Life, 1911-04-13 · page 14 of 44
Life — April 13, 1911 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"The Interesting Person"** (essay with illustration): A philosophical piece mocking how we exhaust people's utility. The cartoon shows a burglar threatening a householder, who casually asks him to find a lost collar button—treating the criminal as a servant. The satire suggests people lose interest once they've extracted all value from someone. **"Schedule K the Whole Thing"** (right column): Sharp mockery of protectionist tariff politics. "Schedule K" refers to wool tariff provisions championed by American textile manufacturers. Life sarcastically suggests this trade regulation is more important than the Declaration of Independence or Constitution, and that historical disasters occurred without it. The piece parodies manufacturers' propaganda (referencing a piece by George B. Spenser in *The Outlook*), implying their claims about Schedule K's national importance are absurdly exaggerated. The two rules—"let it alone" or "add to it"—mock the circular logic of protectionist arguments. Both pieces target self-interest masquerading as importance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
734 The Interesting Person S there such a thing, in the whole world, as an interesting person? Undoubtedly. We have seen and con- versed with a number of them; and yet, singular to relate, upon a close examina- tion they disappear—melt away into that airy region of unfulfilled hopes. The interesting person is one who is peculiar, but whose peculiarities never conflict with our prejudices. But when we have checked him off, when we have discovered the extent of his knowledge and when he has imparted to us all the interesting things that he has to impart —why, then, he fades away. We toler- ate him perhaps for his character, for his capacity to lend money. The fact is, there is a limit to every interesting person. After we have squeezed him dry, he then becomes companionable only on account of his capacity to say pleasant things to us or to be silent. Tee UNS tS Householder: axo wwite you're BURGLAR SCARE AT BUNNIECLIFFE “ow! Mamata! uurry HoME! guicx! THERE YOU MIGHT JUST FEEL , AROUND FOR MY COLLAR BUTTON THE YARD IS FULL OF MASKED BURGLAKS.” Schedule K the Whole Thing HE more we read of the arguments of the woolen manufacturers in behalf of Schedule K, the more we real- ize that the fuss that has been made about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution has been misplaced and that the document to which we really owe life, liberty, the pursuit of happincss, the clothes on our backs, the moncy in our pockets, the consolations of existence here and our hope of ex- tenuating circumstances in the life to come—is Schedule K. The Flood, the Siege of Jerusalem, the Capture of Constantinople, the French Revolution and the Panic of ’93 all happened when Schedule K was not in commission and would not have hap- pened if it had been. We should still be suffering from the effects of '93 if Schedule K had not been restored. Puncture Schedule K and our na- tional machinery stops and waits until the puncture is mended, There are but two safe rules about Schedule K: (1) Let it alone. (2) Add to it. If you have doubts about any of these particulars, read Mr. George B. Spenser’s “ The Truth About ‘K,’" pub- lished in behalf of the American Woolen Company in the rear of the last magazine number of the Outlook (March 25) and be convinced. comicbooks.com