The Wasp — 1889 — page 86: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This *Wasp* cartoon satirizes U.S. immigration policy and government hypocrisy regarding Chinese immigrants. Two well-dressed men—one identified as the Attorney-General—hold a document labeled "Chinese in Transit." The cartoon depicts them as duplicitous: they publicly claim adherence to "form, policy and your own promises" while children (representing future citizens or vulnerable populations) surround the ship scene above. The satire attacks the contradiction between official statements opposing Chinese immigration and actual enforcement practices. The ship setting references the literal transit of Chinese laborers. The caricatured exaggerated features reflect the period's racist imagery. The cartoon appears to mock government officials for making public anti-Chinese statements while permitting continued immigration through bureaucratic loopholes or selective enforcement.