Judge, 1931-06-06 · page 13 of 36
Judge — June 6, 1931 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Third Degree" Satire This cartoon satirizes the U.S. government's then-novel strategy of prosecuting organized crime through income tax violations rather than direct criminal charges. The setup presents a darkly comic inversion: police detectives interrogate a gangster ("Kid Redfield") using brutal "third degree" tactics, but they're grilling him not about murders he admits to (stabbing Watkins, killing Pearson in self-defense, bank robbery) but about trivial tax discrepancies—undisclosed $6 checks, incorrect deductions, miscalculated percentages. The joke is that the government has become so focused on catching tax cheaters that actual violent crimes are dismissed as irrelevant distractions. The gangster's casual confessions to homicide are ignored; the cops only care about accounting errors. This satirizes the absurdity of using tax law as a crime-fighting tool and critiques bureaucratic priorities that prioritize financial paperwork over genuine criminal activity. The secondary cartoon above mocks incompetence in tax preparation, suggesting citizens need professional accountants to navigate confusing tax codes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE Repriztp—I ain't got nothing to say! Ketty—Answer my question! (He takes him by the coat collar and shakes him violently.) Why did you deduct one per cent. for bad debts? Answer that! Why didn’t you show that your status with respect to question — five changed during the year? Answer that! And whoever told you that two per cent. of ten thousand dollars is forty-eight cents? Answer that! Reprir.p (breaking down)—All right. I'll come clean. What's the use? 1 owe the government. sixty-two dollars extra on my nineteen-thirty income tax and fifty-six dollars on my return for nineteen twenty-nine, Ketty—I knew you were guilty ! like you ought to get a public to figure out your returns. ing to be hard on you, Redfield. wouldn't be surprised if you draw a fifty dollar tine! —Artive L, Lippmann Kamo Coonine Tracnen —Then add the whites of tieo eggs! The Third Degree (The United States Government is ap- prehending gangsters by checking up their income tax returns.—News Item.) T" scene is the detectives’ room of Police Headquarters. Kid Re is cowering on the floor. Kelly, $ ind Norris, three burly cops tower above him, Ketty—Come clean, you rat! Did you show a loss on the je of ten shares of United States Stecl? (He kicks Red- ticld.) Reorietp—I tell you that I killed Pearson in self-defense, Ketty—Don't confuse the issue with that homicide stuff. Why did you claim exemption for the feeble-minded grand- mothe! Reve »—I had to knife Watkins. He threatened to get me. It was self- defense that time, too. Nornis—Forget the Watkins stabbing. Didn't you fail to report as income a check for six dollars received by you May third, nineteen hundred and thirt Reprie.p—I got no check on May third. ‘That was the day we stuck up the Cranfield National Bank in Fort ne. y—So you'll try to alibi that (He kicks Redfield.) Why you figure your surtax at one-half of one per cent.2 Why did you? An- “Hello, Bloom, I’m off to Europe—iwhere’re you spending the summer?” swer me or I'll slug you one. “On the rocks!” 1 comicbooks.com