Life, 1917-03-15 · page 34 of 42
Life — March 15, 1917 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical dialogue mocks the rationalization of urban poverty by wealthy classes. One speaker defends slums as "beautiful" and economically beneficial—they enable landlords to charge high rents, grow cultured, and build churches; they provide cheap labor that keeps American manufacturers competitive globally; and slum dwellers gain the "privilege" of attending political rallies where they're told "all men are created equal." The satire's point: the wealthy use self-serving logic to justify exploitative conditions while treating political promises of equality as compensation for actual poverty. The slum-dwellers are cynically portrayed as benefiting from patriotism and democratic theater rather than material improvement. The byline "Elis O. Jones" suggests this is a submitted piece critiquing how prosperity rhetoric masks systemic inequality—a Progressive Era concern about labor conditions and class disparity in early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TTT | a iil Ul a | al Your Spring Trip The time to go. is now. Amusements and attractions of the cities are at their best. Visit New York with its alluring shops and theatres, then enjoy a five-day, restful voyage on Southern Pacific Steamships (Morgan Line) New York — New Orleans Combination rail and water circle tour tickets at moderate rates, permitting iberal stop-overs. Travel from your city to New York by rail; thence to New Orleans by steamer, returning home by choice of rail routes. and meals on steamer included in fare. For details ask any railway ticket agent or write L. H, NUTTING, General Passenger Agent 366 Broadway ao Lo and Behold the Slums! EE the Slums. Yes. What foul, unsightly places they are. Oh, you mustn't say that. The Slums are beautiful. Come, you jest. The Slums are not beautiful. On the contrary, I insist with all se- riousness that the Slums, when con- sidered in all their wide significance, are beautiful. New York ACA Ha AIBA I should be delighted to have you explain. I will gladly explain. When I look at the Slums I do not allow my mind to dwell upon the squalor and the mis- ery and the poverty that are associated with them. That would be sordid and narrow-minded. [ think rather of how the Slums are contributing to the wel- fare of our country. Yes, yes. Go on I think of how they contribute to our Oldest and largest prodocers of Champagne io Aseria | , Renee beloved country’s welfare by enabling the landlord to charge high rents for i poor accommodations. This permits the i landlords to be prosperous and to travel and become cultured and refined and to build churches in cool, pleasant places where the brotherhood of man may be taught and pined for. Is that all you see when you look at the Slums? No. I see still more. When I look at the Slums they tell me that the fun- damental conditions of the country are still sound, The existence of such ex- tensive and well-developed Slums means that we have in our midst a tremendous number of human beings who are willing to toil laboriously from morning until night at small wages. That means that our employers are able to compete with the pauper labor of Europe and still make large profits, and large profits make the country prosperous. Yes, but what do the inhabitants of the Slums get out of it? They have the inestimable privilege of attending political meetings, of cheering when the orator announces that all men are created equal and of thrilling with patriotic pride when our noble flag is apostrophized. Ellis O. Jones. Appropriate HEN Belgium acquires her second Waterloo the spot might be ap- propriately ornamented with a dachs- hund rampant under a sea azure, with a bas-relief of a drowning American baby. nates | Great Western Champagne “Brut Special 1903"" “‘Special Reserve” (absolutely brut) (very dry’ “Estra Dry” (medium) “Sparkling Red Burgundy” Produced by the old French | slow method of fermentation | in the bottle taking from six | lo seven years of time. | Great Western is the Only | American Champagne ever awarded a Gold Medal at | Foreign Expositions. | 1, 1873, Austria Brurelles n, 1897, Belgive Paris Exposition, 1867, Frac | Write for our tree Hlnstrated Poot wwhich tells how Champagne is rade, Pleasant Valley Wine Company Rheims, N. Y. comicbooks.com