Life, 1887-12-29 · page 12 of 21
Life — December 29, 1887 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis: Life Magazine Political Satire, December 1887 This page satirizes several prominent December 1887 disputes. The elaborate border illustration depicts figurative "battles" between: 1. **President Cleveland vs. the Surplus** — Cleveland's dispute over federal budget surplus (a major political issue of his administration) 2. **James Russell Lowell vs. International Copyright advocates** — the literary establishment's debate over copyright protections 3. **Kilrain vs. Jem Smith** — a heavyweight boxing match between these famous pugilists The text humorously suggests these contestants are evenly matched, then jokes that it's fortunate Cleveland didn't fight boxer Kilrain and Lowell didn't face Smith—because the outcomes would be so lopsided that funerals and obituaries would be needed. The satire mocks these public controversies by treating them with mock-serious athletic language, implying they're as culturally significant (and entertaining) as major sporting events.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
D&PCEMBER, besides witnessing the knocking out of 1887, has had a hand in several other most interesting rows, President Cleveland and the Surplus, James Russell Lowell and International Copyright, and Kilrain and Jem Smith have all indulged in more or less exciting rounds, but victory has not as yet perched on the banners of any of the contestants, It is a pleasure to note that each has a foeman worthy of his steel, and we have cause for congratulation that the President thas not tackled Kilrain and that Mr. Lowell has not been pitted against Smith, for had they been so arrayed we should be arranging for a state funeral and the champion of Inter- national Copyright would be forever translated to that other clime where) neither Literature nor Interviewers exist. comicbooks.com