Life, 1912-03-28 · page 9 of 50
Life — March 28, 1912 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques excessive political speechmaking and stenography. The top section titled "Too Diffuse" complains that politicians produce too much written speech material distributed in advance, resulting in loose, unprintable language that stenographers and typesetters must manage. The "T.R. Interpreted" section references Theodore Roosevelt, quoting his belief in "direct nominations" and "direct primaries" while joking about his hand being "on his coat collar"—likely alluding to Roosevelt's characteristic gestures. The large cartoon below shows "The Cause" (small inset) and "The Effect" (main image): what appears to be political figures or police confronting citizens, visualizing consequences of the political discourse discussed above. The satire targets both verbose politicians and the practical problems their output creates for press workers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Too Diffuse HERE is too much political literature. All the speech-making politicians seem to talk pro- to stenographers, and have their disclosures type- written and put into print in advance of delivery. It is too easy nowadays to get loose speech into print- able form. Consequently there is too much loose speech printed in the papers. The stenographers and typewriters are immediately to blame, but there ought to be more restraint in the use of them. Roil it down, gentlemen. Tue CAUSE T. R. Interpreted HAT is in the Colonel's mouth: “LT believe in genuine popular rule. 1 favor dircet nominations, direct prim, including direct prefer- ential Presidential primaries, not only for local but for State delegates.” in the Colonel’s heart: that the American people had but one neck, 7 hand on its coat coll > has been drawn on a jury. . How does he stand on the recall of verdicts? THE EFFECT comicbooks.com