Life, 1910-06-02 · page 17 of 56
Life — June 2, 1910 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon:** The top illustration depicts a Victorian-era "Maiden Aunt" refusing second-class train travel in Europe, fearing she might be "locked into a compartment" with a strange man—a joke about propriety and female anxieties about unchaperoned travel. **"A Remedy" Article:** This is satirical political commentary. The author argues that since wealthy businessmen claim bribing public officials is "necessary" to conduct business, society should stop pretending corruption is wrong. Instead, he sarcastically proposes establishing an *official* "public bribing board" funded by taxpayers to systematically bribe city councilmen—turning private corruption into transparent public policy. **The Point:** The satire mocks both corrupt magnates who justify bribery as inevitable and reform efforts that ignore systemic corruption. By pushing the logic to absurd extremes (legitimizing bribery as public practice), the author exposes the hypocrisy of accepting corruption while maintaining moral pretense. The closing Latin reference ("When in Rome...") reinforces the cynical message.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TG SRE The Maiden Aunt: NO, SIR! NO TRAVELING SECOND-CLASS ON THE CONTINENT FORK ME. STRANGE MAN I MIGHT BE LOCKED INTO A COMPARTMENT? “rHat’s So. A Remedy ANY of our most respected mag- nates, in private interviews with friends or reformers, have claimed with fervent emphasis that it is absolutely necessary to bribe councilmen and other public servants in orde: to be able to do business. As this claim is probably truc. and as the tendency is more and more toward the introduction of business methods into politics, let us cease trying to abolish this system of corruption, but rather take advantage of it. Obviously the thing to do is to estab- lish a public bribing board, provided with a large public fund and powers plenipotentiary to bribe or otherwise ca- jole, browbeat, wheedle or intoxicate our councilmen into looking at things occa- sionally from the standpoint of the public. Many a magnate has become NOW DO 1 KNOW WITH WHAT BUT THE MAN WOULDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM, EITHER."* immensely wealthy and respected by bribing councilmen. If we did the same as a community we might even- tually come to respect ourselves in addi- tion to respecting the magnates. Or, as the old adage puts it: When you live in Rome, do the Romans. Ellis O. Jones. FOOL may give a wise man coun- sel—which proves he is a fool. ia comicbooks.com