Life, 1913-09-11 · page 15 of 44
Life — September 11, 1913 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces critiquing American policy and social attitudes circa the early 1900s. **"Gambling in Babies"** attacks the newly enacted income tax's provision giving child rebates only to earners above $4,000 annually. The satire argues this penalizes poor families with children while benefiting the wealthy—calling it unfair "gambling" on babies' value. A dialog jokes that modern parents avoid spanking for progressive "reformatory methods," mocking contemporary educational trends. **The illustrated vignettes** include a seaside scene (caption about wrecks) and an exchange about borrowing a mouse for a cat, appearing to be unrelated comic sketches. **"Pig Iron and Prosperity"** sarcastically celebrates news that increased pig iron purchases signal economic recovery, mocking the absurdity of pinning national prosperity hopes on a single industrial commodity. The piece suggests Americans should simply accept reassurance from iron trade data rather than genuinely assess economic conditions. Overall, the page ridicules government taxation inequity, changing parenting philosophies, and superficial economic optimism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EEE Gambling in Babies O NE of the provisions of the new income tax is that parents shall get a rebate on babies at so much per baby, the amount varying according to circumstances. That is to say, if a man is getting over four thousand dollars a year and has babies he does not have to pay so much income tax as a man who gets four thousand dollars a year and has no babies. But the man who gets less than four thousand dollars a year gets no rebate. It is true that he does not have to pay any income tax, but the only reason that he does not is because the government admits that he has got about all he can swing. Why this discrimination against the man under four thousand dollars who has babies? Any baby is a fair gamble, not only from the standpoint of the parent, but from the standpoint of the government. Probably the babies of the very poor people and the babies of the very rich people, for instance, assuming that there are such, are more of a gamble than the babies of the middle class people. What the government is doing now is to make it harder for the very poor people to raise their babies than it ever has been before. This whole question in reality is very much more im- portant than the tariff or the currency bill. What is really needed is more elasticity in babies. There ought to be some way of putting them on a sound basis. At present their value is very likely to be depreciated. The govern- ment, therefore, instead of intensifying this condition, ought to take measures to avoid it. Littte Girt: Why did your mamma spank you? Boston Cuitp: Because she is too untutored and ignorant to devise a more modern reformatory method of punishment. WE YOU ANY MICE IN YOUR MOUSE, MRS, SMITH?” MY DEAR, WE HAVE A FEW.” “WOULD YE MIND LENDIN’ ME ONE FOR OUR CAT?” Pig Iron and Prosperity E read in the Jron Trade Review that “heavy buying of pig iron in leading centers has brought great encouragement to the entire trade and furnishes strong evidence that pros- perity will be enjoyed throughout the remainder of the year.” Here is good news from a good authority. Although most of us have been paying very little attention to the peregrinations of pig iron, we are just as willing to have our prosperity as- sured from that direction as from any other. Why not, then, consider the matter settled and quit worrying? Let us rest secure in the thought that the country is doing its pig iron shopping early. Thin Party: po YoU HAVE MANY WRECKS HERE? ND it takes more than age to make Old Salt; you're TH’ FUST I'VE SEED THIS YEAR. a personage of a person. comicbooks.com