Judge — December 18, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This single-panel cartoon satirizes police corruption, specifically regarding payoffs to officers. The scene shows multiple policemen on a city street, with one figure in the center displaying money and declaring "I'm doin' it fer de wife an' kiddies!"—suggesting he's justifying bribery or graft as necessary family support. The title "'NUFF SAID!" indicates the joke requires no explanation: contemporary readers would immediately understand the reference to endemic police corruption of the era. The cartoon mocks how officers rationalized accepting bribes by framing it as dutiful provision for their families. This reflects early 20th-century concerns about urban police forces rife with corruption—a common theme in American satirical magazines like Judge. The exaggerated ethnic dialect and caricatured appearance emphasize the working-class officer accepting illicit money.