The Wasp — 1888 — page 165: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon depicts a bearded man labeled "LABOR" rejecting a pot of "ANTI-POVERTY SOUP" offered by a smiling figure on the right. The caption reads "Rejects His Own Medicine." The satire criticizes labor advocates or labor leadership for refusing anti-poverty measures—presumably proposals they themselves championed or should support. The figure offering the soup appears to represent someone attempting to implement labor's stated goals, while "Labor" hypocritically rejects the solution. The implication is that labor representatives were being inconsistent: demanding poverty relief while opposing specific remedial policies when actually proposed. This suggests The Wasp was critical of labor activists for either moving goalposts or acting in bad faith regarding poverty reduction initiatives.