Judge — December 15, 1923 — page 20: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Harding and Coolidge. The figure on the left, labeled "MELLON," holds a bottle marked "REDIRECT" while tossing coins upward gleefully. On the right, a baby labeled "PUBLIC" sits in a carriage, appearing to receive inadequate nourishment. The satire criticizes Mellon's fiscal policies—specifically his wealth redistribution approach favoring the rich and corporations while providing minimal public services. The "food" reference suggests the public receives only scraps while wealth is redirected upward to the wealthy. This reflects 1920s progressive criticism of Mellon's tax cuts for the wealthy during a period of economic inequality, depicting his policies as starving essential public needs while enriching elites.