The Wasp — 1891 — page 522: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical piece by Judge Hornblower argues against corporal punishment for wife-beaters. The text critiques California law permitting magistrates to sentence wife-batterers to whipping, which the state Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional. The accompanying sketches depict domestic violence scenes—a man striking a woman, and a woman pleading for mercy with a "smashed nose." Hornblower's argument is that whipping abusers won't reform them; instead, he advocates for the "Reform School" or "Industrial School" as better rehabilitation. He condemns the current system as cruel, noting it perpetuates cycles of crime and immorality. The satire targets both wife-beating culture and ineffective punitive justice, advocating progressive criminal reform.