Life, 1884-08-07 · page 7 of 16
Life — August 7, 1884 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Who Shall Decide?" — Labor vs. Capital Dispute This cartoon depicts a labor dispute between a manufacturer and workman, with a pig being pulled in opposite directions as the metaphorical stakes. The manufacturer claims the pig (representing wages or goods) belongs to him; the workman disagrees, insisting it's what he wants. The manufacturer's final retort—"Well, it disagrees with me, so you mustn't have any"—satirizes capitalist logic: if labor won't accept management's terms, production stops and nobody benefits. The drawing by C.J. Taylor critiques how industrial conflicts harm all parties, particularly workers. The factory, smoke, and period clothing suggest this reflects late-19th-century American labor tensions, when disputes over wages and working conditions were intense and often resulted in worker deprivation rather than compromise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
¢ a “Nay, KR WHO SHALL DECIDE? Manufacturer: Stop! IT WOULD DISAGREE WITH YOU. Workman: DISAGREE WITH ME! IT's JUST WHAT I want! Manufacturer; WELL, 1T DISAGREES WITH ME, SO YOU MUSTN'T HAVE ANY. “He told me he lived in Geneva,” she replied. BOOKS RECEIVED. At last T had found it. . (8000'S White Mountains. A Haxopoox FoR Trav. “ But then he never told the truth,” she continued. “ Look ELERS. Fifth edition, Boston, James R. Osgood & Co., in the directory under pawn-brokers. My uncle’s, sign of the | jgg4, Three Balls.” Osgood's New England. A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELERS. I thought I saw gleams of intelligence here. | Eighth edition. Boston, James R. Osgood & Co., 1884. She was right. | The Democratic Party, Its Political History and Influence. I dared hope for her. By J. Harris Patten, M.A. New York, Fords, Howard & Hul- (To be concluded.) | bert, 1884. comicbooks.com