Life, 1911-05-25 · page 15 of 42
Life — May 25, 1911 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes **Mayor William O. Gaynor of New York City**, depicting him as a reluctant student requiring remedial instruction. The article mocks his resistance to reforms, particularly regarding: - **Mr. Hyde's** fitness as City Chamberlain (financial administrator) - A paid Board of Education The satire suggests Gaynor learns only through painful experience rather than foresight. The illustration of a car honking at him reinforces the joke—he's even "educating" himself about modern life slowly. The second piece references his **predecessor, Mayor McClellan**, who accepted a Princeton professorship. The columnist sardonically suggests that since McClellan received a four-year "education" serving as Mayor, he's now qualified to teach municipal government elsewhere. The overall message: New York's mayors require extensive on-the-job training because the city doesn't employ professional municipal experts. This was a Progressive Era critique of amateur political management versus professional administration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Educating a Mayor HE education of Mayor Gaynor progresses steadily, though not without stubborn interruptions, caused by the reluctances of the pupil. The subjects in which especially he has been tutored of late are the un- suitableness of Mr. Hyde to be City Chamberlain, and the inexpediency of having a paid Board of Education. In his spare hours he learns about subways and policemen, subjects in which he claims rating as an expert. The instruction of Mayors is expensive in so large a city as New York, but custom does not yet sanction MRS. R. PLYMOUTH ROCKE IS GETTING SUCH HIGH PRICES FOR HER FARM PRODUCTS THIS YEAR THAT SHE HAS BEEN ABLE TO INDULGE IN A 1911 FORTY-DUCK POWER LIMOUSINE, THE DOWNFALL OF THE ROMAN UMPIRE the employment of municipal experts to manage the city, and it is ground for thankfulness when a Mayor is selected who can learn, Tt is good news that our late Mayor, Mr. McClellan, has accepted an appointment as professor of municipal govern- ment, or something like that, at Princeton. A man who has taken a four years’ course in the Mayor school of New York ought not to be wasted. If he cannot continue to practice as Mayor, the next best thing is to make a teacher of him. Mayor Gaynor will be a mighty instructive man by the time he finishes his term, and perhaps it will be possible to make a teacher of him, too. comicbooks.com