Life, 1910-03-03 · page 32 of 80
Life — March 3, 1910 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon: "A Very Bad Boy Indeed"** The illustration depicts a demonic or devilish figure (marked "Blessed for Lent") at a ornate gate/fence, appearing to tempt or interact with robed religious figures. This is satirizing the hypocrisy of wealthy industrialists in the Gilded Age. **"The Coming Days?" Section** This text-based satire presents a wealthy "captain of finance" praising his sons' criminal accomplishments: one stole railroads and factories, another embezzled millions from his bank, a third fraudulently acquired government land. The father criticizes only Alfred for pursuing "petty larceny" instead of "more comprehensive forms of stealing"—mocking how big-business theft was socially acceptable while small-time crime was condemned. **The Satire's Point** Life magazine is mocking the Gilded Age's moral inversion: massive corporate fraud by wealthy men went unpunished and earned respect, while minor theft was prosecuted. The magazine contrasts this with "The Newest Thought" (spiritual poetry) and "Cautious" (a joke about living beyond means), suggesting broader social contradictions about morality and money.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
376 “LIFE: The Coming Days ? “WES,” says the grizzled old captain of finance, “my boys have done pretty well, all except Alfred. John got away with a stock deal last week in which he appropriated two railroads and a string of factories; William, you remember, was found guilty last week of looting his bank of four million dollars, and Henry is taking another appeal in the case in which he was sentenced for fraudulently acquiring ten million acres of Government land.”’ “Alfred always seemed to be a pretty energetic boy,”” says the friend hopefully. “Yes. But he misapplies his energy. Alfred wor- ries along with little thou- sand dollar grabs when he might as well apply the same effort to bigger trans- actions. I can't get the idea out of his head that simply because the petty larceny promoter seldom gets caught it is a profes sion to be preferred to the more comprehensive forms of stealing.” The Newest Thought ND God, an atom He! God made the atom; All atoms God made me, And atoms all is He. All atoms I, All God is me And I am God, All one are we. The one am I, 1, I, and me. In me is life That was and is to be. In me is good; All good is me, Creation and Eternity. The oneness of it all is me. All health is God And God is health in me. All one are we, All me And I, Iam the one, And God? An atom He. George W. Stevens. Cautious | {* My income is five thousand dollars. Sue: How much more than that do you think it will be safe for us to spend ? T is easy to get a guar- antec from an irre- sponsible person A VERY BAD BOY INDEED comicbooks.com