Life, 1912-12-12 · page 40 of 48
Life — December 12, 1912 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main satirical article, "If Judas Came," uses the biblical figure of Judas as a metaphorical vehicle to critique early 20th-century American capitalism and corporate malfeasance. The piece depicts a hypothetical scenario where Judas—history's archetypal traitor—immigrates to America and exploits the nation's systems. The satire catalogs specific contemporary abuses: securing protective tariffs under false pretenses, obtaining land grants and franchises then abandoning public service commitments, opposing child labor laws while operating exploitative sweatshops, and manipulating banks to defraud investors. The author equates unregulated capitalist behavior with Judas's betrayal, suggesting that American industrialists and financiers commit moral treachery comparable to the apostle's infamy. This reflects Progressive Era concerns about monopolies, labor exploitation, and financial fraud—issues that dominated early 1900s political discourse. The surrounding advertisements (tire company, whisky) are period-typical magazine filler, unrelated to the satire's message.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
that it was all because the currency was not sufficiently elastic and that it could not be sufficiently elastic unless the public treasury was turned over to him. E.0. 4. Kelly-Springfield Automobile Tires The worth of atire is measured in miles. That's why it's easy to measure the worth of Kelly-Springfield Tires—with their mileageaveraginga thousandortwo better than the average mileage of the average tire. KELLY-SPRINGFIELD TIRE COMPANY, 20 Vesey Street, New York Branch offices tn New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Buftaio, Baltimore, Wasbington, Seattle, Atlanta aad Akron, O. Bass Rubber Co.. Denver, Appel & Burwell Rubber & Tire Company, Dallas, Texas. | Bering Tire & Rubber Co. Todd Rubber Co., New Havea, Conn. ‘The Hearn Tire & Rubber Co., Columbus. O. “Hetto, Bill!” a young father. by yet?" Well, almost,” answe two grandmothers hh. trate.” —Lippincott’s, called the neighbor to “Have you ramed the d Bill. “ The © agreed to arbi- If Judas Came If Judas came to America— He would secure a protective tariff on the ground that he was going to help the American laboring man and the country in general, and then he would hold the country up and make it pay the highest possible prices for everything that was protected. He would secure valuable land grants and perpetual franchises from easy-going public officials for the ostensible purpose of transporting the people and otherwise rendering public service, and then he would forget all his promises, give as-poor service as possible and spend all his time water- ing the stock of his corporations and palming it off at ridiculous prices upon innocent investors. He would go into our legislative halls and oppose child labor laws on the plea that it would be an unwar- ranted interference with personal lib- erty to deny children the right to work as long as they wished, and then he would start sweatshops and mills and mines and hire thousands of these little children at starvation wages. He would start banks and use every The World’s Standard Whisky artifice to secure the confidence of the people, and then when the banks got into trouble and the confidence of the people was shaken, he would declare Endorsed and used in practice by 37,192 high standing physicians; proven thru 133 years of constant use absolutely pure, mellow and uniform. James E. Pepper “Born with Whisky = the Republic’® in Bond in the original package; look closely for our red, black and gold label and beware of frauds. Your “ADTTEED Ww ag m™ protection is in ‘asking for this whisky by its full “Y'VE DEEN TRYING TO GET IN THAT SHADE ALL DAY LONG AND ONLY REACH IT AT SUNDOWN” 5 AHESE PED», SDBUENED troy name—‘‘James E. Pepper.” Ifyour dealer attempts substitution, or cannot supply you, we will fill your orders direct. Prices: 4 full quarts $5.00, 12 full quarts $15.00 express prepaid. Satisfaction guaranteed. The Jas. E. Pepper Distilling Co. Frankfort Pike, Lexington, Ky. The Pioneer Kentucky Distillery