Life, 1911-07-13 · page 34 of 44
Life — July 13, 1911 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This editorial cartoon criticizes the illegal kidnapping of labor leaders by capitalist interests and government officials. The letter references the 1906 kidnapping of Western Federation of Miners leaders Charles Moyer and "Big Bill" Haywood from Colorado to Idaho—a notorious incident where they were forcibly taken across state lines to face murder charges they were eventually acquitted of. The author argues that while trade unionists face arrest for crimes, no equivalent outrage followed when capitalists and governors violated law by kidnapping them. The piece sarcastically notes that detective James McParland and Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg (who was later assassinated) escaped consequences, while ordinary citizens faced severe punishment for merely *suggesting* kidnapping. The cartoon criticizes the double standard: wealthy interests break laws with impunity while workers face harsh penalties. "Zip Boum Tartarin" appears to reference absurdist political theater—suggesting the entire situation is farcical.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Solomon Grundy (Revised) OLOMON GRUNDY, Born on Monda Tonsils removed on Tuesday, Vaccinated on Wednesda Appendicitis on Thursday, Operation on Friday, Died on Saturday, Autopsy on Sunday, This was the end Of Solomon Grundy. M, A. McClaskey. Reasons for Some Recent Failures | —— Clothes competi- tion. Musician—Unable to discount his notes, Jeweler—Too much time on his hands, Doctor—Losing his “ patients.” Builder—Making up stories without foundations. Glazier—A pane in the side. The Dentist—He lost his pull. EACHER: Why did the population of Rome decrease just before the Fall of the Empire? Eacer Puri: My book says ‘cause “the Romans had ceased to practice husbandry.” FREE FOR ALL (?) The Kidnapping Pfocess A Correspondent of Life Thinks That Itis a Poor Way to Impose a Law by Violating It—Some Instances to Bear Out His Contention Epitor Lire, Dear Str: It is just as well in the long run to be fair to even so crude a person as a trade-unionist. He works mostly with his hands and he may not express him- self with the felicity that graces the edi torial page of Live, but it does not re- quire a great amount of acumen to rec- ognize elemental justice. There has been no “show of deep concern because some members of or- ganized labor have been arrested charged with crime"; but there has been an outburst of indignation because for the second time within four years offi- cers of a trade-union have been kid- napped by mobs of capitalist hirclings aided and abetted by officials who were contemners of the laws they had sworn to uphold. When Moyer and Haywood were sandbagged and carried to the mountain fastnesses of Idaho, we were told that McParland was a “careful detective” who “never fell down,” and Gooding, the Governor of Idaho, with all the ma- lignity of a medixval monk consigning a heretic to the flames, said: “ They will never leave the State alive! But they did leave the State alive, after an honor- able acquittal, in spite of the fact that the Supreme Court and our whilom Brummagem Cesar officially patted Gooding on the scapula and sent Mes- senger Boy Taft to tell him to go ahead with the good work of eliminating the “undesirable citizens.” Governor Taylor was indicted for complicity in the cowardly murder of Governor Gocbel of Kentucky, but he was not kidnapped and hustled out of Indianapolis. Why, an editor in a lit- tle town in Kansas was sentenced to jail and to pay a big fine for simply suggesting such a thing! Hoffstet, the unspeakable man-starver of McKees Rocks and debaucher of Pittsburg officials, lolled on a leather covered chair within a short walk of Lire’s office and laughed at requisitions until things in Pennsylvania had been arranged to his satisfaction. Zip Boum Tartarin drags his patient dromedary into the spotlight and mounts; the usual mal de mer follow disgr: that attem of fel it we comicbookMee t|