Judge, 1920-06-05 · page 9 of 36
Judge — June 5, 1920 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers **"Squaring the Circle"** satirizes propagandists and Chamber of Commerce leaders who prioritize their own institutional interests over solving actual problems. The setup: A propagandist proposes that to solve the world's problems, society should first identify what it has, learn what it needs, then supply those needs—a reasonable-sounding plan. However, Chamber of Commerce secretaries immediately object, fearing that *actually solving* world problems would eliminate the need for their campaigns and revenue streams. They argue that ongoing crises justify their continued existence and funding. **The satire's point**: Organizations ostensibly dedicated to public welfare are actually invested in perpetuating the problems they claim to address. By exposing this contradiction, Judge mocks the hypocrisy of self-serving institutions that benefit from maintaining societal dysfunction. The upper "Cabaret Tragedy" story appears to be separate comedic fiction about mistaken identities at a nightclub, unrelated to the propaganda critique below.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cuvrrer \ 1 Cabaret Tragedy DISGUISING himself as a lizard, Ferret now set out to solve No. 2. With a pinchback coat, an almost-silk shirt and three-quarters of an inch of moustache, he found he could listen to even the loudest jazz, all unsuspected He had drunk only a half Jozen cigarettes and eaten still fewer sarillas when lo, Whelk, entering the Gilded Pill Restaurant, became visible to the naked eye Almost immediately he be- to dance with a woman oh, undoubtedly a woman who looked as if had been called hurriedly from the of fire. he she Ferret waited till the dentist, dancing in his slee which rotated the table at there. Ferret's hoofs shot out. out on both knees And then, as past that extracting Slush! dancing grabbed his boots and pulled—pulled as if he were > molar of a hippopothenuse. As those two artificial le Draws Mentat Pretune Wane inc Wuy He bath tub by he was He struck Whelk a knock- fell, dentist an alarm h s came off, from by Ross West ne ISTENING TOA MAN Expraty Wovton’r Buy a House Tuat Was Bett Tooay started the troul brothers all gentlemen “T meant but this, Mr first must know wh, them, it is clearly Ferret Thus I and only thus » president: beamed ice was restored their hollow interior a stream of precious stones oozed merrily out upon the floor Mrs. Hash’s diamond necklace was Present And with them, Mystery last Next Week “The Partial Ecli Squaring the Circle By Wuiako Corr "TTHE Indefatigable Order of Propagandists was in ses- “Mr. President,” came unctuously the all Chamber of Commerce secre taries blended into one, “as I Mr. President, the prob lem from which the world is groan—er, let me say, the prob- lem confronting the world today could be solved in this way “First, let the world what it has, then let it learn what it needs, and then let it set about supplying the need Our duty, Mr. President, thus unmistakably clear For what, after all, is the pur sion voices of see it see is made pose of propaganda— “Justa moment, please.” broke in the combined voices of all the professional “drive” leaders nicely fused into soft, Among No. 2 breathed Drastic When I could endure my wife’s domineering no longer,” ferociously said skimpy little Mr. Meek, and strike ely retumed. “T struck : assert my manhood, ; “Ah! we apprecis he sque the voice of all Chamber of Commerce secretaries. Me. “A great mistake has been made nisunderstood me grievously hurt that such treason to our order could be tho: conditions really are before it can remedy duty to conty facts as we have done so nobly, so successfully are we m: even buttery accents. “Surely it cannot be that our brother means what would appear from his words Think, sir, of the result! Were the world’s problem solved there would be no more glorious campaigns for Think, sir. of the great loss fund: in enthusiasm and community spirit, the loss, also, if [ may met tion such a thing. in revenue te order in all its branches “T. too, must have ord here fall the There is our the loss to said the collective \ press-agents, firmly art to be considered literature, the loss to—well. any way, the loss. Dwell. if you can let your heart d on what would follow “Mr. mt. TP demand to be hear forth frantically which had These fam ght of me President, that. realizing the world 1c to distort or suppress the for so long The felegates beamed. Ac “T determined to “And did you?” attitude!” anit lornr