Judge — April 23, 1932 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Judge: Big Business" - Political Cartoon Analysis This satirical page critiques corporate management during an economic depression. The top panel shows a judge or authority figure addressing businessmen, declaring "From here on this depression isn't a depression. It's an adjustment"—mocking how executives use euphemistic language to downplay economic hardship. The lower panels depict workplace friction: one shows two men in conflict (one appears to be a worker or employee), while another depicts a tense salary negotiation where someone asks how two workers will "make both ends meet on the salary I'm getting?" The final caption references "laying off office boys" and serving notice on "the unemployment commission"—satirizing how big business shifts economic burden onto workers and government during downturns, while using semantics to reframe crises as mere "adjustments."