Life, 1913-09-04 · page 27 of 40
Life — September 4, 1913 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page satirizes what appears to be early 20th-century populist politics and the perceived favoritism toward western farmers. **The Main Cartoon:** "The New Régime" mocks a hypothetical scenario where the U.S. Treasury prioritizes western farmers over eastern interests. A farmer with "alfalfa whiskers" and a carpet bag enters the Treasury and is given unlimited cash—simply by producing a congressman's letter—while the clerk dismisses requests from Mexico and Europe as less important than "supplying western farmers." **The Satire's Point:** The piece ridicules the political power of agrarian populism and rural constituencies, suggesting the government now treats farmer requests as entitlements while neglecting international obligations and eastern financial interests (Wall Street). **The Top Cartoon:** Shows allegorical figures labeled "GRAFT" and "TOO MUCH MONEY" presiding over smaller vices (bribery, murder, white slavery, etc.), illustrating the epigraph: "The Love of Money is the Root of All Evil." **The Photograph:** Appears to show a confrontation, captioned with a dispute over being called a liar—likely commenting on political dishonesty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sf [APSE The New Regime T was about nine o'clock in the morning as a tall man with alfalfa whiskers and a carpet bag entered one of the handsomest buildings in Washington. A clerk met him at the door. “Ts this the United States Treasury?” “Yes, sir.” “T’ve come to get some money.” “Can you prove that you are a western farmer? We don’t receive anybody from the effete East. “T reckon I can, sir, Here's a letter from my Con- gressman.” The clerk acknowledged his credentials, bowed obsequi- ously, as he led his distinguished visitor into an inside room, which was filled with money. “ Just help yourself, sir,” he said, waving his arm around. The stranger lost no time, but spent his next fifteen minutes in filling up. As he went out, his pockets stuffed, he turned on the steps to the clerk and said crossly, as he mopped his brow: “Young man, there’s only one thing that troubles me: I wish I'd brought a larger bag.” The clerk smiled as he took out his address book. “My dear friend,” he said, “don’t let a little thing like that disturb you. Just give me your name and address and I will ship you a carload of cash by fast freight. You know in these days Mexico can wait, Europe can wait, everything else can wait, but it is the business of the United States Government to see that western farmers are supplied with all the cash they want.” “Waal, sir, that’s better’n feeding corn to my hogs while “HERE! YE CALLED ME A LIAR,” them eastern bankers are helping out Wall Street.” “Ye’RE A LIAR, OI DID NOT.” Ps comicbooks.com