Life, 1911-02-23 · page 11 of 44
Life — February 23, 1911 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece criticizes **J.P. Morgan and other wealthy financiers** for allegedly leading the "Boy Grafters" organization. The cartoons mock the hypocrisy of wealthy men claiming to develop youth morally while themselves engaging in financial corruption ("grafting"). The top cartoon shows fat, corrupt older men with boys bowing submissively—suggesting exploitation of youth. The bottom cartoon depicts these financiers "saluting" a National Bank, implying collusion with banking institutions. The accompanying text defends the concept of grafting as practiced by these elites, sarcastically arguing it's merely "scientific" and acceptable when done by "eminent financiers," while condemning ordinary theft. The satire attacks the double standard: wealthy men facing no consequences for financial crimes while criminalizing working-class theft.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LPT FE* The Boy Grafters Mr. Ryan Consents, and All Is Enthusiasm and Excitement R. J. P. MORGAN, after long de- Every American boy whose parents liberation, having declined the — can support themsel ill be given the leadership of the Boy Grafters in this benefit of this organization. country, owing to pressure of national A leading financier whose name we affairs, Mr. Thomas Ryan has kindly consented. This means its instant success. “SHALL SALUTE EVERY NATIONAL BANK.” are, however, requested to withhold, said yesterday: “This insures the safety of the Amer- ican Republic for all time to come. Many efforts have been made by irre- sponsible writers to reflect upon graft- ing, as if it were something reprehensi- ble. It is not fully understood that grafting in some form or other is abso- lutely essential to the higher rights of property and the sacredness of the law. The fact is that the principles of graft- ing have been criticized unjustly by ir- responsible people who themselves have not been able to succeed, and thus it has come to pass that grafting has scemed, in the eyes of many, to be reprehen- sible. Scientific grafting, such as it has come to be under the leadership of some of our eminent financiers, should by no means be confused with the lower forms of robbery, which cannot be sufficiently denounced. A burglar who breaks into your house in the dead of night is an offender against the sacred rights of property; but a man like Mr. Ryan, who comes forward at a critical moment, is a public benefactor, and enables the race to achieve its highest development. This distinction is not universally under- stood, and it will be the object of the Boy Grafters to make it plain to all. It comicbooks.com