Life, 1913-09-11 · page 9 of 44
Life — September 11, 1913 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon, titled "The Three Wise Men of the East," depicts four men in formal attire at what appears to be a harbor or dock setting, examining what looks like maps or plans on tables. The accompanying text discusses an "Anesthetic" solution to social and political problems—specifically proposing a laughing gas to make difficult reforms (like constitutional amendments or tooth extractions) more palatable to the public. The satirical point appears to be critiquing how citizens resist necessary but painful social changes, and suggesting that if government could anesthetize the population to these difficulties, reform would proceed smoothly. The smaller dialogue exchanges are generic social humor unrelated to the main cartoon's political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
always worse than one. Three make a crowd. Sometimes it takes only one ambassador to bring on a war, but if he fails others are sent to help him out, war being the ultimate business between all countries. An ambassa- dor’s wife is a woman who makes her own clothes, talks French, knows how to wash dishes and is a perfect lady. Every ambassador, of course, is a per- fect gentleman. That is the reason why those ambassadors are usually selected about whom s0 little is known. AVE you met your next door neighbors yet?” “Not formally; but I’ve seen all their furniture go in.” “THE THREE WISE MEN OF THE EAST” Wanted: An Anesthetic NE of the chief difficulties of the moment arises from the fact that the social pharmacopeia does not con- tain a social anesthetic by means of which the roots of old and decayed notions may be extracted without pain from the body politic. If it weren't for this distressing fact it would be just as easy to amend the constitution as to sever an appendix or extract a molar. If the body politic could only be given some kind of laughing gas during the process, we should have no difficulty whatsoever in summoning up courage to have a lot of little things done which we feel down in our hearts ought to be done, but from which we have refrained through fear of coming upon a sensitive nerve that might be exposed thereby. We might even be induced to try a Utopia now and then if we could just go to sleep and then wake up to find it completely established and in good working order. Here is an emergency that should be met and conquered. E. 0. J. Don't you remember me? I rescued you from drowning at H Narragansett last year. Sue (sweetly): How stupid of me! But, of course, one cannot remember all the young men who rescue onel comicbooks.com