Life, 1914-05-28 · page 10 of 44
Life — May 28, 1914 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes labor disputes through a grotesque caricature of a large capitalist or employer figure (drawn with exaggerated features) towering over tiny workers wearing Mexican sombreros. The title "Yet He Doesn't Love Us" suggests bitter irony about the employer-worker relationship. The accompanying text "Preserving Industrial Disputes" by Ellis O. Jones presents cynical advice to avoid labor settlement, advocating suppression of worker organizing while maintaining employer control. It mocks this approach as Colorado's "highly evolved method." The cartoon critiques capitalist indifference to workers' welfare and the power imbalance in industrial relations. The Mexican imagery likely references contemporary westward expansion and labor conflicts in frontier regions. The overall message condemns callous employer attitudes toward their workforce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
YET HE DOESN'T LOVE US Preserving Industrial Disputes At those wishing to avoid the settlement of disputes between laborers and capitalists are respectfully referred to the example of Colorado. We cull the follow- ing salient precepts from her highly evolved methods: Look kindly upon all organizations of capitalists, but look with abhorrence upon all organizations of labor. During political campaigns make many beautiful prom- ises about protecting the rights of labor, but after election think only of the rights of property. In case of strikes, lockouts or other difficulties, assume that the employers are in the right and that the laboring men are in the wrong. If the laboring men ask for police protection from the armed guards of the employers, do not give it. On the contrary, by making these guards deputy sheriffs and militiamen, give them increased power to kill employees. Preserve as unruffled a demeanor as possible until an employee in desperation commits some act of violence. Then become indignant over the absence of law and order, call out the militia and declare martial law. Having thus relieved the judges and civil authorities of all responsibility and removed the matter from the realm of constitution, statutes and other civilized amenities, the only logic that needs to be considered is the logic that can be loaded into a gun. Keep this up as long as necessary, shooting employees on the slightest provocation, but always taking care not to shoot any of the employers or their agents. If these precepts are carefully followed, we guarantee that you will be as unhappy as Colorado, and that your industrial dispute will be no nearer a settlement at the end of a long siege than it was at the beginning. . Ellis O. Jones. A Progressive GPEEDER: Think of it! Here's this old earth making one rotation in twenty-four hours, the same as it did six thousand years ago. Jinxs: Well, what of it? “Great Stott, man! Can't we devise some way to speed her up a little?” comicbooks.com