The Wasp — 1888 — page 65: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Title:** "The Wasp" **Caption:** "There's Millions in It" This cartoon depicts a bearded judge at a "U.S. Circuit Court" window pouring what appears to be Chinese immigrants (shown as small figures) from a barrel labeled "Chinese" into the hands of a woman representing California. The satire criticizes judicial decisions permitting Chinese immigration into California despite local opposition. The "millions" reference likely concerns both the financial interests benefiting from cheap labor and the scale of Chinese immigration. The judge appears to facilitate this flow despite apparent resistance, suggesting the cartoon attacks federal court rulings that overrode state/local immigration restrictions—a major late 19th-century political controversy.