Judge, 1917-04-07 · page 26 of 28
Judge — April 7, 1917 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a poem (OCR indicates it's largely complete, though OCR errors are present) tracking the rise of a small-town American politician from schoolboy to wealthy U.S. Senator. **The Political Satire:** The poem traces his arc—brutal schoolteacher, young prosecutor abusing his office to collect fines on the poor, county journalist and political operator, state legislator, congressman manipulating committees for patronage (hiring family members), and finally a Senator living luxuriously while maintaining the fiction of modest hometown assets. **The Point:** This is a scathing critique of rural political corruption—how ambitious men climb the political ladder through abuse of minor offices, exploitation of the disadvantaged, nepotism, and self-enrichment disguised as public service. The final image of him feasting on expensive food (terrapin) while claiming personal modesty captures the hypocrisy. **Context:** Judge magazine regularly mocked political corruption and machine politics, especially at state and local levels. The specificity (Bible classes, county fairs, Chautauqua leagues) suggests this caricatures an actual politician type recognizable to 1917 readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Old Overholt Rye “Same for 106 Yean™ provides delightful refreshment, Un- varying in purity and quality. Aged in the wood, bottled in bond. A. Overholt & Co. ittabureh, Pa, GOLD SEAL Champagne A wine of the highest qualit Urbana Wine Company Urbana, N. Y. Wall Nuts By JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG This clever picture, in full color 11x14, mounted a heavy mat, ready for the frame, sent prepaid for twenty JudgeArtPrint Department J 225 FIFTH AVE. NEW YORKCITY ree CUTTING EAU ROMEIKE® “MADE AT KEY WEST Dogs-eared, well thumbed, and frowsy morning face, Creeping like snail unwillingly to school, Whcreat he flogs unmercifully the boys And kisses the more comely bigger girls To's heart’s content And then, scant twenty-three, \ licensed member of the county bar, Prosecuting attorney by the people’s choice, \ standing menace and a holy terror To horse and chicken thieves; the mortal foc Of those who sell intoxicants oF sack In violation of the law; | pend being Two hundred bucks a year, and fees derived From fines imposed on the unfortunate; And many are the fines he doth contrive To have imposed, and swiftly doth collect On penalty of jail Behold him now At uwenty-six part owner of the sheet Full of mail order : That issues weekly in his native town, Iub-deep in polities, sudden in quarrel, he bubble reputation of the bury son and out; teacher of Bible class atent insides, icer of Epworth and Chautauqua Leagues, President of county fair, and orator yor of the town, In increased py f And eke doth flourish like a green bay horse. At thirty-tive He’s in the Senate of his native State And president pro tem thereof; chairman OF the Judiciary, with membership upon Committees such as Railroads, Agriculture, Municipal Corporations, License, Education, And of the little select committee of seven Which meet To try the rights of property; chi With every pot a jack, rudels round for fours, in quiet every Tuesday: night Uventy-five-cent \n lation purse of dollar ante ‘To finish alll The sixth age shifts Not into lean and sh But into C Our hero tinds himself the chairman now Of Ventilation and Acoustics, and his clerk, At $5 per day, is s« anager Who swings his district; his daughter, son, Perchance his wife, his private secretary; With ery and mileage well conserved, He lives within his means term after term; Fills in Chautauquas at S100 per, The morals of the District of Columbia regulates, And moves from stull And so he plays his part. ippered pantaloon ess in a Long-tailed coat flat to roomy house; Last scene of all That ends this strange eventful history, Behold the Senator, with eye severe, In fair round belly with good canvashack And Cuvee Brut well lined —Now getting Living upon a fashionable street In gorgeous palace, with big limou While he retains back home a modest house For purposes; a few productive farms In native county, and a block of stock In National Bank, a traction line or two, A safe deposit box with bonds well stuffed; He holds the world by its constructive tail, His appetite both keen and amply satised; ously he cometh to the Gi feast And stoweth away his share of terrapin Sans ¢ th sans hate, sans grouch, sins every: JUDGE NEXT WEEK WILL PRESENT AN AMUSINGLY- TIMELY COVER BY JAMES MONT. GOMERY FLAGG, ENTITLED “BONE DRY” Other illustrations disclose a wealth of humor by the most en- tertaining artists who work in this field, including Orson Lowell,Walter de Maris, C. Bertram Hartman, Lang, Calvert, C. W. Kahles, C. W. Anderson, F. L. Fithian, Zim, Don Herold, F. Miller, Barks- dale Rogers, Held, Crosby, Flohri, Crawford Young, Kemble, Laura E. Foster, P. D. Johnson, Richard Cutler and others. A LIST THAT CANNOT BE PARAL LELLED IN CURRENT PUBLICATIONS The text of this number is also by distinguished hands, including Walt Mason, S. E. Kiser, Tom P. Morgan, Douglas Malloch, Carolyn Wells, Don Herold, Clinton Scollard, Walter G. Doty, Lee Shippey, Arthur L. Salmon, Lou Rab, Berton Braley, Lynette Freemire, Fred Ladd, W. E. Nesom, Arthur Chapman, and others WHO CONTRIBUTE REGULARLY TO MAKE JUDGE “THE HAPPY MEDIUM" John A. Sleicher, P ‘ Grant EB. Mae The coatents of IU DEE seep ‘in both the United States one be for lisbers be reported on Back NE 1916, 10 cents: Postage fre Metin. T postage: to WESTERN ADVERTISIN erty Building e OFFICE WiIMA 1] comicbooks.com