Life, 1916-12-14 · page 35 of 42
Life — December 14, 1916 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct items: **Left side:** A political cartoon criticizing tariffs and customs houses. A skunk, dressed in a woman's fur coat, confronts her—the skunk represents foreign nations whose goods are taxed at the U.S. border. The accompanying "Catechistically Speaking" educational dialogue satirizes the Custom House system as an outdated, hypocritical institution that ostensibly collects taxes from foreigners but actually steals their goods and enriches corrupt politicians through graft. The piece argues that removing tariffs between nations (using the U.S.-Canada example) would be as logical as removing them between states, but politicians won't eliminate the system because they profit from it. **Right side:** A full-page advertisement for Harmony Pipe Blend tobacco, featuring a decorative pipe monument and marketing copy emphasizing the tobacco's "rich-mildness." The page juxtaposes anti-protectionist political critique with commercial advertising—typical of Life's satirical-yet-commercial format.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Skunk: MADAM, YOU ARE CLOTHED IN THE REMAINS OP MY SLAUGHTERED RELA- TIVES. I AM GOING TO COMPEL You TO GIVE THEM PROPER BURIAL. Catechistically Speaking "AAT is the Custom House? The Custom House is a toll-gate situated on an international highway at the border line between two nations. What is the Custom House used for? The Custom House is a rickety rem- nant of the good old hypnotic days when it was considered the polite, proper and possible thing among na- tions to make foreigners pay their taxes for them. Is it possible to make foreigners pay your taxes for you by having Custom Houses? Not in reality, but only apparently ; unless, of course, you steal the foreign- ers’ goods outright, in which event the foreigners will soon keep their goods altogether at home. Otherwise, what the foreigner pays at the Custom 00 acre game preserve on Georgia t, near Jeky! Island. Wild turkeys, deer, ducks, and birds in abundance. Splendid fishing and boating. Fine motor roads, magnificent scenery, climate that makes January like June. Golf course at club. ew clubhouse open Dec. 10. Rates upon request. Write for free descriptive booklet. Throvgh Pullman Service from New York and North, via, Sea- board Air Line Railway. Address IS¢ In the cream- colored, nut- brown tin fel arieg ad rated fy w wilhout, The sighy ext harshness A PIPE BLEND THAT HAS MADE “RICH-MILDNESS”POSSIBLE @@ By selecting and blending just enough of each kind of tobacco —not too much or too little of any one kind—Harmony Pipe Blend gives you a flavor such as no other tobacco has ever accomplished. The Harmony flavor might be called “rich-mildness” so skil- fully does richness shade into mildness. And best of all, absolutely without a trace of harshness or discord. HARMONY ®A PIPE BLEND@ To be had at clubs, hotels and most tobacconists. If your dealer cannot supply you, enclose 15 cents in stamps, and we will send you this full-sized one-eighth pound tin, prepaid. Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co., 212 Fifth Avenue, N. Y. House is added to the selling price of the goods. This makes the purchaser pay the taxes. Are Custom Houses objectionable? Yes. They are very objectionable. They are a serious and annoying in- terference with free trade and inter- course among nations. But would it be possible to get along without them? Yes. It would be just as possible and just as desirable to get along with- out Custom Houses between, say, the United States and Canada as between New York and Pennsylvania. Then why aren't Custom Houses abolished? Because the intelligence of the peo- ple at large has not yet reached that point where it is strong enough to overcome the natural aversion to self- sacrifice which possesses all politicians and makes them loath to surrender substantial stipends, fat fees and glori- ous graft connections with special in- terests, Ellis O. Jones.