Life, 1915-07-29 · page 31 of 40
Life — July 29, 1915 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early 20th-century reform movements and women's suffrage. The top illustration depicts three crucifixes labeled "Mammon" (wealth/greed), "Militarism," and "Science"—representing forces the page's author views as destructively dominant in society, presented in mock-religious iconography. The dialogue below features characters debating whether reformers genuinely seek change or merely profit from reform movements. Scott and Mott's exchange mocks logical inconsistency: Mott argues one cannot reject something abstractly while accepting it concretely—then immediately uses women's suffrage as a counterexample, suggesting it's hypocritical or illogical. The cartoon "A Woman's Right" shows a woman claiming twenty-two years of voting experience when asked her age (twenty-two total), implying women voters are inexperienced or absurdly young. This ridicules women's suffrage as premature or foolish—a common anti-suffrage argument of that era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ment stop to think that after all the results which they believe are going to take place if their reform is carried out never do take place They go on just the same, But maybe——” He looked at me curiously. “They are not trying to produce re- sults.” “Mr. Luther, we perceive that your observation has not diminished. What do you think they are trying to do?” This time he actually smiled. “Maybe they are just trying to make a living for themselves,” he ob- served. COTT: You're not logical, sir! You can’t reject a thing in the abstract and embrace it in the con- crete. Mort: Huh! How about woman suffrage? FOR WHAT? A WOMAN'S RIGHT ‘D HOW LONG HAVF you voTED?”. “ TWENTY-TWO.’ comicbooks.com