Life, 1905-08-10 · page 16 of 26
Life — August 10, 1905 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This *Life* magazine page satirizes legal delays and corruption. The main article critiques Secretary of War William Howard Taft and District Attorney Jerome for lamenting unnecessary court delays—while describing how *Life*'s own dramatic critic was excluded from theaters by the "Theatrical Trust" (a monopoly controlling New York theaters). Despite prompt complaint, the case has been repeatedly postponed; the latest adjournment occurred because a defense lawyer took August vacation. The satire is ironic: Taft and Jerome complain about justice delayed, yet the system they oversee enables exactly such obstruction. The illustration appears to depict a fantastical library or public institution. The "Summer Quotations" section mocks financiers during market turmoil. The bottom caption jokes that "Deacon Beetle" (a firefly character) now thinks himself important because he illuminates the public library—poking fun at pretentious self-importance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE: Fiat Justitia, Ruat Celum. R.SECRETARY TAFT and Mr District Attorney Jerome coin- cided this sv ner in’ their lamentations. They both be- wailed the fact t AWS \ unnecessary delays often bring abouta al denial justice. These gentlemen are both yers and both ex-judges and they to know Lire agrees with then: Such of Lire's readers Sas have not passed away in the meantime will re- call that carly in January last a number of theat- rical managers, at the instigation of the Theatrical Trust, combined or conspired to drive Lire’s dramatic critic from the pur- suit of his lawful calling by excluding him from the theatres under their control — practically all the theatres in the United § es. Complaint was promptly made to the proper authorities that by joining in the conspiracy these managers were guilty of a crime under the laws of New York After many di on the twenty seventh of May, « amining trate held the managers for trial, most of them gave bail. One them, who was placed under arrest, secured a writ of habeas corpus, The has been repeatedly set down for a hearing and repeatedly adjourned The last datenamed was July twenty- fifth, and on that day the case w adjoumed to September nineteent owing to the fact that one of the lawyers for the ma rs had selected the month of August for his vacation Lire states these facts, not with the idea of reflecting on any one in particular, but to satisfy the curiosity and interest of many inquirers among jends and readers. is is also an illuminating instance evil of which Mr. Secretary Taft and Mr. District Attorney Jerome complain Summer Quotations in People. 7NANCIERS are much unsettled, and are being disposed of largely in broken lots. Reputations have gone A LITERARY LIGHT up, and those who sold short fora drop Deacon Beetle: OUD MR. FIREFLY THINKS HE'S ONE OF THK BIG BUGS NOW THAT ME ILLUMINATES are broke, good reputations becoming TNE PUBLIC LIBRARY comicbooks.com