Life, 1905-12-21 · page 19 of 30
Life — December 21, 1905 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical political piece mocking corrupt urban political machines. The text parodies the Declaration of Independence to critique "political bosses" who exploit public treasuries through graft, bribery ("franchises"), and manipulation. The top photograph shows a livery horse—a working animal rented to the public—establishing a metaphor: just as a livery horse serves multiple masters for profit, political bosses cynically serve whoever pays them. The circular illustration (by Ellis O. Jones) depicts a horse's head, reinforcing this analogy. The satire suggests that removing one corrupt political machine only replaces it with another equally corrupt one, since they all operate on the same principles of self-interest. The parodic "declaration" mocks the gap between democratic ideals and the actual venality of machine politics—bosses are "created equal" only in their shared dedication to "greed, graft." This reflects Progressive Era criticism of city political corruption, a major reform movement concern in early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HORSE HISTORIES. No. 3. THE LIVERY HORS, A Declaration of Independence. HEN in the course of current events, it becomes nec essary for a people to smash the political bands which have connected a particular set of political bosses with the public treasury and to become once more a free and inde- pendent citizenship for which the laws of nature and of equal suffrage intended them, a decent respect to the exi- gencies and conventionalities of modern politics requires them to uncover the causes which impel them to demolition We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all bosses are created equal; that they are endowed by tacir creator, < the people, with certain vested rights; that among these are greed, graft and the granting of franchises; that to secure these re instituted among men deriving their unjust powers from the manipulation and ‘ consent of the bosses; that whenever a set of bosses fails to exercise its prerogatives without undue publicity, thus outraging the self-satisfied peace and contentment of the ‘ constituency and endangering the perpetuity of valuable special privileges, it is good policy to squelch or eliminate them and to enthrone another set which has not yet had the opportunity of repudiating its pledges On such a full sea are we now afloat. party organizations chess Elis 0. Jones. comicbooks.com