Life, 1912-06-27 · page 27 of 45
Life — June 27, 1912 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes anti-Catholic prejudice in early 20th-century America. The poem "New York" catalogs urban corruption—grafters, Wall Street dealers, Tammany Hall (the notoriously corrupt Democratic machine), and poverty—establishing a cynical baseline. The essay then presents Cardinal Farley's prediction that America's future church will be Catholic, using this as a springboard for heavy-handed sarcasm. The author sarcastically escalates the argument: if the Catholic Church grows as statistically documented (12 million communicants), why wouldn't future judges, congressmen, and even the Pope relocate to Washington? This reflects genuine Protestant anxiety about Catholic demographic growth and political influence in America during this period. The satire targets *nativist fears* by ironically suggesting these fears are logical extensions of existing trends—mocking both anti-Catholic paranoia and Cardinal Farley's confidence simultaneously. The illustration "An Old (Mer) Maid" appears unrelated to the text.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ING a song of New York, \ pocketful of tips; Scores and scores of grafters Who never lose their geips. When the melons open, They seck the Great White With millionaires and chores And silly cabaret. The brokers are in Wall Street ixing up their deals; Tammany in the City Hall Regulating steals ; Way, girls Society on the avenue Thinking of its clothes; nd poverty on the outskirts In rows and rows and rows. What's to Prevent ? Cardinal Farley predicted that the church in America in the future Catholic Church.— HERE is nothing like a frank ex pression of your own opinion, and Cardinal Farley’s utterance not cnly has the merit of being sincere, OBLIVIOUS but is also—in view of the facts— rather convincing. There is no organization in the world that has ever compared with the Roman Catholic Church. While other sects are slumbering or fighting among themselves, the Catholic Church is slowly and surely rolling up its ad- herents. The progress that it is mak- ing in this country is astonishing. It has, according to statistics, nearly 000 churches and over 12,000,000 com- municants, which is more than double the number of any other religious Lody. Moreover, these 12,000,000 com- municants represent only a small part of the total Catholic population It is natural, therefore, that Cardinal Farley should predict that the church of the future will be the Catholic Church, Would it be too rash for him also to predict that the govern- ment of the future will be a Catholic government? That judges of the Su- preme Court, the members of the Cab- inet and both Houses of Congress will a Catholic majority? That the business of the future will be a Catho- lic business, and, in fact, that the pope will be transplanted from Rome to Washington AN OLD (MER) MAID