Life, 1913-06-19 · page 12 of 52
Life — June 19, 1913 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains satirical dialogue between "Life" (a personified character representing the magazine) and the Emperor of Japan, likely referencing early 20th-century U.S.-Japan relations. The "Sanctum Talks" section satirizes American attitudes toward California and Japanese immigration. Life defends patience with California's "selfish" attitudes while the Emperor accuses Americans of hypocrisy—criticizing Japan's territorial ambitions while refusing Japanese settlement rights. The illustrations depict domestic American scenes: a doctor's visit and a vintage automobile outside a hotel. The marriage announcement at bottom appears to be humorous filler content, offering to print wedding announcements cheaply ("seven dollars"). The overall satire critiques American foreign policy inconsistency regarding Japan during a period of significant immigration and trade tensions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Young Doctor's wife: “ou, JACK, JUST FANCY! THERE’S A PATIENT IN THE SITTING ROOM.” “ ALL RIGHT, DEAR, I WON’T BE A MOMENT. JUST RUN AND LOCK HIM IN.” Sanctum Talks “TS this Lire?” “At your service, Emperor Yoshi- hito. Iam glad to see you. What can I do for you? Hope you are improv- “Thank you, Lire, yes. I-under- stand you are a_ representative of America.” “T try to be so.” “Well then, Lire; this being the case, I presume that you have no patience with California?” “On the contrary, my dear Emperor of Japan, I have great patience with California. It is a pretty bad mem- ber of any family that cannot be in sympathy with one of the selfish little sisters when she wants to have her own way.” “But, Lire; this selfish little sister that you speak of is going to make trouble for the whole family.’ “You mean just because she doesn’t want to play with one of your selfish little boys?” “But, Lire; my selfish little boys, that you speak of, have a perfect right to play with your selfish little sister if they want to.” bs ov)! eo ae PMR ER ‘iA TR . “That is the difficulty, my dear Emperor of Japan. Have you ever heard that old.song ‘ You can't play in my back yard'?” “No Jap wrote that song, Lire.” “No. But it is a good thing for them to learn just about now.” “Nonsense! Some night we are coming over and steal California.” “Well, my dear Yoshihito, I don’t know whether I'll say anything about it or not; but couldn't you just take Johnson and leave the rest of the State? And when. you get him, well—” “Don’t worry, Lire. I will know what to do with him. Good morning.” To Our Readers Owing to certain mechanical exigen- cies which we cannot control, the edi- torials in Lire, which have for many years appeared on this page, have been moved over and will hereafter occupy “the two pages immediately preceding the center page cartoon. e Dare <8 BUGLE TWN ELEPnte wat Peace “WANT TO GIT MARRIED, DO YE? ALL RIGHT. I KIN MARRY YE, GIVE YE BOARD AN’ LODGIN’, PRINT A» WEDDIN’ ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE SASSIETY COLUMN, AN’ SELL YE A GALLON 0’ GASOLENE FER SEVEN DOLLARS.” comicbooks.com