Life — February 28, 1930 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Political Cartoon Analysis: "Life in Washington" The cartoon depicts a sheriff opening a jail cell door, telling a prisoner: "Open up, Ed! I've got a pretty slippery crook here, I want to tell ye!" This satirizes **Prohibition enforcement corruption**. The text discusses how the Anti-Saloon League and enforcement officials turned a blind eye to industrial alcohol theft and trafficking, essentially colluding with criminals. The "slippery crook" likely references a specific corrupt official or bootlegger who escaped justice through official negligence. The joke: law enforcement itself operates like a criminal enterprise—the sheriff casually warns imprisoned criminals about incoming corruption, suggesting jails house the petty violators while actual organized crime operates freely with official complicity. This reflects early 1920s Prohibition-era skepticism about government enforcement capabilities and widespread corruption.