Life, 1913-01-02 · page 12 of 44
Life — January 2, 1913 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The central image depicts **Death (skeletal figure with scythe)** hovering over a naked cherub marked "30," overlooking a crowd below a cityscape. This appears to reference **mortality statistics or war casualties** numbered at 30. The accompanying text discusses Republican criticism of Democratic policies, mentioning "shots" that provoke responses and addressing debates over "divorce, religion and the clergy." The passage critiques how Republicans weaponize social issues while ignoring their own vulnerabilities. The cartoon likely satirizes **political exploitation of tragedy or statistics for partisan gain**—Death presiding as politicians below use casualty figures as ammunition in ideological disputes rather than addressing genuine suffering. The exact historical event referenced remains unclear without additional context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ered—and rediscovered innumerable times—the hopeless- ness of pleasing all: that what is joy to one is pain to another; that what shocks the weather beaten roué with a purple past may delight the most refined New England spinster; that the note from an angry reader stopping his subscription was caused hy an article that more than grati- fied his yet more prudish friends. In our youthful and more sensitive days we were easily moved to sympathy and repentance by rebukes from out- raged readers. But we soon learned that our shafts, at certain doctors, for instance, never disturbed the clergy; that our remarks on divorce, religion and the clergy did not offend the doctors; that our attitude toward the suffragettes did no damage to the feelings of millionaires, and that our criticisms of millionaires brought never a protest from doc- tor, clergyman or suffragette. And we have no record of the sensibilities of a Republican being outraged by abuse of a Democrat. We find, in short, that our shots at any one of these are endured by all the others with Christian for- giveness and general satisfaction. Roughly speaking, for every curse we receive at least one blessing. And there must be nourishment in both curse and blessing, for Lire has prospered on the dict. There’s no dodging the fact that it’s fun to be a crank. And there comes sometimes a pious thrill when throwing unexpected light in shady places. If called upon to explain this growth and prosperity we should have to confess that it is something of a mys- tery to ourselves—as it is to our enemics. Lire has taken especial care to ignore the accepted rules of journalistic success. From the broad, much traveled highway, lined with guide boards, he has purposely wandered, turning his back on bribes and threats and golden chances. He has favored the weak and flouted the mighty, and always comicbooks.com