Life, 1916-04-13 · page 20 of 46
Life — April 13, 1916 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Life magazine page (circa 1917-1919, based on references) contains three satirical pieces mocking American political responses to international crises: **"The American Way"** satirizes bureaucratic delay. Willis demands swift revenge for nineteen Americans killed in Mexico; Gillis proposes establishing a Congressional committee that won't report findings until 1919—by which time the perpetrators will have died of old age. The joke targets American governmental sluggishness during wartime. **"Wise Tagore"** briefly mocks Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore's solitary lifestyle, sardonically suggesting poets would be happier living alone. **"The Cure of Ireland"** presents darkly ironic "solutions" to Irish resistance to WWI recruitment by Sinn Féin. The piece sarcastically proposes forbidding Irish participation in war, killing them "with kindness," or annexing Ireland to the U.S. and corrupting them with wealth. It critiques both British heavy-handedness toward Ireland and American complacency about Irish independence. The cartoon "Under Cover" (bottom) depicts armed figures but its meaning is unclear without caption context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LOBE - The American Way ILLIS: Nineteen Americans murdered in Mexico! We should avenge their deaths immediately. Gitt1s: Nonsense. We must move slowly. We know that the Mexican and Texan reports are colored by race-prejudice and cannot be trusted, and we have not yet had any statements from the victims themselves. We will proceed in our usual calm manner by having a bill introduced during the next session of Con- gress providing for the appointment during the session of 1917 of a Congressional Committee to go down there in 1918 and be ready to report to the session of 1919 that the instigators of the outrage have all died of old age. Wise Tagore! F Mr. Tagore, the celebrated Indian prize poet, the Independent says: “Tagore himself lives all alone in a house.” We applaud Mr. Tagore’s habit of lodging. If all poets lived all alone in their houses there would be more happy poet homes. “HOW FAR DID YOU ADVANCE INTO FRANCE?” German Army Worm: we. cot As FAR AS THE PARIS GREEN The Cure of Ireland HE Sinn Fein Society in Ireland has been organizing opposition to recruiting, and the London Morning Post thinks something drastic ought to be done about it. The natural punishment would be to forbid the Irish to get into the war, but that would be too cruel and unusual, especially since this may be the last war. The other natural remedy would be to kill them, and that is better and more usual. Kill them, to be sure; but kil’ them with kindness. No other kind of killing has ever done Ireland any good in all the centuries that England has been sweating over her improve- ment. Another way would be to fill up the Irish Channel. Another, to contrive the annexation of Ireland to the United States. Maybe this last is the true solution of the Irish problem—unless, to be sure, Uncle Sam should decline to hold the bag. All that the Irish require to make them normal is riches. Corrupt them with wealth down to the level of their neighbors and they will get along. Ireland in the American Union, with free trade with the States and also with England, would soon get rich and harmless and be a lovely neighbor. A LI entence—Obey that impulse. UNDER COVER AN BEHIND THE GUN comicbooks.com