Life, 1913-04-03 · page 21 of 52
Life — April 3, 1913 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes **James J. Hill**, a prominent railroad magnate, who proposed that railroads should retain surplus profits equal to 50% of their dividend payouts. **The satire's point:** Life mocks Hill's self-serving logic by extending it absurdly. If railroads deserve to accumulate such surplus wealth, why shouldn't *everyone*—workers, strikers, ordinary citizens—have the same right? The magazine argues Hill's formula is merely justification for corporate wealth-hoarding while workers struggle to earn *any* surplus. The bottom quip ("No sermon is too long for the woman with a new hat") is unrelated humor about vanity. The "Interpreting Bergson" illustration appears to be a separate satirical piece (likely about philosopher Henri Bergson), but lacks sufficient context here to explain fully. This reflects early 20th-century Progressive Era critiques of railroad monopolies and corporate inequality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THRICE TOLD TALES Please Pass the Surplus R. JAMES J. HILL says that “the railroads should be permit- ted to earn and hold a surplus equal to fifty per cent, of the amount they pay out for dividends.” We envy Mr. Hill his ability to evolve such definite formule for ap- plication to our industrial and finan- cial problems, but why limit this boon ji to railroads? None of us would shy at being allowed to earn and hold a surplus equal to fifty per cent. of what p we pay out for dividends or for any- thing else. We have known of strik- ing workingmen hereabouts and else- whereabouts who would like to earn and hold a surplus of almost any per cent, either of what they pay out or of what they take in N° sermon is too long for the woman with a new hat INTERPRETING BERGSON comicbooks.com