Life, 1910-05-12 · page 11 of 44
Life — May 12, 1910 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes conservation policy and government waste. The main illustration shows a woman playing piano while three men listen—a scene labeled as "charming" but "rather loud," critiquing wasteful government spending on interior decoration. The accompanying article discusses Secretary of the Interior's management, arguing the position requires someone trustworthy rather than merely expert. It references an April *North's American Magazine* piece titled "The Other Side of Conservation," suggesting government conservation efforts paradoxically waste resources. The smaller cartoon ("Agnes, take your hands out of your pocket") appears to mock bureaucratic inefficiency or petty theft. The overall message: government conservation programs may themselves be wasteful, requiring better oversight and trustworthy leadership rather than mere technical expertise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
: CHARMING! peLiGutruL! Conservation ONSERVATION is a tremendously hig job. To make it do the most good at the least waste of money, harm and hardship requires extremely compe- tent handling. In the April Nort: Americen Magazine there is a piece on “The Other Side of Conservation," which, if sou don't happen to be an ex- pert, makes you feel that Govern conservation of power sites and forests is the next worst thing to waste. Per. haps that is the best thing that can be said for it as yet, but that is something No doubt a system by which we can and eat it takes some So much the more im- have our cak lime to shape. WHAT A SYMPATHETIC TOUCH! PLPAst portant it is that the Sceretary of the Interior should be a man of sense and integrity who has the confidence of the people. We have got to trust him. We can't all be experts in these matters. Secretary Ballinger may be an expert. bet when it comes to confidence the best the people aze likely to do is to give him the benefit of their coubts. Query CRIPTURE says that it is casier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter Heaven. But how about a rich church? Is property as detrimental to the spiritual advancement of a church as of a man? PLAY SOMETHING LONGER—AND RATITER LOUD. “AGNES, TAKE YOUR MANDS OUT OF YouR pockeT.”’ comicbooks.com