Life, 1906-03-29 · page 8 of 24
Life — March 29, 1906 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon depicts a figure labeled "AFRICA" being ridden by a caricatured European colonizer. The satire criticizes Western imperial expansion in Africa during the late 19th/early 20th century. The "knee deep in blood" caption references the violence and exploitation inherent in colonization—the human cost of European imperialism disguised as civilizing missions. The accompanying editorial defends *Life's* previous criticism of colonial policies, arguing the magazine has advocated for correcting "bad law and disorder" rather than attacking law itself. The piece emphasizes *Life's* belief in home life and civilization, while implicitly critiquing the brutal realities of colonial subjugation that European powers euphemistically justified as bringing order and progress.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MARD TO UNSEAT, BUT— Knee Deep in Blood. 'HAT was soul-stir- ring news the other day from the Philip pines. Six hundred of the natives killed—with , some women and chil- % dren. “Twas a glorious vic- tory of dollars over pa triotism. ‘Those igno- rant fools do hate us and are still fighting for their independence, But we have bought the beggars and their land, too, and when we buy a thing we mean business. The Constitution (?) and some other things still follow the flag. DITORS OF LIFE. Dear Sirs I mu es, but above all in protest a itude you are taking in your paper on the subjects of marriage and divorce and the clergy ‘The world has too many in it now who are only too ready to pull down everything that stands for law What is to be gained held sacred, or the home resp As one of your marriage is not ted? I never thought to see you degenerate into the “yellow journalism" and i 1 am but one course, among your thousands of subscribers, but | am one who deplores your stand. I have adi your paper until now, because it could come into the home where there were young people, It was I cannot take it any more if you grieves me, sired pure and clean. , advocates divorc are to persist in di things of life Sincerely, 4.J. 1. Dwight. Pasapena, Cat., March 3, 1906, Lire: is not trying to pull down any- thing that stands for law and order. On the contrary, if you have read us carefully, you will see that we hav simply been trying to correct bad law ard disorder, Lire believes in the home life and all the better things of life. It is precisely for this reasun that it ind believes in hav- ing its dispensation taken out of the hands of incompetents and regulated by the laws of common sense. It would be better, of course, if only those people would marry who are fit- ted for each other. In a certain per- centage of marriages, however, it seems, in the nature of things, that this cannot be ascertained in advance. What seems beforehand a marriage made in Heaven, proves afterwards to be made in that other and totally different place. All that Lire desires is that the way should be made as easy as possible for these unfortunates to have another chance. The presence of children, while it adds to the pathos of the situation, does not alter the nature of the problem, It only makes it all the more necessary that their young lives should not be ut- terly ruined by the constant spectacle of the scenes they are bound constantly to witness. DITOR OF LIFE. Dear Sir: \n common, 1 am sure, with many readers of Lire, 1 am pained by your char- acterization (March first) of missionaries stale mischief-makers” and * mostly demoralized men, looking out for their own material advantage.”* Your estimate hardly comports w mony of the Viceroy Tuan Fong, w ways an impertinence,” the testi- said at the New Vork to the Chinese High Commission now visiting us: We take pleasure in bearing testimony to the part taken by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the Chinese people. They have borne the light of Western civilization into every nook and corner of the empire. The awakening of China may be traced in no small measure to the hands of the banquet given i A similar testimony is borne by our late Minister to China, Mr. Conger, who said: “For the last seven years I have been intimately associated with the missionaries in China; a body of men and women who, measured by the sacrifices they maker the trials they endure, are veritable heroes. They are the pioneers in all that country. They are in- variably the forerunner of Western civilization. 1 heard President McKinley say in New York: " Missionaries have been the pioneers of civiliza- tion, messengers of righteousness and love, worthy to beclassed with the world’s heroes." Theodore Roosevelt followed Mr, McKinley, with these words: “If the people who speak of the inefficacy of foreign missions could realize but a tenth part of the work they have done and are doing, they would realize that no more practical work, no work ive of fruit for civilization, could be I appeal to your sense of fairness for the print- ing of these words Respectfully, Frank T. Bayley. Dasver, March 7, 1906 Which Tail Shall Wag the Dog? EAR LIF Do | understand Lur’s position fm re rail- way regulation to be that “the railroads being the dog and the rates commission the tail” (wide Live, March 8)—it will be a just and wise course for Congress to empower the tail to wag the dog? Yours truly, A Subscriber since No. 1. Curcaco, March 9, 1906 If itis a question, as appears, whether the dog shall be wagged by the trusts and big shippers, as at present, or by a rates commission, Lire prefers that the rates commission shall do the wagging. Different Then, “*DERKINS got a terrible big head when he heard his novel was selling in the hundred thousands."’ “Yes, but he got over it all right when he tried to collect the royalty from his publishers."* “pO YOU ALWAYS SPEND THE SUMMER IN THIS PLACE?” “YES, IT WAS ONLY SIXTY BELOW ZERO IN THE OTHER PLACE LAST SEASON AND MY WIFE CAN'T STAND THE HEAT VERY WELL."