Life, 1913-04-10 · page 16 of 48
Life — April 10, 1913 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the aftermath of early-1900s Wall Street investigations (likely the Pujo Committee hearings on banking practices). **"The Dawn is Breaking"** mocks the public's naive optimism that reforms will genuinely help ordinary investors. The text sarcastically suggests that soon small investors can gamble on stocks without fear—implying this is false comfort. The joke: insiders will ensure *they* don't lose money, not the public. **"Not So Loud"** criticizes the theater of reform itself. It quotes the *New York Times* noting that trust-busting won't actually lower consumer prices for essentials (oil, tobacco, coffins, etc.). The cartoon counsels silence about this truth, comparing the fake reforms to stage illusions—people enjoy the *show* of justice even knowing it's not real. The satire targets both complicit elites ("predatorians") and a gullible public willing to be hypnotized by performative reform. The lower cartoon about "milk diet" appears unrelated to the political content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LD F'E The Dawn is Breaking we Our of the fusillade of ideas brought on by the Wall Street investigations, something is sure to result. Already the w tii dawn is putting the fog to rout. It is 3%) clear now that Wall Street had a number of very painful things the matter with it, 1 but totally without being aware of the fact. As soon as Wall Street found that it was in pain, it was among the first to ask for a doctor. And the rest of us, as the fog altitudinizes, know that all of the little fliers which we took in stocks would have brought forth handsome returns if only the Stock Exchange had been incorporated or if somebody hadn't washed a sale on some other day except the regular washday, or if some person, in a moment of carelessness (it certainly wasn't intentional), hadn't left a screw loose somewhere. All that, however, has passed, or nearly passed. The time is nearing when the most immature lamb can walk boldly into any Wall Street emporium without a chaperon There he will be met by a specially selected committee of affable and unselfish brokers. After curling himself up in the capacious depths of a luxurious leather lounge, he can lay his stake at random, be it large or small, and then he can dismiss it from his mind, serene in the perfect certitude that, owing to the expurgating to which Wall Street has been subjected, nobody can lose, and least of all the outsiders. If there is any losing to be done, the insiders will make sure that it will fall upon their own broad and brawny shoulders. And now, Gridley, if the ticker is in working order, you may bring on the milk and honey THE PRESIDENT RECEIVES THE ONLY SURVIVOR OF THE SUFFRAGETTE ARMY OF FIFTY THOUSAND WHICH STARTED TO WALK TO WASHINGTON Not So Loud “Nor is there the slightest reason why any man should be for an instant fooled by the pretense that trust prosecutions and dissolutions are going to reduce the cost to him of illuminating oil, tobacco, gunpowder, coffins, bath-tubs, and other articles of human or household use which he is compelled to buy."—New York Times. SH! Not so loud, neighbor! You mustn't speak right out in meeting that way. Of course, between you and us, it is all true enough, but we who have affilia- tions among the predatorians should leave something to the popular imagination. Let us look upon the matter from the artistic side, as a good piece of acting, if you will, Don't we know full well that when the stage villain falls over a stage precipice he isn’t really hurt? But doesn’t it give us a thrill of satisfaction just the same? In the same way we are momentarily hypnotized by these illu- sionary dissolutions, and even in that short period the HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF A MAN ON A MILK DIET graft can be prolonged a palatable modicum. comicbooks.com