Life, 1914-01-08 · page 36 of 44
Life — January 8, 1914 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a scathing political cartoon attacking wealthy financiers and stock manipulators. The text sarcastically describes how the rich had orchestrated a system to profit from ordinary people—manufacturing securities (stocks and bonds) and selling them to widows, orphans, and unsuspecting investors through corrupt brokers. The cartoon depicts these financiers as parasites upset that the public refuses to accept their exploitation passively. Life's satire argues these tycoons deserve criticism for their greed, not sympathy. The point: wealthy elites had rigged the financial system for personal gain, then acted victimized when common people objected. This reflects Progressive Era skepticism toward Wall Street manipulation and unregulated capitalism—a major political issue of the early 20th century. The cartoon at top about Everstick razors is unrelated advertising; below are book reviews and a whiskey ad.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
only halt-brothers, —Cleveland Plain Dealer. Frederick P. Bellamy de- clared that one physician had acknowledged in a re- cent issue of a medical journal that he had sprayed the germs of smallpox, scar- let fever and diphtheria into the throats and lungs of Seventeen persons whom he was treating, as they sup- posed, for catarrh of the throat. Books Received The Foo!s of Shakespeare, by Frederick Warde. (McBride, Nast & Co. $1.25.) Dishes and Beverages of the Old Appreciated by those South, by Martha McCulloch-Williams. A (McBride, Nast & Co. $1.25.) who are careful of their Our Southern Highlanders, by Horace appearance. Kephart. (Outing Publishing Co. $2.50.) Bote thir You can depend om the dealer whe selts i The Lure of the Little Drum, by Mar- TIES eri EE garet Peterson. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.35.) The Maid of the Forest, by Randall Parrish, (A C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, Ml. $1.35.) The Progressive Movement, by S. J Duncan-Clark, (Small, Maynard & Co. so cents.) And Then Came Jean, by Robert Alex- ander Wason, (Small, Maynard & Co. $1.35.) The Tinder Box, by Maria Thompson Daviess. (Century Co. $1.00.) ns supantnercenumnellaverstvcrfogsalebyrdiscaminawneDealens i HAT an ungrateful public this is, to be sure! After our leading magnates, potentates and financiers had gone to the infinite trouble of fixing matters so that the public would have to pay roundly for everything it needed; and after they had bought efficient printing presses for the manufacture of handsome stocks, bonds and other insecure securities ; and after they had arranged through our talented and ideal- istic stock brokers and underwriters to distribute these securities widely among widows, orphans, innocent purchasers and other beloved fellow-creatures; and after they had - . begun to think of retiring from business and spending their declining days flitting gaily, Wiceeld teed ki — j via yacht or motor, from summer resort to winter resort; then suddenly to find that the tif Cab Public, still possessed with a foolish yearning for life, is not at all satisfied to leave - things in statu quo and wants to upset the arrangement. What could be more disap- Old Overholt Rye pointing, more distressing, more tear-compelling? What we need in this country is a “Same for 100 Years” public that is not so selfish. Qf The heart of the sun-ripened grain, czystal mountain water and the century- | old processes of distilling carried out in a modem plant make Old Overholt l) Rye the choice of men who know. Distilled and bottled in bond. A. OVERHOLT & CO. Pimbargh, Pa. An Ungrateful Public = 4 comicbooks.com