Life, 1914-01-29 · page 16 of 40
Life — January 29, 1914 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes two distinct controversies through opposing viewpoints: **Top Section ("Malicious"):** Critiques anti-vaccination sentiment in the military. Life defends mandatory troop vaccinations against claims they cause cancer and disease, arguing soldiers shouldn't lose constitutional rights merely by enlisting—yet sarcastically notes senators aren't forced to undergo the same treatment, exposing the hypocrisy of imposing medical procedures on enlisted men without consent. **Bottom Section ("A Mild Protest"):** Mocks wealthy industrialist Harry K. Thaw through heavy irony. Thaw had infamously killed architect Stanford White on a rooftop in 1906; Life ridicules the legal system's leniency toward wealthy defendants, suggesting rich men deserve "reasonable latitude" to commit crimes. The sarcasm attacks class privilege: authorities fret over whether a "homicidal millionaire" should be released while ignoring genuine labor concerns (referenced in the New York Labor Department quote about workers' hours). Both sections target hypocrisy: forced medical treatment for the powerless versus freedom for the powerful; and legal indulgence toward the wealthy while dismissing workers' legitimate grievances.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
184 “Malicious” The statement i York that the an tion as employed in the Army and Navy has resulted in an increase of cancer and consumption is one of the most misleading, if not mali- cious, statements regarding the Services that has appeared in the American press. —Army and Navy Journal. GREAT number of people, includ- ing many physicians, believe serums and vaccination cause not only cancer and consumption, but also lock- jaw, scrofula, paralysis and various other grave diseases. And this number is increasing. Many enlisted men in our army and navy also hold this belief. It is an honest belief based on evidence. . Does our old friend, The Army and Navy Journal, think it quite fair that our soldiers and sailors should be subjected, against their will, to the injection into their blood of what they consider a filthy poison? We hear of no intention of forcing this treatment upon United States senators. They ~ would never submit. Why force it upon our soldiers and sailors? Should an American citizen lose all rights in this most important matter when he agrees to fight for his country? We think not. MANNERS “witttas! bo Nor point” A Mild Protest WE have but the profoundest respect for the emi- nent commission of alienists, recently gathered at Concord, N. H., to confer as to whether Mr. Harry K. Thawés admission to bail would Prove a menace to the community. It is with no begrudging of their hard- earned fees that we venture a mild protest. It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand why this persecution of Mr. Thaw continues, What has he done that he should be treated with so little consideration? Did he ever do worse than kill a gentleman on a public roof garden? True, there are puritans still to be found who do not countenance such pranks. On the other hand, how- ever, isn't Mr. Thaw unquestionably a rich man, and isn’t a rich man to be allowed a reasonable amount of latitude in his actions? It is time to call a halt on the dangerous tendency of criticizing rich men simply because they have been suc- cessful. The important thing, after all, is not whether Mr. Thaw should be admitted to bail; the thing to worry about is that our authorities and our alienists should be Anw wasting time that might be much better employed. There are lots of things worse than having a homicidal millionaire running around loose. “There is nothing said in that report or anywhere else about an cight hour day for newspaper workers.” Springfield Republican, referring to the report of the New York Labor Department. No&® for mothers, night watchmen, doctors or profes- sional humorists, THE WORLD AS IT LOOKS TO THE PESSIMIST— AND TO THE OPTIMIST comicbooks.com