Judge — April 18, 1925 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon depicts a well-dressed gentleman with a top hat looking into a large jar or container labeled "SMUT." Inside the jar appears to be a demonic or grotesque figure. The caption reads "DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?" The cartoon satirizes moral panic about obscenity and vice. The gentleman represents someone—likely a reformer, censor, or moral crusader—pointing out alleged "smut" to the viewer, essentially asking if we share his concerns about indecency in society. The jar functions as a magnifying device, suggesting the figure obsessively focuses on and amplifies perceived moral corruption. This reflects late 19th or early 20th-century debates about censorship, obscenity laws, and moral reform movements that sought to regulate publications and entertainment. The satire appears to mock such crusaders' exaggerated concern with depravity.