Life, 1914-06-25 · page 21 of 45
Life — June 25, 1914 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"The Dove of Peace"** illustrates British suffragettes' militant campaign through a drowning dove image. The text criticizes their tactics as psychological manipulation rather than legitimate protest, arguing the suffragettes are oppressors (not oppressed) and the English government is the actual "martyr" enduring their disruptions. **"Something for Nothing"** mocks Mexican political instability under Carranza's leadership, sarcastically suggesting his army of thieves and murderers cannot build stable government—then pivots to expose American hypocrisy: Pennsylvania's own corrupt politicians (operating under tariff protections) made identical "something-for-nothing" promises yet remain tolerated. **"Excellent Mayor Curley"** quotes Boston businessman Henry Higginson's praise of Mayor James Curley as "excellent," which Life treats as naively optimistic or deliberately blind approval of a mediocre administration. All three sections employ bitter irony to critique governmental incompetence and corruption across three contexts: Britain, Mexico, and America.
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THE DOVE OF PEACE good deal like this struggle of the militants to be intolerably bad, and the counterstruggle of the English gov- ernment not to punish them enough to hurt. Our President has been scoffed at for saying that our business depression is largely psychological, as though what was psychological was imaginary, but this militant mess in England is almost all psychological, and though it is much worse in the newspapers and takes up vastly more proportionate space there than it does in actual life, it is a bad mess. Martyrdom is the appeal from force to truth. Martyrdom put over on authority by tricks may not work ac- cording to schedule. The militants are not the oppressed. By all odds they are the oppressors. The patient English government is the real martyr and must be getting pretty near its crown. Any day the news may come that the water has begun to put out the fire, and the fire to burn the stick, and the stick to beat the pig, and that the English militants are on the run VERYBODY who favors the con- tinuance of the Democrats in office until they have done their job 1157 must deprecate the effort of Amos R. E. Pinchot to put George W. Per- kins out of the Progressive party. Pull together, Progressives, pull to- gether! How can you hope to win if you keep heaving one another out of the party? ail the insidious Root, who burgled the Chicago con- vention; assault the nefarious Taft, who bit the hand that had fed him; climb onto all the old-style Republi- cans, Paine, Mann, Smoot, Penrose, all of them, but, oh, brethren, spare one another! There’s hardly enough of you to go ’round as it is—hardly enough for the most necessary exer- cises—and look at Amos slugging George—the faithful George! What ill become of the New Freedom if things go on like that? Something for Nothing ISTEN to that excellent newspaper, the Philadelphia Ledger: Carranza has now established him- self as Provisional President. He is supported by an army of men who have been promised something for nothing, and it is commanded by a man who has made his living ever since he was a boy by stealing and murdering. If a stable Government can be erected over night on such foundations human nature _ has changed and human history is a fraud. narmy of men who have been promised something for nothing, com- manded by a man who has made his living ever since he was a boy by stealing——" Come now, good neigh- bor; is this current times in Mexico that you are talking of, or is it old times, but not very old, in Pennsyl- vani: Under the tariff the boys got what was promised them in Pennsyl- vania, but it made scandals, and you are right, it is not the basis of stable government, though it may last a long as forty years. “Excellent” Mayor Curley One of the striking things at yesterday's hearing was Major Henry L. Higginson's statement that “We've got an excellent Mayor and an excellent. system”. James M. Curley is making good. —Springheld Republican, ONDERFUL! wonderful! but Major Higginson will always see things as they are if he can. comichooks..