Life, 1912-02-15 · page 16 of 44
Life — February 15, 1912 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains multiple satirical pieces targeting American politics and social hypocrisy circa early 1900s. The **"Washington" section** mocks the capital's political culture, describing inhabitants as fraudulent: insurgents who don't rebel, progressives without progress, republicans ignorant of republicanism, and democrats lacking faith in democracy. It's a scathing critique of political pretense and corruption. The **"Cynicism" poem** advocates forgetting past grievances and toasts to "dead loves" and "dearest enemies"—likely satirizing calls for reconciliation (possibly post-Civil War or after political conflicts) as mere escapism masking unresolved bitterness. The **earthquake cartoon** shows residents confused during tremors, one asking "who's dat rocking his house?"—a racial-stereotype humor piece. The **"Free Advertising" essay** criticizes newspapers for giving unpaid promotional coverage to wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, allowing them to dominate news columns without expense—a critique of media-wealth collusion. The **"What's Bred in the Bone"** joke satirizes treating marriage proposals as real estate transactions requiring negotiation and "options."
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cynicism ET. us forget! The cup of memory Holds but a dull and muddy wine that brings Only remorse, regret and misery. Let us forget! Lift up the glass! The grape Of this rare vintage grew on Lethe’s shores. See how the liquid sparkles! Give a toast To our dead loves, our dearest ene- mics! Let us forget! WA WO SSN 5 PLE CD Ce TNS DURING A SOUTHERN EARTHQUAKE “WHo's DAT ROCKING DIs mouse?” Washington ASHINGTON is inhabited by insurgents who do not insurge, Progressives who do not progress, Repub- licans who would not know a republic if they saw one, Democrats who have no faith in the people and public officials who do not worry about their designations, so long as the jobs hold out. What's Bred in the Bone EAL ESTATE OPERATOR: Did you accept young Richleigh when he proposed last night? Daventi We didn’t close the deal, but I took an option on the property. | VELL~ CAN 1 D0 | SOMEDNGS FOR \"You NisTER ? = wor's, THATSKY 2! FOR A NEW TREATY Free Advertising ERHAPS in no way, as a people, do we better sustain our reputation for extravagance than in the amount of free advertising we give away. The advertisements paid for in every issue of any American paper do not begin to equal the amount of free advertising given away in-the news columns of the same issue. It may be objected that there would be no news without this advertising. But if there were no news, what then? On the whole, we prefer to have a moderate amount of news, but there should be some discrimination between such news and obvious ad- vertising. If Mr. Carnegie had been obliged to pay at space rates for all the free advertising with which he has been pre- sented he would now be a pauper. Suppose there were a tule never to advertise a man like Andrew Carnegie. Think of how many questions would be settled! And the peace we would have.