Life, 1914-01-29 · page 10 of 40
Life — January 29, 1914 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains political satire about naval spending and Congressional committees. The main poem "King Committee" (attributed to Amos K. Wells) mocks a Congressional Committee personified as an arrogant, obstructionist entity. The Committee brags about its power to block bills, hide legislation in "cubby-holes," and frustrate the democratic process through bureaucratic obstruction and sarcasm ("Pah!"). The accompanying article "That Naval Holiyear" discusses prolonged naval appropriations debates, suggesting the Committee's delays waste taxpayer money while preventing practical improvements. The cartoon illustrations show casual domestic scenes, contrasting with the serious political critique—likely emphasizing how Congressional obstruction affects ordinary citizens. The satire targets legislative gridlock and committee power as obstacles to governance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
That Naval Holiyear T doesn’t matter just when we take that naval holi- day, or, to be more exact, holiyear. Wise men con- cern themselves with tenden- cies rather than details. The chief point is that we are thinking, and thinking hard, about that naval holiyear. Everything else is a detail. We are going to have a naval holiyear pretty soon if only for curiosity’s sake and to get the thing off our minds. Then, if we like it, maybe we'll have two naval holiyears in succession. Then maybe we'll find we get along so much better applying ourselves to pro- viding actual conveniences rather than guarding against imaginary dangers that we shall forswear naval indul- gences forevermore. But let us not get excited. Considering all the money we've spent on navies in a cen- tury and a quarter, one year more or IF SOME OF OUR SALESLADIES WERE TO DRESS IN KEEPING WITH less doesn’t count for much, We THEIR HAUGHTY BEARING don’t know just when we'll get there, but we're on our way. King Committee a the nice, demure Congressional Committee, I'm the most convenient creature ever made; I'm a being without human love or pity, But I'm very good at bargaining and trade. I can take the wisest Bill and knock it silly, I can bring the greatest cause to dire defeat, I can make the noblest statesman, willy, nilly, Come and bow in low petition at my feet. I'm a marvel at obscurity and hiding, I receive an Act, and lo! it disappears. In my cubby-holes capacious are abiding Nearly all the Bills of many, many years. I discuss them, calm and cheerful, if I choose to; Give a hearing, or a dozen, if I wish; But, report them back to Congress I refuse to, And to every mild request I answer “ Pish!” T'm an irresponsibility in power, I'm anonymous, or what amounts to that; I'm Democracy’s most modest little flower, But I make the People wonder where they're at. For the nation and the State, the farm, the city, All may want a thing, but all of them are weak When I, the calm Congressional Committee, Stick my tongue, a mite sarcastic, in my cheek. “HOLD THE WIKE A MOMENT” Amos R. Wells.