Life, 1912-05-23 · page 15 of 44
Life — May 23, 1912 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains political commentary on the 1912 Democratic presidential race. The main article discusses **Mr. Clark versus Governor Wilson** as competing Democratic candidates. The text reveals that conservatives and publisher **William Randolph Hearst** (appearing to support Clark) strategically used Clark as a rival to damage Wilson's candidacy, viewing Wilson as a "dangerous political character." The irony is that Wilson's many powerful enemies—intended to weaken him—paradoxically demonstrate his integrity, though they don't translate into devoted supporters. The opening cartoon makes a crude joke about rural life and leisure time. The secondary items include brief satirical jabs at **J.P. Morgan's** luxurious apartment plans and coal industry hypocrisy—railroads claim they cannot raise wages without raising coal prices, yet logic suggests the reverse should also be true. The satire targets political manipulation and economic inequality characteristic of the Progressive Era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Friend from the city: 1 SUPPOSE THEY HAVE A PRETTY GOOD TIME PECKING AND SCRATCHING DURING THE DAY, BUT HOW THE DEUCE DO THEY SPEND THEIR EVENINGS? Mr. Clark and Governor Wilson EDITATIVE Democrats are ex- ercising themselves in thinking the best they can of Mr. Clark. It is no trouble to like Mr. Clark, for he is abundantly likable. The trouble is to think of him as a suitable candidate for President. It becomes necessary to take that trouble because he has been running pretty strong and has got quite a lot of delegates. Mr. Clark has been the most avail- able Democratic candidate to use to beat Governor Wilson. Dr. Wilson, being the leading candidate, has had the field against him, and Mr. Clark, hard ridden by Hearst, has been used to tire him out. Mr. Hearst, who seemed for a time to think he might himself be the Democratic nominee, used his ex- cellent facilities to persuade his con- stituents that Dr. Wilson is their secret enemy and Mr. Clark their true friend. So, between all the con- servatives fighting Dr. Wilson as a dangerous political character, and Hearst disguised as a radical, fighting him as a secret enemy of labor, the Governor has had uphill work of it. It seems as if we ought to love Dr. Wilson for the enemies he has made, He has a fine store of them, but somehow they are not so efficacious in securing him affection as might be expected. He makes excellent ene- mies, but it is not so apparent that he makes devoted friends WOMAN never puts off till to- morrow what she can say to-day. J. PIERPONT MORGAN has R, M planned a magnificent apart- ment on the thirty-first floor of the Bankers’ Trust Company Building. It is as high up in the air and as elaborate and luxurious in its equip- ment as Mr. Morgan could possib! devis It may not be quite heaven, but it is about as near to it as money can buy. Te coal roads resent the imputa- tion that they benefit by strikes and plead poverty. It is impossible, they say, “to raise wages without raising the price of coal.” Why not couple this with the dictum that it is impossible also to raise the price of coal without raising wages? comicbooks.com