Life, 1911-09-28 · page 12 of 42
Life — September 28, 1911 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page contains several satirical pieces targeting contemporary problems: **"Tariffitis"** mocks protective tariffs harming consumers. The joke depicts the "Ultimate Consumer" suffering from inflated prices caused by tariff policies—a major political debate of the era. **"We Protest"** criticizes Mayor Fitzgerald of Boston for neglecting slum conditions while promoting tourism, satirizing politicians who ignore poor neighborhoods. **"Why Not a Parcels Post at Once?"** argues for establishing affordable parcel delivery service. The cartoon contrasts expensive, slow freight shipping with fast passenger trains, advocating government intervention to reduce shipping costs and corporate monopoly profits. **The overcoat cartoon** satirizes inflation: a five-dollar bill worn into an overcoat suggests currency's declining purchasing power—a concern during this inflationary period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
518 Tariffitis HE Ultimate Consumer lay very ill. He had tariffitis in its worst form. Dr. Insurgent rushed in and pre- scribed a bit of wool reduction. But Dr. Taft shook his head solemnly and the hopeful gleam in the cyes of the Ultimate Consumer died out. Dr. Democracy came in, looked over the patient and wrote a prescription for lower tariff all along the line as well as for a free 1 But Dr, Taft said “ No. That would only give you a temporary relief and then you would have a relapse. I have appointed a committee of eminent spe- cialists who will diagnose your case and tell us just what to do for you.” “Who are they?” weakly whispered the Ultimate Consumer. “ They constitute a congre: vestigating committee.” ” sighed the sufferer, “by the time they get around to me they can’t make a diagnosis; they will have to hold an autopsy. jonal in- I marriage is a lottery, divorce should be referred to post-office inspectors. “THAT OVERCOAT IS MADE OUT OF FIVE-DOLLAR BILL: “EL PE * Life's Fresh Air Fund Inclusive of 1910, Lire’s Farsu Ain Fuxo has been in operation twenty-four years. In that time it has expended $126,447.44 and has given a fortnight in the country £0 32,730 poor city children The Fund is supported entirely by bequests and voluntary contributions, which are ac- knowledged in this column, Previously acknowledged In memory of “ M Junius Brown Three Little 2.30 5.00 3.60 3.00 $8,093.02 ACKNOWLEDGED WITIE THANKS A. complete bathroom outfit from Joseph HH. Buekley, New Haven, Conn, We Protest In all my travels I never have scen a city surpassing Boston in any pa lar.—Mayor Fitzgerald's Home-Coming Interview in Boston Traveler. E should like to have Mayor Fitz- gerald look over our slums and our Tammany Hall and then let us hear from him again. S TAN finds some mischief still for idle women in apartment hotels to do. AR WwAuKen- “YES, AND WHEN IT WEARS OUT THE OLD FOX TAKES IT 70 THE MINT AND KEDEEMS EACH BILL, THUS MAKING THE OVERNMENT KEEP HIM IN COAT “say! My MA WANTS TO KNOW IF YOUR MA CAN GO BEGGIN’ WITH HER To-pay?" Why Not a Parcels Post at Once? HY is it that you cannot send trunks by freight? We believe we are right when we say that in order to do this they first have to be crated. Why is it that if you send anything by freight that it takes about four times as long as it ought to? It takes one hour and thirty minutes for a fast train to go to New York from New Haven. To cover the same dis- tance, a freight train will not take longer than three or four hours. But if you send a package by freight from New Haven to New York, it may take days. There is no certainty when you will get it. This forces freight, at minimum charge, into the hands of the express companies at a maximum charge. The express companies are so loaded with money that for years they have had to declare hundred per cent. dividends every once in a while, to get rid of it. R. HENRY C. MOTT says: “I should like to see industries freed from perplexing and hampering laws.” And we should like to see the people freed from perplexing and hampering industries. comicbookine a —»%———-——