Life, 1916-10-12 · page 14 of 44
Life — October 12, 1916 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the 1916 U.S. presidential campaign. The main cartoon depicts a figure (likely representing the electorate or American democracy) being thrown from a bucking horse labeled "HORSES IS SCARCE ENOUGH IN THE ARMY WITHOUT YOUR DELIBERATELY TRYIN' TO STRANGE 'EM." The satire critiques Charles Evans Hughes's presidential challenge to incumbent Woodrow Wilson. The text below ("Germans Are Anti-Wilson") suggests Hughes's campaign attracted German-American voters opposing Wilson's policies. The cartoon ridicules the chaotic nature of Hughes's campaign strategy—he's asking voters to essentially sign blank checks for his unspecified political platform, making him an unreliable "riding master" for the nation's horse. The other content includes typical magazine humor sections.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
well at Riding Master: cut THAT out, micKs! THE ARMY WITHOUT YOUR DELIBERATELY TRYIN’ TO STRANGL Germans Are Anti-Wilson N_ Te: Culberson (pro-Wilson) ran against Colquitt (anti-Wilson). There are several counties in Texas in which the population is almost wholly German. One of them gave Culberson three votes. Another gave him sixty votes, and Colquitt eight hundred, Culberson won hands down, but the vote of these counties illus- trates the German attitude towards the administration, It is justified Mr. Wilson would'make a very poor German of the current type. The ideas he stands for may presently impose civilization on the Prussians, but they are fundamentally antagonistic to the imposition of Prussian Aultur on a protesting world. He has neither the HORSES 18 SCARCE ENOUGH IN "eM, brutality to be a war-lord nor the do- cility to be canonen futter. The Ger- mans are right in hating him so long as they are out to beat democracy, for he is out to make it win. How It Was ILLIS: 1 just had a letter from Bump down on the border. Gitits: He wrote me last week. He said the troops lacked food, clothing and ammunition. Wits: They have plenty of them now. Giiuis: The across, did it? Wits: Oh, no. The boys captured a lot of stuff that some American Relief Society was sending to the Mexicans. government — came Who, Which, What ? VOTE for Wilson means a vote for peace at any price. It also means a_vote for Daniels. Both are humiliating. On the other hand a vote for Hughes means anything. As the New York World has truly said: civilized would such a campaign’ as Mr. Hughes is making be possible. Any- where else a party leader seeking to overthrow the Government in power would necessarily have a construc- tive programme of his own. He could not be the leader unless he had such a programme. He could not get a hearing unless he had something of his own to present. In asking them to elect him Pres- ident, Mr. Hughes is asking the American people to sign their names to a blank check and let him fill it out after election to suit himself. It is the most amazing situation in the history of American politics. In no other country So there you have it. The Newspaper Standpoint Witts: SILLIS : Wits Going to the party? No. I haven't any lad; Come with me. I've got Who are they? Miss Oldbud and Miss Guus: They're not extras. They're carly editions. “GET UP. 1 WANT MY BREAKFAST.” comicbooks.com