Life, 1912-05-09 · page 14 of 48
Life — May 9, 1912 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains social commentary on birth rates among different classes. The text discusses Dr. Sprague's investigation into why wealthy women have fewer children than poorer women, attributing this to the burden of child-rearing on women's time and social ambitions. The top cartoon titled "THE LEADER / FORWARD!" depicts a figure leading others—likely satirizing social reformers or politicians advocating for population policies. The bottom illustration, captioned "MOVING PICTURES AT HOME / SEEING HIMSELF," appears to show a domestic scene, likely satirizing how wealthy people view themselves through entertainment or self-reflection. The overall page argues for progressive taxation linking child support to parental income, framing this as necessary social policy. The satire critiques both wealthy women's reluctance to bear children and the broader economic inequalities affecting family formation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: Notes on the Birth-Rate D*® SPRAGUE of Amherst College has been investigating the deficiencies of the birth-rate, and reports that it is not the millionaires’ wives who decline to have children, nor the very poor, but the women of the great well-to-do middle s. These well- to-do women, he says. are too busy “climbing ’ aise children, or else they realize that if they load up with children they can't climb. That is probably true. The great motives for rac sui- cide are economy and social ambition, and they mos: affe people who have got some money and some social s and want to hold what they have and get more. Rich people who can have li children and dor aise at least three or four are fools. Most of them do, and of th who don't, a great many are more than willing, but are sim: blessed with increase. Opulence in this country, and the +: -:less life it favors, do not seem to be conducive to fertility, but the dis inclination of rich women to raise families has been ex ted are not such geese in that respect as they are cracked up to be. A Needed Law THE LEADER LL would be well if we could devise a workable law whereby the brains and industry which the children of magnates inherit trom their fathers would be exactly proportioned to their income. — \\ hat progressive leaps and bounds we could then take toward the ultimate goal of human endeavor. Nothing could stop us. “ rorwarp!” MOVING PICTURES AT HOME SEEING HIMSELF micbooks.com