Life, 1916-04-20 · page 24 of 52
Life — April 20, 1916 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate satirical pieces attacking political and social hypocrisy: **"Insults the Nation"** (top): Life magazine responds to Congressman Albert Johnson of Washington, who criticized Life for mocking the U.S. government. Life argues Johnson himself—as a congressman—bears greater responsibility for making the government ridiculous. The cartoons mock Johnson: the top shows a well-dressed man on a park bench (likely Johnson), and the bottom depicts a "water-spout" (a person being ejected). Life suggests Johnson's threatened boycott is an empty bluff. **"The Real Explanation"** (middle): This sarcastically defends declining female voter turnout in Chicago by projecting it will mathematically approach zero—implying that once women have "fixed everything" (elected good candidates, closed saloons, eliminated crime), voting becomes unnecessary. It's heavy irony mocking the notion that reform work is nearly complete. **"To Save a Baby"** (bottom): A fundraising appeal for orphaned French children from WWI, inviting donors to sponsor babies at $73 each. The page satirizes political self-service and complacency about progressive reforms.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
752 “Insults the Nation” NDER that caption Congressman Albert Johnson of the State of Washington prints an editorial in the paper which he manages and edits at Hoquiam, Washington, in which he exhibits considerable peevishness over one of Lire’s pictures. Among other things he says, “ For years it (Lire) has been abusing the government of the United States and holding it up to ridicule.” Unfor- tunately, our accuser doesn’t come into court with clean hands. If Lire holds the government of the United States up to ridicule, Mr. Johnson, as a mem- ber of the present Congress, is at least particeps criminis. 1f the United States government is ridiculous in the eyes of the world and of its own citizens, con- gressmen of the Johnson type have done far more to make it so than any- thing Lire could say, print or picture. For confirmation of this fact we refer the people of the United States to any issue of the Congressional Record. In his article Congressman Johnson also makes this threat: That Lire will de made to feel the resentment of the people at this unpatriotic and traitorous ac- tion is certain. Already a move- ment is on foot to curtail the circu- lation of the paper in every way possible. The only thing to give this threat im- portance is its semi-official character. Although it is not made on the floor of Congress, it has something the weight of such an utterance. A congressional A WATER-SPOUT “WONDER IF THAT'S ONE OF THESE HERE POETS OR JUST A BUM?” boycott might be an amusing novelty. We hope Mr. Johnson's associates in the legislative branch of the govern- ment do not take him as seriously as he takes himself. The Real Explanation HAT the woman’s vote in Chicago should have declined nearly one- half under the vote taken last year need not necessarily alarm the friends of woman suffrage. Of course, if this keeps up indefinitely there will un- doubtedly come a time when there will not be any woman voters left. Let us say that the votes cast by women in Chicago last year were, in round num- bers, 150,000, and this year 80,000. Next year, following this retrogression, about 42,000 votes will be cast. The year after there will be 23,000, then 12,000, 7,000, 3,600, etc. Say in ten years there will be no woman's vote left. But that is not the important thing. The real point is that by the time the woman's vote in Chicago has dwindled to nothing, all the reforms will have been accomplished. Naturally, a larger number of women voted last year than was actually necessary, because there was more to do then and they wanted to be sure of getting everything done— that of electing the right candidates, closing up all the bad saloons, uproot- ing crime, and, in fact, having a general clean-up. Naturally, this year there wasn’t so much to do as there was last year, only a few tag ends. Anda few years hence what will be the use of vot- ing at all when everything has been ac- complished ? To Save a Baby ABIES Number One and Number Two having already been provided for, Baby Number Three is added to Lire’s list, and a start has been made on caring for Baby Number Four. Seventy-three dollars is the sum re- quired to insure that a French baby, orphaned by the war, will be kept with its mother for two years, instead of be- ing committed to the cold charity of a public institution. To each contributor of $73, or part of that amount, the name and address of the baby saved will be reported by Lire. We have For Babies No, 1 and No. 2. $146 A Friend of France, for Baby No. 3. M.S. J. for Baby No. g...cc.ee0ee 2 comicbooks.com