Life, 1915-07-15 · page 23 of 48
Life — July 15, 1915 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon and accompanying text satirize **William Jennings Bryan**, a prominent American political figure known for his idealistic rhetoric about peace. The top cartoon shows figures on horseback advocating conflicting positions—one demanding war, another promoting peace ("Peace is Hell"), a third urging submarine warfare—illustrating the chaos of political debate. The accompanying text mocks Bryan through a tedious philosophical monologue claiming the American people "invented" Bryan as their reflection, using pseudo-intellectual metaphors about the "body politic." The satire's point: Bryan is portrayed as both pretentious (the boring lecturer) and as a mere product of public opinion rather than a genuine leader. His pacifist stance is undermined by the cartoon's suggestion that war rhetoric dominates regardless. The wife's interruption—sarcastically noting her husband is "a good husband nine-tenths of the time"—deflates his earnestness further. The final quip about naming a battleship "The Snail" mocks pacifists by equating peace advocacy with slowness and impotence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Hs D—N THE UBMARINES=— GO AHEAD! Je RESTLESS. Many Inventions “WVE_ invented Bryan!” His manner was gently insinu- ating as he leaned over toward his next-door neighbor. “Excuse me, sir. but do you follow me?” he continued. “No, sir.” “Permit me to explain. ican people invented Bryan. What he 1s, they are responsible for. Have you ever considered, my dear sir, what a body politic is?” “Can't say that T have.” “Well, then, sir, a body politic is a vast mass composed of atoms like you and me. I am an atom, you are an atom. Bryan 1s a little larger atom. He's blown out by the body politic. If Bryan is for spreading the alabaster wings of peace over the world, that The Amer- represents that of the body because he the part is only impulse on politic.” The other man was growing restless. “And I suppose,” he replied, “that if Bryan has neglected his office and made a mountebank out of himself, that's the kind of thing the people intuition is nothing short of genius. You've hit the nail on the head exactly. You see, all the good and bad impulses of the body politie are represented by their hig men. They are mirrors reflecting the whole. Wonderful thought, isn’t it? The pious hypocrisy of a Rocke- feller, the broad sagacity of a Wood- row Wilson, the insincerity of a Hearst, the incompetency of a Dan- Your iels—all these and many more go to make up the picture of the great American people. Wonderful thought! We invented ’em. We invented Wash- ington and Tweed. We—” A firm hand was laid on his shoulder. A woman's voice spoke, the voice of his wife. “And don't forget.” it said, “that T invented you. Sorry, sir. that he got away from me. He's a good husband nine-tenths of the time, but alwa; looking for outside sympathy. Come on, Henry!” And the stranger said to himself, as they passed on: “T wonder who invented her?” HY not call the next Unit States hattleship launched “ The Snail?” comicbooks.com