Life, 1915-03-11 · page 8 of 48
Life — March 11, 1915 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes German financial anxieties during World War I. The main article "Details of Anticipation" discusses rumors that the Hohenzollern family (German royal house) has invested in New York State bonds as a financial escape plan, should Germany lose the war. The text mockingly suggests this mirrors the Bonapartes' flight a century earlier. The cartoon above depicts figures in classical/allegorical dress, captioned "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE," sardonically commenting on German delusions of financial security. Below, a sketch shows a "Debater" making a dismissive political argument with the caption "PLAINLY, MY OPPONENT HAS NOT A LEG LEFT TO STAND ON"—a visual pun undermining the debate itself. The page reflects American wartime skepticism toward German financial planning and propaganda.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
404 Details of Anticipation AYBE it is true, as reported, that a slice of the Hohenzollern for- tune has been invested in New York State bonds, for use if the investors should have occasion to detach them- selves for a while from Germany. It would be a wise and natural precau- tion. The Kaiser’s family is very rich. It is a large family and not likely to take unnecessary chances about its fu- ture maintenance. If it should leave Germany, and had any choice where to go, it would probably come here, just as some of the Bonapartes did a cen- tury ago, and then a provision of New York State bonds or other safe secur- ities would come in very handy. The thought of a settlement of Hohenzollerns in this Republic is so novel that it seems fantastic. But there is nothing unlikely about it. There are symptoms that the Germans are recovering some of their capacity to think. When they are in a normal condition of mind they can think as well as anybody. They have a great deal to think about and more coming and it is not easy, all things consid- ered, to reconcile the resumption of normal processes of thought in the German mind with the continued resi- dence of the Hohenzollern family in Germany. The easiest way out of it for Germany will be to discharge her Debater (concluding): YLAINLY, MY OPPONENT HAS NOT A LEG LEFT TO STAND ON AD Wwaeecket— CHRISTIAN SCIENCE “MY DEAR YOUNG LADY, DON’T WORRY. YOU MAY NOT BE PERFECT PHYSICALLY, NK YOU ARE THE EFFECT WILL BE THE SAME” Board of Directors who have got her in so badly, and have a reorganization. It will put our German-Americans in a funny predicament. What will they do if their brethren at home arrange a new deal and the Kaiser's family has to cut stick and come here? Who will Herr Ridder and Herr Minsterberg be for then—the Hohen- zollerns or the Germans? Herr Ridder owns a newspaper and is subject to embarrassment. Of course Professor Burgess and Rev, Thomas C. Hall will be Hohen- zollern to the end, but even that will not scare the Kaiser’s boys off from our hospitable shores if they have to run for it. Certainly there are some very curi- ous details just ahead of us. Automatic Salvation FAVORABLE balance of trade is a situation in which we send more goods out of the country than we bring in. We call it favorable because it contributes to the salvation of our souls by inculcating within us the Christian attribute of unselfishness. Under the plan of the favorable bal- ance of trade the only way we can produce enough commodities for our own needs and comforts is by produc- ing too many commodities for our own needs and comforts and sending the surplus abroad to foreigners who may not yet be thoroughly awake to this method of saving one’s soul through automatic altruism, comichookss