Life, 1915-01-28 · page 28 of 40
Life — January 28, 1915 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct satirical commentaries on World War I-era America: **"The Guests Enjoy Themselves"** mocks German occupation forces in Ghent, Belgium, who requisitioned massive quantities of luxury goods (cigars, wine, brandy) while displacing local owners. The satire highlights the absurdity of military excess during wartime. **"Mortgaged to Foreigners?"** critiques American economic dependence on foreign investment. The argument warns that despite boasting about national wealth, America owes approximately $10 billion to foreign investors, necessitating annual payments that undermine claims of prosperity. **The cartoon illustrations** include a domestic scene where a child offers dinner to a guest, and a woman trying on an ill-fitting hat while a man suggests her "head will swell"—likely satirizing vanity or inflated self-importance. The page overall reflects wartime anxieties about American economic vulnerability and questions whether pre-war confidence in national affluence remains justified given foreign financial control.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A COMING EVENT THE NEEDLE’S-EYE HANDICAP FOR MILLIONAIRES The “ Guests” Enjoy Themselves “The Germans passed a fairly pleasant Christmas in Ghent. They ordered the city to supply one million cigars, one million cigarettes and ninety thousand pounds of tobacco, while they have taken complete control of every wine cellar in the town. One pro- prietor was ordered to supply cight hundred bottles of brandy, but, the order taking his breath away, he asked the soldier if a mistake had not been made. The soldicr answered, ‘ Yes’ and increased the demand to sixteen hundred bottles. They also requisitioned musical instruments.”-—Despatch to the Times. HE Germans evidently believed in keeping up their Christmas spirits, even though a large proportion of the original owners of all the good things were not there to enjoy it with them. Mortgaged to Foreigners ? T has been estimated that foreigners own about ten billion dollars’ worth of this country and its profitable institutions. That means that it is necessary for each one of us on the average to send ten dollars a year across the water for the privilege of not being able to own the country we live in. That equals about fifty dollars a year for each family. To what extent should we brag and bluster about our national wealth so long as there is such a big mortgage on us? A favorable balance of trade causes us to send out of the country each year about a billion dollars in goods more than we bring in, and then the unfavorable balance of ownership allows the foreigners to keep the money for this favorable excess of transactions. It looks like a most beautiful scheme for curbing our own affluence. Robert 1. Dicker, ac, “CAN'T WE KEEP HIM, MOTHER? HF CAN HAVE MY DINNER. YM NOT A BIT HUNGRY” F the war isn’t over before the Chautauqua lecture season comes round again—cracky! won't it be awful! “BUT, FAME, THAT WILL NEVER FIT ME” “YOUR HEAD WILL SWELL”