The Wasp — 1891 — page 323: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon depicts a dialogue between a **Miner** and a **Farmer**, whose interests the caption claims are "identical, but for the complain of over-production." The miner holds a pickaxe amid mining equipment, while the farmer stands with a shovel beside cultivated land and a farmhouse. Both figures appear weathered and working-class. The satire critiques **economic disparity between labor sectors**: despite both groups working hard, they face opposite problems—scarcity versus surplus—preventing unified action. The cartoon suggests their shared class interests are undermined by conflicting economic conditions, making collective organizing difficult. This likely reflects late 19th-century American labor tensions, where agricultural overproduction depressed farm prices while mineral scarcity affected miners, fragmenting potential worker solidarity.