Life, 1915-10-14 · page 17 of 44
Life — October 14, 1915 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks Postmaster General Albert Burleson's financial reports on the U.S. Post Office. The main cartoon depicts a chaotic schoolroom where a teacher instructs students while maintaining obvious contradictions—likely representing the absurdity of Burleson's simultaneously reporting both a cash surplus AND a deficit of millions of dollars. The article sarcastically praises this "clarity" while highlighting the logical impossibility: how can an operation run at a deficit yet have a surplus? The writer ironically suggests they don't want "too much accuracy" from government officials, implying Burleson's figures are deliberately confusing or misleading. The secondary cartoon about a commuter and his cane appears unrelated, offering comic relief. The satire targets early 1900s Post Office mismanagement and the government's opaque accounting practices, suggesting officials like Burleson used confusing financial language to obscure poor performance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ALL FOR THE SMILE OF A LADY Our Wonderful Post Office Wat impresses us most about the financial reports issued about the Post Office, with which we under- stand a Mr. Burleson has something to do, is their extreme clarity. During the past year, for example, there were several millions of surplus in cash on hand, in spite of a deficit of fifteen or twenty or twenty-four millions (we forget which) ; but we never were good at figures, anyway. It is great news when, in spite of a deficit, you can still have a surplus. Some time or other we may ask Mr. Burleson to let us know whether the expense of running the Post Office is greater than the receipts, or, not to be too blunt, whether the Post Office is run at a profit or a loss. This would include, of course, the item of how much rent the Tost Office is paying, or ought to pay, and, in fact, just what should or should not, or is or is not, charged up to it. We don't want to know this now. We couldn't stand too much accuracy on the part of any government official vor too many figures. Enough is as good as a feast. When Mr. Burleson is able to produce a cash surplus out of a Commuter: 11's LUCKY I HAD MY CANE WITH ME OR yearly deficit, that’s enough for the present. 1 WOULD HAVE MISSED THE EXPRESS comichooks.