Life, 1916-10-12 · page 25 of 44
Life — October 12, 1916 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main illustration depicts a circus scene—a boxing match under a spotlight—satirizing American government spending. The cartoon critiques how multiple layers of taxation (town, county, state, federal) accumulate without public complaint, like spectators passively watching a performance. The accompanying essay argues that governments collapse when costs exceed their worth, regardless of whether they're democracies or monarchies. The author warns that America's expanding tax burden for "preparedness" (likely military spending) will eventually provoke resistance, just as history shows kingdoms have fallen under similar fiscal strain. The small dialogue joke at bottom is unrelated—a domestic humor piece about a woman who talks incessantly. The satire's point: American citizens tolerate escalating government costs as entertainment tolerates spectators, but this cannot continue indefinitely. Taxation, not governmental *form*, determines a state's survival.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IF DREAMS CAME TRUE EGARDLESS of the piffling distinctions of party politics, indirect taxation has done virtually its damnedest in the way of raising the wind without causing the shorn worm to turn. A program of preparedness means direct taxes, and direct taxes mean, sooner or later, an abatement of our ardor for a place in the sun. Blaming the fall of nations to their form of government doesn't get us anywhere. If history means anything it means that the structure of government, no matter what its form, breaks down when it gets to cost more than it is worth. Patriotic sophistries serve to hold it up for awhile, but not forever. Town, county, state and nation, each with us essays some function of government, and together they pile up the cost at a dizzy rate. If we don't pay the tithe as yet, we are headed toward it and going strong. There’s a limit. If democracies choose to be as costly as kingdoms, there’s no magic in them to avert the fate by which kingdoms have been overtaken. R. B. “VY/OULD you mind if Cousin Letitia sat on the front seat with you, dear?” = He: Remember, I have got to drive the car. “But Letitia won’t mind that; she can talk just the same.” comicbooks.com