Life, 1916-08-10 · page 12 of 38
Life — August 10, 1916 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon ("At Plattssburg"):** Shows military figures in a satirical scene captioned "Oh, William! You make me think of Napoleon!" The cartoon mocks American military preparedness or a specific military figure, likely commenting on early WWI-era tensions and America's military readiness debates. **"Municipal Finance" Article:** Features a dialogue between a "Man from Mars" and an unnamed Financier discussing how cities finance public improvements. The satire targets municipal bond financing—specifically how cities borrow money and issue bonds with interest (bonus interest). The joke presents municipal finance practices as absurdly complex or questionable to an outsider's perspective. **"Less Crowded" and "In the New Law Office":** Brief humorous office exchanges about lecture attendance and workplace schedules.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ae tus LANE f whe ot Mme * AT PLATTSBURG “on, WILLIAM! YOU MAKE ME THINK OF NAPOLEO Municipal Finance “AJOW suppose,” asked the Man from Mars, “a city, like New York, for instance, wanted to make a big public improvement, how would it proceed?” “Very simple,” replied the Financier. “Tt would arrange to borrow the money for a term of years.” “What! A big city like that borrow money! From the United States Govern- ment, perhaps?” “Oh, no. That wouldn't be good financiering. Besides, it is unconstitu- tional, I think, for the United States to lend moncy, except to National banks, and then it must be in the form of deposits.” “ From whom, then, does the city bor- row the money?” queried the Man from Mars. “Ob, from private individuals. The city issues bonds, you know, and then sells the bonds for as much as it can ae “Why do people buy the bonds?” “Oh, because they stipulate that an annual bonus should be paid to the holder in addition to the value of the bonds. We call that bonus interest. It is a very important part of finance.” “And how does the city ultimately close the transaction?” “By paying off the bonds; that is, by buying them back.” Tow does it get the money to do that?” “ By taxation.” “But why doesn’t the city raise the money at once by taxation and close the transaction on the spot? Wouldn't that be cheaper and simpler all around?” "said the Finan- “but it wouldn't be “ Perhaps, perh cier, impatiently good financierin, “What, then, is the test of a good method of financiering?” inquired the Man from Mars. “The best method of financiering is the kind that gets the most money.” “ For the city?” “No. For the financiers.” “And who decides these questions?” “The expert financiers.” “And how can you tell financier?” “The financier who has money is the most expert.” “Tam glad that I do not live in one of your cities,” announced the Man from Mars after a pause. “I am not civilized enough to appreciate such a practical joke.” Ellis O. Jones. Less Crowded wis: Were you at the lecture last evening > an expert the most Guus: Yes. Wittis: Wasn't that awful? The idea of five thousand people jammed and squeezed into that little hall. Gituis: On the contrary, I thought it was quite a relief after being out on the municipal golf-links all afternoon. IN THE NEW LAW OFFICE “so you GOING TO RISE WITH THE = NO, 1 USE THAT IN THE OFFICE TO WAKE ME WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO HOME,” comichooks.dom