Life, 1913-03-06 · page 30 of 72
Life — March 6, 1913 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"Away With Franks"** critiques the congressional **franking privilege**—the right of elected officials to send mail postage-free using their signature instead of stamps. Postmaster Hitchcock argues this abuse explains why the postal service operates at a loss. The text sarcastically compares congressmen and senators to store clerks, suggesting they lack moral restraint and will exploit privileges just as readily as lower-ranking employees would. The satire argues that if the government conducts business on sound principles, it must eliminate this perk. The accompanying cartoons appear lighter in tone: "The Dam(n)" shows vehicles navigating a large rock formation; the second joke about Chicago women contrasts shorter but more frequent wedding trips, likely satirizing changing social attitudes toward marriage or marital instability among the wealthy. The page reflects Progressive Era concerns about government inefficiency and special privileges enjoyed by the political class.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Away With Franks STER HITCHCOCK says that the reason the postoffice does not pay for itself is be: of the existence of the franking privilege. Employees of the government, senators and congressmen, etc., can send their mail anywhere they please for nothing. Why not stop it? That is to say, stop it if we are going to conduct the government on business principles. Suppose the office boys and clerks in every store should have the privilege of going to the stamp box and using what stamps they want without any question. It is not in human nature not to abuse the privilege, and we do not believe that the moral tone of a congressman or senator is much higher than that of the law-abiding clerk. By all means, gentlemen, do away with the franking privilege and try and get down to business. IRST CHICAGO DAME: People take shorter wed- ding trips than they did formerly. Seconp Cuicaco Dame: Perhaps—but they take them more often. THE DAM(N) “AT LAST! MERE COMES MY HAT.” comicbooks.com