Life, 1915-07-29 · page 4 of 40
Life — July 29, 1915 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine features a political cartoon depicting a human figure with a peacock's tail of flowers, accompanied by a quoted poem about neutrality and German votes. The cartoon satirizes American neutrality during World War I. The figure appears to represent either America or American leadership, depicted as vain and preening (the peacock imagery) while claiming neutrality. The poem's reference to "the German vote at hand" suggests the cartoon mocks politicians who maintained neutrality partly to appease German-American voters—a significant voting bloc. The satire criticizes this position as dishonest vanity: claiming neutrality while actually serving particular interests. The peacock's display symbolizes the absurdity of the neutral stance, treating it as mere posturing rather than genuine principle.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1 want to be a neutral And with the neutrals stand A smile upon my Ego, The German vote at hand, takes pleasure in announcing that with the exception of this Neutral Number (which makes a pleasant little midsum- mer oasis) there will be no more special numbers until the autumn, Special We re- Offer gret to say Enclosed that the vul- 5 nd One DoF gar business of- ; ‘ bare fice this week(dur- iy . gihiy eee ee ing our absence) has g . for three months to succeeded in. inserting 5 in this page the atrocious commercial coupon opposite, tn which contains some dull and NS useful information about subscrib- ingtothispaper. We have no doubt that the figures are correct, that the invitation to subscribe to Life is sincere and that a great many people will avail themselves of the extraordinary special three months’ offer. We shall intimate nothing against them for spending their good money in this frivolous manner. But if these friends see any- / a ok al : thimg in the paper afterwards which they don’t like, Riser ee rion, or wish they hadn't subscribed, they should hold us free from blame. We believe that people ought to be permitted to subscribe to Life if they so desire, of their own free will. Many do. %, "y “%, LIFE, 17 West 31st Street, New York 3 One Year, $5.00. (Canadian, $5.52; Foreign, $6.04.) comicbooks.com