The Wasp — 1878 — page 151: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two satirical cartoons critiquing city officials. The top panel shows several figures engaged in apparent corruption or misconduct, with papers and documents scattered about, suggesting bureaucratic malfeasance. The bottom panel depicts what appears to be a street scene with officials and possibly a street vendor or laborer, rendered in exaggerated caricature style typical of 19th-century satirical journalism. The page header reads "MORE BUDGETS FOR OUR CITY OFFICIALS," indicating these cartoons mock government spending and official excess. Without clearer identification of specific individuals or dated context, the precise targets remain unclear, but the overall thrust satirizes wasteful municipal government practices and official incompetence or corruption—common themes in *The Wasp's* muckraking tradition.