Life, 1916-06-08 · page 20 of 46
Life — June 8, 1916 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This WWI-era page contains anti-German satire responding to the 1915 Lusitania sinking. **"An Historic Weapon"** references Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo (1914), which triggered WWI. The piece sardonically elevates the murder weapon to museum-worthy significance, implying Germany bears responsibility for the war's consequences. **"The Babies of the Lusitania"** is a poem by Katharine Lee Bates mourning the 1,198 civilians killed when a German U-boat torpedoed the British passenger liner. It appeals to German sentiment: future generations will hear drowned children's voices in lullabies, making Germany pay an emotional price for the atrocity. **"A True Friend"** mocks a Berlin editor praising President Wilson's neutrality as pro-German. The cartoon below shows a cab driver offering "hourly" or "mileage" rates—suggesting Wilson's aid calculations are transactional rather than principled. The overall message: Germany started the war and committed atrocities; American neutrality effectively aids German interests.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL An Historic Weapon HE pistol of Gavrio Prinzip— where was that weapon made? And those bullets that killed the Arch- duke and the Archduchess of Austria at Sarajevo—where were they fabri- cated? One could write an epic around that weapon. Had those pieces of lead strange and fantastic dreams as they lay fast in the earth, undifferentiated ? Did those minute particles know what a tremendous thing they were to do in the hands of Fate? That pistol should be set under a glass case in some museum, like Shelley’s heart or the bones of some anarchic saint, for future generations to ponder on, for there was a divinity that moulded those chunks of lead. HE court room is a market.place where a misconstrued principle called justice is dispensed to the high- est bidder. The Babies of the Lusitania HOSE rosy, dimpled darlings, cast So roughly to the sea, Wondering their bathtub was so vast, Reaching for breast and knee, Too innocent to understand What hate and murder are, But puzzled that the dandling hand Had let them drop so far, Swallowing like milk the bitter foam, Dismayed to miss their breath, Our little guests from heaven went home In the great arms of Death. O Land of Toys and Christmas Trees, Dear Land of Fairy Tales, How will your heart be panged for these When war's red frenzy pales! God pity Germany in all The grieving years to be, When through her cradle-songs shall call Drowned babies from the sea. Katharine Lee Bates. A True Friend Noted Berlin Editor, vigorously assailing critics of the U. S., says the President, if he were a German, is a man of whom Germany would be proud—New York World, HY not be proud of him now? He has done his best for Ger- many by withholding aid from the Allies, “HOW FAR DO YOU WANT 10 Go?” “WELL, HOW DO YOU CHARGE—BY THE HOUR OR bY THE MILE?” comicbooks.com