Judge, 1919-01-04 · page 8 of 32
Judge — January 4, 1919 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Log-Cabin Leaders (Judge, 1919) This article argues that America needs a new leader from humble frontier origins—a "log-cabin" figure—to address major world affairs in the coming quarter-century. The author (H.W. Davis) suggests that while refined, educated elites handle diplomacy, true crises demand rough-hewn men of common sense and authentic experience close to ordinary life. He argues civilizations resist being saved by their own "finished products," implying that over-refinement and polish are liabilities. The illustration depicts a child sitting outside a log cabin marked "HEARTH" in 1919, captioned "There's So Darn Much Noise in There They Can't Hear Me!"—suggesting future leaders will emerge from humble, noisy domestic origins. The cartoons below ("Still Going" and "A Red Hot One") are unrelated domestic humor pieces about marriage and dating etiquette.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Log-Cabin Leaders HING will have to be done at once in regard to the supply of leaders born in log bins. Always America has insisted that her real saviors come up from the frontier and the soil. For mere diplomacy and for the type of statesmanship that is praised only within party lines, America has been con- tent to draw upon recruits from the higher circles of humanity. But when some- thing truly big is at stake she loses faith in refinement, blue- blood and learning, and calls loudly for some rough-hewn man who has lived close to the heart of humanity. The next quarter of a cen- tury is going to have a great deal to do with the sum total of human happiness, and America will have to take her part in the program of world affairs. Let us not flatter our- selves that she is the logical nation to do all the work or all the leading; but there is going to be a full-grown opportunity in the United States for a leader with a whole lot of common sense. The chances are that such a leader will appear from be- low. He will probably have to be born in a log cabin and he should not be polished too early in life. Civilizations have a way of refusing to be saved by their own fin- ished products. It might be well to institute a quiet search for unpromising men of lowly origin. Still Going “ Does your wife, like all the rest of the women, want the last word?” asked a weary looking neighbor. “No, I reckon not,” replied the man with a contented countenance. “Leastways, we've been married twenty-five or thirty years, and she hain’t never got around to it yet.” A Red Hot One “Where shall we dine to-night?” “Let's stay home.” “But it’s cheaper dining out.” ‘Tuere’s So Darn Mucn Noise in Tuere Tuey “IT know, but I want to be a Can’r Hear Me!” sport.” comicbooks.com