Life, 1912-01-18 · page 27 of 44
Life — January 18, 1912 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine (circa 1912) contains political satire about the U.S. presidential election and women's suffrage. **Top cartoon** ("The Doge of Venice"): Depicts Lyman Abbott, a prominent clergyman and editor of *The Outlook* magazine, as a presidential candidate. Life sarcastically praises him as someone who has "uplifted" Americans through his weekly magazine, mocking his moral authority and suggesting America needs a calming, "restful" leader amid labor unrest and rising costs of living. **"Blood is Thicker"**: A brief ethnic humor sketch where Irish-American characters (Finnegan and his wife) discuss the government forcing Russia to protect Jews, with crude dialect humor typical of the era. **"Suffragists Pro and Con"**: Life's anti-suffrage argument, claiming wealthy women don't need votes (they're already happy) and poor women need material comforts, not ballots. The piece dismisses women's suffrage as a distraction from practical self-improvement—a common anti-suffrage argument of the 1912 period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE DOGE OF VENICE TEDDIAGO AND TAFTEMONA Life’s Presidential Candidates W E beg leave to present the name of Dr. Lyman Ab- bott for the Presidency in 1912, This man is very fond of Presidents and he has spent a lifetime in uplift- ing the American people; and considering the fact that his work has been unofficial, he has done very well. Although his enemies may say that he has not uplifted us very far, nevertheless none can deny that a feeling of weekly exal- tation is included in every subscription to the Outlook. What we need in the Presidential chair is a man not only who can be sweet tempered and mild and prayerful himself, but who can keep us swect tempered and mild and orderly no matter how high the trusts may raise the cost of living. In view of the present unrest, .we need a rest- ful man as the titular head of the Government. Blood is Thicker— RS. FINNEGAN (reading newspaper): 1 sce the Government is going to make them Roos-ians do justice to the Jews. They disarve it. FInNecan (smoking): Indeed, they do. I wad like to do justice to wan or two of them meself. Suffragists Pro and Con OMAN suffragists are women who need something, but they do not know what it is. In the absence of better information they think they need the vote. In this they are mistaken. li they are rich, the vote will do them no harm. If they are poor, the vote will do them no good. The experience of man suffrage has amply proved this. What the rich women want is happiness. The vote will not get them that. The poor women are a little more rea- sonable. They want increased material comforts, These do not insure happiness, but happiness is impossible with- out a comfortable material environment. The vote will not get them increased material comforts unless they know what to do with it. Anti- or non-suffragists are those women who consider every minute spent in getting the vote a minute lost in getting something they can use to advantage. Motto for a Strong-Minded Lady T is better to have loved and bossed than never to have loved at all.