Life, 1914-05-21 · page 21 of 52
Life — May 21, 1914 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a military officer (labeled "Mr. President") warned by a figure in Mexican dress that "your worst enemies are behind." This appears to reference military threats during an era of U.S.-Mexico tensions, likely related to border conflicts or interventions. The accompanying text critiques Frank Munsey's pro-railroad argument that Americans should subsidize railroads through higher freight and passenger rates to generate "new money." Life's editors mock this circular logic—essentially asking citizens to give money they already possess to railroad corporations. Secondary articles address women's listening abilities and military chaplains. The chaplain piece satirizes sending clergy to "bless" soldiers' bullets before killing, mocking the contradiction between religious morality and warfare. The overall page reflects Progressive Era debates about corporate power, military expansion, and the tension between American ideals and practical conduct. Life positions itself as skeptical of both railroad monopolies and militaristic justifications.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LooK OUT, MR, PRESIDENT, YOUR WORST ENEMIES ARE BEHIND” Us and the Railroads R. FRANK A. MUNSEY has it all figured out. The only way we can possibly do anything for ourselves is do something for the railroads. The railroads have done as much for us as they can do or as they ought reasonably be expected to do. In order to get more money, we must take some of the money which we already have and give it to the stockholders of these great corporations. It appears, according to Mr. Munscy, that “money is already easier than need be, both at home and abroad”. but the trouble is that we can’t find it. “What we need and must have at this juncture is new money and lots of it. The railroads alone can find this new money.” We hope this is clear to all our read- ers. Plenty of money at low rates, but it can only be found by the railroads and the railroads propose to find it by having the rest of us find it first and hand it to them in the form of higher freight and passenger rates. Why have problems when they are as easily solved as all that? EF, 0... Do Women Listen? Well— They say there are things that they talk about in stag dinners that women should not hear, but there is nothing that women should not hear if it is worth talking about at all. Miss Mabel Powers. That is quite true, Miss Powers, but as a general rule women don't want to listen. Women are not out to get facts, and to get facts you must have learned how to listen accurately. Their strong points are the ebb and flow of emotions. No mere man can approach them at that dangerous and always fascinating pastime. Let It Be Done Righteously HOSE of us who pride ourselves on our goodness cannot have failed to notice with deep-seated satis- faction that a full quota of chaplains was rushed to the front at the first In the killing of fellow-creatures, as in everything else, there are always a right way and a wrong way to go about it. We hope that no American soldier will allow himself to speed a bullet upon its sacred mission until it has been prop- erly blessed according to the latest approved twentieth century orthodoxy. sign of hostilities. 'HE last place to be happy in— Heaven, comichooks.