Life, 1898-11-24 · page 13 of 20
Life — November 24, 1898 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Political Content (Top):** The page satirizes William Astor Chanler, a congressman-elect from New York's 14th District. The joke is that Chanler won his election despite refusing to publicly state his position on "free silver"—a major political controversy of the era. Life mocks the absurdity: he ran as a Democrat in a Republican district, won decisively, yet kept his views secret. The text argues this undermines the democratic principle that constituents deserve to know their representatives' positions before voting. **Romance Content (Bottom):** "The Game of Love" is a sentimental poem with card-suit illustrations, depicting a man's courtship of a woman who initially resists his advances. She eventually accepts his proposal and ring. The verse celebrates marriage and domestic life. **The Juxtaposition:** The page pairs political commentary about democratic accountability with light romantic verse—suggesting Life offers both serious satire and entertainment for readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“DO LET ME HAVE THE LOUNGE, MY SON; MY DISCOURSE WAS UNUSUALLY LONG, AND I AM VERY TIRED,” “BUT, DAD, 1 LISTENED TO 17.” ILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER, Con- gressman - elect from the Four- teenth District, is the most eman- elpated man in New York, In spite of invitations, urgent and ro- peated, to declare his sentiments about free silver before election, he kept them invio- late. He is a man without prejudices, and possibly without views, Running as a Democrat ina strong Republican district, ho carried that district by a largo majority without divulging his opinion in what most of his constituents consider the most im- portant question with which Congress is likely to deal, As far as he {s concerned, tho old superstition that wo aro entitled to know our representatives’ views on impor- tant politica! questions is fully disporsed, Mr. Chanler can vote for any sort of money he likes without violating anyone's confl- dence or incurring anybody's just wrath, 66 FUT can't you learn to love me?” persisted the wrong man, She shook her head gently. learned a good many difficult she replicd, “but they have always been things that I wanted to learn.” 433 The Game of Love. St looked on him with smilo be-| “Hor rosy blush be- Some -der dreams of love divine, As ho with ardor says: “Tam, sweet maid, your willing slavo, times I’vo been within an (o} Of asking you to bo My wife; for sinco I saw your face Love's played the { * | with me, on For weeks I hardly slept or |* And I'll confess, by heavens! My mind was simply ina stato P 3) ce ‘ana ot os) And so his Queen made him her And he, upon his part, | Presented her a ring For giving him ver[ +} Good-by to | * |-s and all such things, He follies now discards, And ho! for joys that marringo brings. Their wedding’s on the George Totten Smith, “4 GLOBE TROTTER.” comicbooks.com