Judge, 1911-09-23 · page 16 of 26
Judge — September 23, 1911 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Horace Dodd Gastit story satirizes progressive reformers and labor organizers of the early 20th century. The Lamb represents idealistic young radicals seeking to overturn traditional hierarchies and promote cooperation between classes. The Lion represents entrenched power and capitalism. The Lamb proposes that predator and prey unite through "co-operation"—the Lamb will supply wool (labor/goods), the Lion will use influence, and they'll share profits fairly. The Lion's response—"It's contrary to the law of the land"—is the satirical punch: established law protects the strong's right to exploit the weak. The cartoonist mocks the Lamb's naive belief that reasoned argument and mutual benefit can overcome fundamental power imbalances and legal structures designed to preserve inequality. The giraffe illustration titled "The Original 'Spring Board'" suggests the Lamb's idealism is unstable and doomed.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE LION AND THE LAMB. By HORACE DODD GASTIT. LAMB of a some- what independent nature and prone to think for him- _ selfonce left the ia > paternal green aa to see life, to seek his fortune, and, if possible, to make it. “TI love my dear maa-maa,’’ he said, as he started up the road; ‘‘but, after all, she is a hopeless old fogy and can- not see things as they are, because Time has pulled the wool over her eyes. And as for dad—well, he’s a nice old Ram, but, oh, so unprogressive! To all my suggestions of uplift for our race he interposes a but of some kind, and, de- spite the fact that year after year he is sheared and ‘shorn to the skin for the enrichment of man, he clings to the same old methods that his fore-goats followed back in the dark ages. As for me, I propose to do for myself, having no aspiration whatsoever to serve as the goat for an alien race."" Saying which, he trotted blithely up the highway, looking for some opportu- nity to put his theories into practice. At various points of interest along the way the lure to stop and gambol was strong upon him and difficult to resist, but he was a Lamb of high ideals and kept to the straight and narrow path. “As a leader of my kind,” he said softly to himself, ‘it is incumbent upon me to have a care as to my personal reputation; so I will stick strictly to business and not seek the joys of the gamboling table.’” And so he trotted on until the night fell, when, coming to a dense wood, he lay down beneath a great tree to rest; but, just as he was about to doze off in- to slumber, a lordly Lion loomed up be- fore him. “‘Ahal’’ said the Lion, licking his own chops. ‘‘This looks good to me!”’ “Good evening, sir,"’ saidthe Lamb, with the perfect fearlessness of the confident: reformer. “Won't you sit down?” “What are you doing in my baili- wick?’ demanded the Lion, somewhat nonplused by the nonchalance of the other. “T have started world,’’ replied the Lamb. to the Falls."* Bride— in to reform the “I have TAE ORIGINAL “SPRING BOARD.” ANSWER THE Bridegroom—"' My dear, if you don't hurry we won't have time to go Why bother about the Falls, darling ? of these picture post-cards of them everybody will think we ‘ve been there."’ SOUVENIR POST CAROS bart Buniaenc i PURPOSE. If we send off a lot been a close student of conditions all my life, and it has seemed to me that the reason there are so many failures in the world is that we four-footed creatures don't get together. Why should we, who stand so firmly upon our four feet, be a subject race to those who stand upon only two?"’ “That is a new thought,’’ said the Lion. ‘But where does the remedy come in?" Co-operati said the Lamb. “Take our case, for instance. Why should you and I quarrel, when by uniting we could make a firmer stand for our rights? I ama pro- ducer of wool. You are a person of power and influence. Now suppose, instead of preying on me and de- stroying the life of aconstant source of profit, you should co-operate with me in the establishment of a going concern, whereby I provide the world with goods, and you see that I get my due reward. In other words, to put it poetically, can we not lie down together?”’ “No,"’ said the Lion, shaking his mane vigorously. ‘‘We can’t. It's contrary to the law of the land. comicbooks.com