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Life, 1914-08-20 · page 35 of 40

Life — August 20, 1914 — page 35: what you’re looking at

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Life — August 20, 1914 — page 35: Life, 1914-08-20

What you’re looking at

**Main Content:** The page features a Bell System advertisement breaking down how telephone revenue ($41.75 per subscriber) is distributed: employees ($100M), supplies ($45M), taxes ($11M), bondholders ($17M), stockholders ($30M), and surplus ($12M). This appears as corporate propaganda justifying profit distribution during an era of labor tensions. **The Satire:** A "Senator Wanted" classified ad mockingly describes the ideal politician as someone who must: - Remember the state serves "interests" (corporate power) - Promise things he can't deliver and perform unpromised actions - Balance partisan and non-partisan appearances - "Say nothing at great length" This satirizes political corruption and the gap between campaign promises and actual governance. The ad suggests senators are essentially commodities available to the highest bidder, a critique of corporate influence over elected officials—ironically positioned next to the Bell System's self-congratulatory revenue breakdown. The juxtaposition suggests the magazine viewed both corporate and political institutions with skepticism during this period.

📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

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