Life, 1913-01-30 · page 26 of 36
Life — January 30, 1913 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a political cartoon criticizing American military spending and militarism. The image depicts Uncle Sam (personified America) playing with toy soldiers while standing in water—a biblical reference to "Elijah and the Angel Cake" (the old print title). The satirical text argues that the U.S. government wastes resources training soldiers for warfare rather than productively employing working men in fields and mills. The author attacks Uncle Sam's "foolish prejudices" and lack of imagination, suggesting he deliberately demoralizes civilian workers through military fear-mongering to extract tax money for armaments. The cartoon mocks militarism as wasteful ego-gratification—soldiers are "tin soldiers" serving no useful purpose. The author sarcastically questions why Uncle Sam won't redirect military spending toward productive labor that benefits both workers and neighbors. This reflects anti-militarism sentiment common in early 20th-century American progressive circles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FROM,LIPE'S COLLECTION OF OLD PRINTS ELIJAH AND THE ANGEL CAKE An‘ Awful Waste EE the little men in brown. They are dressed as if for labor and they belong to Uncle Sam. He calls them his soldier boys. The little man’s dress is called a uniform, and it looks as if it might be serviceable for labor. But do the soldier boys labor? No. What do they do for a living? They tickle the mount of ego on Uncle Sam's palm and make the shekels trickle from be- tween his fingers. For what purpose does a grown man like Uncle Sam play with all these little tin soldiers? Does'he hope to train them for useful service of their country? No, he has no such hope. He merely wishes to demoralize the working man in order that he may pay money for armaments through fear. Why does not Uncle Sam enlist an army of ignorant men and train them to work in the fields and the mills so that they may earn their own livings and help their neighbor: to be happy in their homes? Because Uncle Sam, unfortunately, though quite old enough to be adolescent, has no imagination. He has a few foolish prejudices and preferences, but so con- structive and necessary a tool as an imagination was left out of him when the Lord made him out of a rib of Dame Britannia. Will Uncle Sam ever take all these teys that he spends so much of his subjects’ money upon and teach them to lead useful lives? Possibly, but he will see himself bankrupt first. Battell Loomis. Limited Accommodations AGSON : I see that New York City has set aside a farm of eleven hundred acres for the use of drunkards. Torerty: Um! That isn’t much room for a man from Texas to get drunk in when he comes to the Metropolis. comicbooks.com