Life, 1914-06-11 · page 14 of 44
Life — June 11, 1914 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece proposes creating a Secretary of Peace to complement the existing Secretary of War. The cartoon shows a woman (representing Peace or Liberty) presenting this idea to officials at what appears to be a government office. The article argues that a Secretary of Peace would pursue the opposite duties of the Secretary of War—promoting disarmament, negotiation, and teaching peaceful conflict resolution rather than military preparation. The satire critiques the imbalance in American governance by highlighting how the government heavily prioritizes military readiness while lacking an equivalent cabinet position dedicated to peace. Author Ellis O. Jones uses this proposal to comment on institutional priorities and militarism, suggesting the U.S. government structure itself reflects a bias toward warfare over diplomacy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
I 7 (-cosuiy “WILL THEY GET IT?” A New Cabinet Officer E have always had a Secre- tary of War, but it remains to the future—the near future, we hope—to create a Secretary of Peace, There is no telling how many lives and how much money we would have saved had we had such an officer in the President's Cabinet. It is the duty of the Secretary of War to be warlike; to insist upon having a great array of troops and equip- ment and fortifications. He musi always be ready for war, and he must say so, and he must do everything he can to inculcate a warlike spirit in our young men. No man can blame a Secretary of War for swashing and buckling to his heart's delight, and if he should be caught working for peace he would be set down at once as a pusillanimous poltroon. But if we had a Secretary of Peace, his work would lic in an exactly opposite dircction. It would be up to him to perfect himself in all the arguments and devices for peace, and to keep them vividly before us at all times He would be in constant disagreement with the Secretary of War. He would assert that a warlike spirit is a savage spirit, and that the easiest way to get into a fight is to be armed to the teeth and to go around with a chip on one’s shoulder. He would teach our young men that it is better to know how to think than to shoot, better to know how to construct than to destroy, better to help our fellow-creatures at home and abroad than to fight with them, : A Secretary of Peace wouldn't take a vacation even when war was declared. He would be so cocksure of his position and his duty that, although everybody else in the land was shouting for blood and calling it patriotism, he would still maintain that the highest form of patriotism is to go quietly about one’s own business and be at peace with the world. Ellis O. Jones.