The Wasp — 1891 — page 62: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes a criminal case from 1891 San Francisco involving a murder suspect named Jacobson. The central figure—a well-dressed man with a large beard—appears to represent a police official or legal authority proudly displaying "Jacobson's Murder Case" and "Campbell's Confession." The scattered papers at his feet labeled with names and dates suggest multiple confessions or evidence. A prisoner's face appears in the background cell. The satire's point, captured in the caption "The Police Theory Vindicated," likely mocks the police for extracting or manufacturing confessions to support their favored theory of the crime—a common criticism of law enforcement practices in the era. The official's smug expression reinforces the cartoonist's skepticism about whether justice or convenient closure was the actual goal.