Life, 1915-03-18 · page 12 of 40
Life — March 18, 1915 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct satirical pieces: **"Poor Panama!"** criticizes a Canal Zone health ordinance requiring vaccination. The text mocks the policy as barbarous and unsuited for "civilized" communities, sarcastically suggesting three-month-old babies shouldn't be forcibly vaccinated. **"Genuine Economy"** attacks Secretary of Labor Wilson for using government motor-cars, questioning why Congressmen need cars when they could save money by reducing unnecessary expenditures—a dig at government waste. The **cartoons** include social satire: "Everything Comes to Him" mocks idle wealth; "Who Waits; If He Waits Long Enough" suggests inheritance seekers; and "Finger-Bowl, Sir?" depicts servant humor. These target class divisions and wealth inequality common to pre-WWI American satire. The gasoline motor-boat illustration at top appears unrelated commentary on technology.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Poor Panama! N ordinance has just been issued by the Board of Health of the Canal Zone, and approved by the Governor, requiring every “ individual over three months of to be vaccinated, unless they have been “ successfully a ated within five years” or unless “the person is not a fit subject for vaccination”. Inasmuch as the only way to tell whether a person has heen “ successfully” vaccinated is to wait and sce if he gets smallpox; and inasmuch as almost no sane person would think that three-months-old babies were fit subjects to have this poison introduced into their delicate systems ; and inasmuch as many enlightened communities are doing away altogether with the barbarous practice of compulsory vaccination, this ordinance calls for loud protestation in aid of the unfortunate inhabitants of this district which, in most respects, we understood to be quite civilized. THE LATE GASOLINE MOTOR-ROAT AGENT ALMOST PERSUADES CHARON TO BUYING A MORE UP-TO-DATE CRAFT Genuine Economy HY should Congressman Mann betray any unusual excitement because Secretary of Labor Wilson em- ploys four motor-cars at government expense, one of them being an opera bus? Could a Secretary of Labor be more usefully employed than in riding about in autos? How much does Represen- tative Mann estimate this country would be saved in actual millions if every Congressman was provided by the govern- ment with a motor-car, and enjoyed it so much that he wouldn't have time enough to vote on needless expenditures? OLLY: And when you threatened to scream for your mother, did he stop kissing you? Dotty: Yes, once or twice. F WHO WAITS; FINGER-BOWL, SIR?" IF HE WAITS LONG ENCUGH comichooks om