Life — July 31, 1913 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Poultry Question" This is a fable illustrated with a sketch of foxes and a hen in a boat. The story, by Ellis O. Jones, uses poultry-yard conflict as allegory. An Old Hen discovers a Fox among her chickens and confronts him. The Fox argues that increased poultry regulations harm *everyone's* interests—his included—by raising living costs. He suggests they're "mentally inferior" to foxes but claims foxes won't succeed anyway, so everyone should cooperate and relax security. The satire likely reflects early 20th-century labor or business disputes, where a threatening party (the Fox) argues that strict protections or regulations hurt all sides economically. The Old Hen remains skeptical but is tempted by the Fox's appeal to "shared interest." The joke exposes manipulative rhetoric that asks the vulnerable to abandon self-protection for supposed mutual benefit.