Life, 1898-11-03 · page 13 of 20
Life — November 3, 1898 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine cartoon illustrates Lincoln's famous quotation about deception and public trust. The central figure—a portly man labeled "Investigating Committee" juggling a globe marked with a star and crescent (suggesting international/diplomatic matters)—represents government oversight attempting to expose fraud. Below, two figures embody different deceptive approaches: a military or authority figure pointing accusatorily (suggesting misdirection through authority), and a clown-costumed character representing fraudulent entertainment or trickery. The cartoon satirizes how various actors attempt to fool the public through different methods—official investigations, authoritarian claims, and outright deception—while the Lincoln epigraph suggests ultimate accountability. The layered composition suggests systemic corruption requiring scrutiny.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ela Hanof— + You can fool some of the people ail the time. You can fool all the peopie some of the tlme, But you can't fuol all the people all the time.”—Abraham Lincotn, comicbooks.com