Life, 1894-08-30 · page 10 of 16
Life — August 30, 1894 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 138 This page satirizes American political dysfunction through dialogue between unnamed speakers debating the Constitution and government effectiveness. The central argument critiques how elected officials fail to deliver promised reform: despite electing a President, Senate, and House "in the manner prescribed by the Constitution," these representatives ignore voters' wishes. Instead of providing needed laws, the President vetoes bills while Congress imposes tariffs benefiting special interests. The cartoon panels mock various incompetencies: a professor studying an ape's language; a colonial figure discovering "intelligence" in Africa; and disputes between editors and contributors. The satire suggests American democratic institutions—celebrated as "pretty good government"—have become corrupted by partisan gridlock and special-interest politics, betraying constitutional ideals.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
PROFESSOR IS IMPRESSED BY THE GUAGE, AND DECIDES TO MAKE RESEARCHES ON THE FIELD, G ON AFRICA'S SOIL, HE LIGENCE DISPLAYED BY A SUBJECT. S STRUCK WITH THE INTEL: IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. PA SHIONABLE INVALID : I came here for hay-fever, you know. IRASCIBLE BACHELOR: you've got it, haven't you? Well, IN THE SANCTUM, DITOR: You say you wrote all these jokes yourself ? WOULD-BE CONTRIBUTOR : Yes, sir! EDITOR: Then you must be as “paRN THE THING!" — old as Methuselah. §©TS this Lire?” Yes! “This is the American People. dickens of a scrape.” “Ts that so?” : “Yes, and we want to talk to you about it. In your er Nt inmost heart do you think we are a | WW fool?” WZ Not always.” fe “Well, we're beginning to think we are. In fact we are beginning to kick ourselves with a good deal of emphasis. You know the document called the American Constitution ?” “ By heart.” “Tt always seemed to us that this should provide a pretty good form of government.” “So it should—for a pretty good people.” “But see where we are at. Here we've elected a Presi- dent, a Senate and a House of Representatives, all in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, We elected them with the belief—no, not exactly the belief but with the hope. —that they would give us the laws we needed. Instead of that we are to have, unless the President vetoes the bill while this number of LiFE is being printed, a tariff of customs which gives us the benefits of neither Protection nor Free Trade, and the evils of both. Besides this, we are to be in- flicted with an’ anarchistic income tax, which is desired by We have got into a WHO RESPONDS TO HIS SALUTATIONS comicbooks.com