Life, 1911-03-09 · page 9 of 44
Life — March 9, 1911 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes wealth accumulation through dishonest means. A figure stands atop a massive pile of clouds labeled "Got it dis-honestly," with smaller clouds labeled "Inherited it" and "Married it" visible nearby. The image suggests that American fortunes are built on moral compromises rather than honest work. The accompanying article discusses poverty and wealth inequality, mentioning prominent figures like Rockefeller and referencing samurai codes of honor. The text argues that wealthy industrialists and public figures lack the integrity and disinterested service that should characterize leadership. The satire contrasts ideals of honorable conduct with the reality of how American wealth was actually accumulated during the Gilded Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
a \\\\y) \ ASS Zz AA Z SOME AMERICAN FORTUNES PYGMIES ARE PYGMIES STIL) THOUGH PERCHED ON ALPS. : Rumer Young: € Samurai Needed One kind of poverty the world is endeavor- ing to abolish. Another kind the wisest are endeavoring to recommend, The first means disease, ignorance and. pain, The second means freedom. purity and high thought.— Collier's Weekly. E seem to need an order of sa- murai in civil life who shall some- how be quit of dependence on trade. The nearest thing we have to it now is the school-teaching profession. And then there are some of the clergy, some of the muckrakers and some of the journalists, a good many of the doctors and a few of the lawyers. The Japanese samurai had the advantage that provision was made for them by their feudal lords, so that they were able to get married and re- produce their kind. The hitch about cul- tivating poverty hereabouts is the diff. culty of getting married and raising children enough: to;continue the tradi- tiomi of those who wilf not sell liberty for luxirry.. ai * Ourététdal idkge are not all destitute of this notigny'of, maintaining samurai to work forthe public good. The big endowments of: Mr. Rockefeller, Mn Carnegie and others look that way. Mr. Ryan seems to have the impulse strongly enough, but as yet his retainers, led by Murphy and Sheehan, have been unable to produce in the public mind the im- pression of disinterested service. Mr. Rockefeller’s man, Dr. Pritchett, docs better. Mr. Root does better since he has quit taking fees. Mr. Brandcis, it seems to us, docs exceedingly well. It is very necessary to make a living, some- how, but it is-enormously desirable that more men who have accomplished the feat of making a living should give themselves to the care of mankind. The fittest men, as a rule, for the work of abolishing poverty in general, are those who have managed to abolish it, honor- ably and usefully, for themselves. E: I was born on the second of April. Sue: Late—as usual comicbooks.com