The Wasp — 1890 — page 240: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The top cartoon depicts a congressional scene where a young man addresses older legislators, captioned with dialogue about industriousness and hard work. This appears to satirize generational conflict or the earnestness of newcomers to politics. The "Washington Gossip" column discusses House management, Senate business, and the volume of printed speeches (approximately 10,000,000 total) being distributed nationwide. It mocks the excessive oratory and self-promotion of politicians during election season. The bottom cartoon shows what appears to be a clerical worker questioning a woman about stockings and missing items—likely satirizing office incompetence or the distraction of workers during busy periods. Overall, the page critiques political verbosity, the election-year circus, and congressional inefficiency in the late 19th/early 20th century American context.