Life, 1904-06-09 · page 3 of 20
Life — June 9, 1904 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon:** "A Street Crossing—The Chauffeur's Point of View" depicts a wealthy automobile driver (chauffeur) navigating pedestrians crossing the street, satirizing early automotive culture's clash with pedestrian life. **"Maxims of a Monopolist"** section mocks corrupt business practices—bribing officials, crushing competition, and manipulating workers. The dollar-sign character emphasizes greed as the underlying principle. **"Tongue-Tied Officers"** criticizes American military officers who cannot speak freely in Congress, contrasting this unfavorably with British Parliamentary tradition where military officers can address Parliament openly. The satire suggests American democratic values are undermined when officers lack such liberty. Together, these pieces critique monopolistic capitalism, corruption, and restrictions on free speech.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A STREET CROSSING—THE CHAUFFEUR'S POINT OF VIEW, Maxims of a Monopolist. F a business falls in line And opposes our combine, Buy it up! Do not stop to arguly On the wherefore or the why : VY, Make them sell when you would buy— Buy it up! If some little private mill Grinds its corn against our will, Buy it up | Let the workers of a town Sink or struggle, float or drown— Take their mill and close it down— Buy it up! So it is in social life : If you want a handsome wife, Buy her up! Little matter how you woo, Or the things you say or do— Let your money talk for you— Buy ber up! You can show that black is whites ‘They will preach your wrong as right— Buy "em up! If the laws defy your ski Introduce a Robbery Bill— ‘There are Congressmen who will— Buy ‘em up! Wallace Irwin, Tongue-Tied Officers. HEY do a thing in England that we ought to find some way of doing here, They let officers of the Army and the Navy gointo Parliament and speak their minds there like free citizens, How they manage it.we don’t know—perhaps they give the Parlia- mentarian officers leave of absence,— but in some way they do manage it, Our soldiers and sailormen ought to have a chance to run for Cong: nd, if they are elected, to speak their minds like other men who have minds, As it is, they never have any turn at free speech, Even when they go on the re- tired list, they must exer a prudent reticence, and if they say anything that the President, or their Department heads, object to, they are in trouble at Discipline demands this rule, so far as active officers are concerned, but there ought to be some possibility of a let-up in it. To be hopelessly tongue- tied for a lifetime, without possibility of even temporary relief, seems a hard case for a free-born American voter to be in. comicbooks.com