Life — September 26, 1901 — page 15: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a stained-glass window design titled "A Window Design for the Lodge Room of Any Labor Union," comparing labor conditions in 1894 versus 1901. The **left panel (1894)** shows industrial smokestacks and a kneeling worker in apparent distress or supplication before a stern figure labeled "Industry." The **right panel (1901)** depicts similar industrial scenes with workers in confrontational poses. The caption above reads: "When the Devil was sick, / The Devil a Monk would be" — a proverb meaning people reform only during hardship. This satirizes labor unions' inconsistent demands and worker behavior across economic cycles. The seven-year gap likely references shifts in labor militancy or union effectiveness. The stained-glass format mockingly elevates labor disputes to religious significance, suggesting the cartoon criticizes unions' moral posturing.