Life, 1901-03-14 · page 3 of 20
Life — March 14, 1901 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "Sanctum Talks" from Life Magazine This satirical dialogue depicts two military figures discussing the Boer War. One character, identified as "Lord Kitchener" (British military commander), defends killing thousands of Boer soldiers daily as necessary warfare. His interlocutor challenges whether this approach is ethical, suggesting the British are merely "slaughtering" the enemy rather than fighting honorably. The satire critiques Kitchener's brutal tactics in South Africa (1899-1902), where British forces faced guerrilla resistance from Boer farmers. The cartoon mocks Kitchener's casual justification of mass casualties and his dismissal of moral objections as impractical sentiment. The joke targets both the general's callousness and contemporary British imperial warfare methods that prioritized overwhelming force over traditional combat conventions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sanctum Talks. «6(1 OOD MORNING, Lire.” “Good morning, Wey- ler." “ My name isn’t Weyler. It’s Kitchener.” “Same thing, General. you progressing ?"’ “ Not very well.”” “It does seem a hard business, General, conquering these Boers, Saili—_"” “Isn'tit? The beggars don’t yield the way they should. Now with the Dervishes——"” “Ah, that was different. Those fanatic devils, all dressed in white, just spread themselves out before you like a flock of sheep.” “Precisely. All we had todo was to hammer away at them and slaughter them by the thousands.”” “Yes, my dear General, that was How are fun. You killed about twelve thousand in a day, didn’t you? Besides, it gave you a reputation as a British soldier.”’ “I know it. And now these Boers— well, they are not adding anything to my prestige.” “* Nonsense, General. You don’t view the matter from the right stand- point.” “ But how should I view it?” “Well, in the first place, you are showing the usual British dogged per- sistence.”” “True, but sometimes I wonder whether the whole beastly business isn’t all wrong.’’ “« Nonsense ! sentimental.’”” “No, I'm not. But first we settled ourselves on these sharpshooters and drove them from pillar to post and laid our hands on everything in sight. And then—"” “And then?” “Then we tried to exterminate them. While now London is mourning its dead, and I’m chasing De Wet—or he chases me.” “ Well, General?” “Why, instead of this sporadic plundering and burning in the Trans- vaal, I might be over in China really adding to my reputation. But I must be going.” “Well, good by, Lord Kitchener. Bad luck to you!" You're getting comicbooks.com