—Yes; an expense, also.