Life, 1885-03-26 · page 12 of 16
Life — March 26, 1885 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Satire of Judicial Corruption This page satirizes American judicial corruption through a fake "Frustration of Justice" club that openly sells legal favors. The satire lists prices for various crimes' acquittals: embezzlement ($1,000), assassination ($5,000), and common services like bribing judges ($100 each) or producing false witnesses ($10). The three cartoons mock related social hypocrisies: a man stopping a streetcar to let off a woman (questioning able-bodied behavior), and romantic couples—contrasting petty social etiquette with the magazine's larger point about systemic corruption. The author knowingly refuses to name which exclusive club this parodies (Union League? Knickerbocker?), suggesting real American institutions enabled wealthy criminals to escape justice through bribery. The bitter conclusion—sarcastically praising this "advanced civilization"—mocks how normalized corruption had become among America's elite in the Gilded Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
> LIFE: CAN 'T SEE WHY AN ABLE BODIED MAN WANTS TO STOP A CAR BEFORE HE GETS OFF. TWO SOULS WITH BUT A SINGLE THOUGHT; TWO HEARTS | THAT BEAT AS ONE. | and causing him to expiate it on the gallows. | nish it. The“requirements for membership to the club are an initi- ation fee of [$50, and yearly dues of $25. No one is eligible who has not at some. period of his life been under indictment for some offence. Most of our leading men belong and |. hardly any of our sociablights would be out of the peniten- tiary to-day were it not for this society. The privileges are confined to “ Frustrations of Justice,” as our English contemporary has said. Of course, as in purely social clubs, privileges have to be paid for and the price of course depends upon the Frustration desired. We have obtained from an ex-Judge of the Court of Impeachment, who is at present secretary of theorganization, the following tabu- lar statement of the prices. FRUSTRATION LIST. Embezzlement. Frustration in Court, - - $1,000.00 This includes retainers of counsel, contribution to the Judge and Jury Fund, Corruption Fund applied to the widows and orphans of deceased false witnesses. Total a/sbz, result- ing in honorable acquittal, $50 extra. Frustration out of Court, - - $500.00 Includes all traveling expenses to Canada. $500 extra will purchase a small annuity, payable until expiration of time set by Statute of Limitations, when the criminal ‘may return. | Assassination. Frustration in Court, - - $5,000.00 Includes much the same as Embezzlement Frustration, with addition of seven witnesses of good reputation, willing | to swear that they did not see the accused perpetrate the mur- der. In case of conviction in spite of previous efforts on the part of the society, a postponement of execution, followed by a commutation and pardon, warranted. Frustration out of Court, - - $2,500.00 This consists in fastening the crime upon an innocent man Accheap and elegant method for defeating the ends of Justice. COMMON LAW CASES. For these the following items furnished at ten hours’ notice : Judges, - - - $100.00 each Jury, - - 50.00 per man. Disagreement of Jury, 100.00 False witnesses, 10.00 each Intimidations, - - 65.00. These we think will suffice to show our friends on the other side of the water the advanced state our civilization has reached. The scheme works well, and it is a matter of sur- prise to us that it has not been adopted across the water long before this. If any further information is desired, we will gladly fur- We refrain from stating whether this club is the Union | League, the Union, the New York, Knickerbocker, or the Thomas McK. O'Reilly Association, as a cerfain delicacy in the matter prevents our doing so. It may be one or none of the above, and with this sole clue to its identification our English friends must be content comicbooks.com