Life, 1912-09-19 · page 38 of 44
Life — September 19, 1912 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page mixes political satire with commercial advertising, typical of *Life* magazine's format. **The Satire:** The main editorial content satirizes wealthy millionaires, arguing they should be taxed heavily as "luxuries" rather than "necessities." The author proposes a provocative solution: let millionaires *themselves* fund government through income taxes, relieving ordinary citizens of tax burden. The satire's point is that the wealthy extract surplus wealth from the public annually anyway—so why not formalize this as taxation? It's a tongue-in-cheek argument that millionaires are essentially maintained by society and should therefore pay for it. **The Advertisements:** The page includes typical early-1900s product ads (toothbrushes, tooth soap) alongside a massive advertisement for Anheuser-Busch Brewery, showcasing its scale and capacity with specific statistics. This juxtaposition—luxury goods marketed alongside working-class beer production—ironically frames different definitions of "luxury" discussed in the editorial. The date appears to be 1912 based on "1330" at page bottom.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE: libraries, endow our own universities, thimblerig our own stock markets and end then he can have just the kind of vernment he wants, i.e, one that is teach our own Sunday-schools. We suited to his income. If he doesn’t get could do these things, if necessary, but cnough to support. a government in who would want to? They are very un- proper style, we could increase his al- pleasant and commonplace occupations. lowance. The advantage to us would be The measure of a luxury is its income. two-fold: first, to escape making pay- The income of a millionaire is the ments in two places, viz., Wall amount.of our surplus cash he is able to and Washington, and, second, to relieve extract from us annually. In order to us of the onerous burden of watching protect him in the enjoyment of his cash, the Government we must have annot By all means, therefore, let us have have a government without taxes, Let income tax and thus conform to one of the millionaire, therefore, pay thes re government. We taxes our most cherished traditions. HanpLe Tooth Brush with its curved and flexible handle, permits of its im- bf mediate adjustment to the contour of the gums— uaweiser avoids friction—keeps the gums ina perfect, healthful 7 OBB VV Re BAS condition. Enables youto wea stiffer brush than usual. ‘The irregular tufts of the Pro-phy-lac-tic reach every crevice in and between all the teeth — cleans every At the Top tooth thoroughly. ‘4 clean tooth never decays.” These lusive f i i opinions trac "ktiaelseiet Because of Quality and Purity yellow box, which protects against handling. 25, 35, 40, = Every Pro phy-lac tic fully guaranteed, We replace il defective, Oar interesting booklet—"De You Clean or Brash Your Teeth” ‘is yours for the ashing. Sead for it. *, FLORENCE MFG. CO. ,187Pine Street, Florence, Mass, Bottled with crowns or fois water of Pr phy te do Toth, Has, Miliary hed last Drcben corks only at the Home Plant in St. Louis —$ The Income Tax Before we can reach a_ satisfactory conclusion as to the income tax, there is another question which must be decided Are millionaires luxuries or necessities: While taxes, and especially tariti taxes, are no respecters of categories, nevertheless it is pretty well settled that | luxuries should be taxed more harshly than necessities. We are inclined to think that million- aires are luxuries. What is a luxury? A luxury is something that absorbs our surplus cash. A luxury is something we could do without. To do without mil- lionatics would be to build our own | The Anheuser-Busch Brewery Covers an area of 140 acres of ground, equal to 70 city blocks, upon which are located 110 individual buildings. | | CAPACITY TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES } Brewing Capacity - 2,500,000 barrels per year | Refrigerator freight cars - 1,500 Malting Capacity = 2,000,000 bushels per year | Horses at home plant . 143 Bottling Works - - 1,000,000 bottles daily : ore 5 | Grain Storage Elevators 1,750,000 bushels Wagons at home: plan’ ° < Positive Delight Stockhouses (for lagering) — 600,000 barrels Auto Trucks at home plant = u a Steam Power Plant - 12,000 horse power Horses at Branches - 483 Electric Power Plant - 4,000 horse power Wauoneiat Branches - 430 «| to Brush the Teeth Refrigerator Plant - 4,000 tons per day Auto Trucks at Branches . a and gums with Arnica Tooth Soap. It sterilizes the mouth, Ice Plants - - 1,200 tons per day Gest roy mut rial and feqmencative parte. ka Coal used - - 325 tons per day | produce a delightful sense of clean Obtained ith pastes, powders or swaabes, Hat coenee 7 EMPLOYES { ’ ° FREIGH At St. Louis Plant 6,000 people Strong’s Arnica Tooth Soap | insound and outbound - 50,000 cars per year At 36 Branches 1,500 people (Cleanser and Mouth Wash in One) h perfectly cleanses and pol Bile’ its. anusep thing to beak of spill. A cons t your draggint—or sete divect, C. H. STRONG & CO, - - - Chicago | Total Sales, 1911—1,527,832 Barrels | Budweiser Bottled Beer Sales, 1911 — 173,184,600 Bottles 1330 comicbooks.com