Life, 1917-04-19 · page 13 of 42
Life — April 19, 1917 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page presents three opinion pieces from *Life* magazine (a satirical publication). The cartoon titled "THE HAPPY STATE" contrasts a husband (left) and bachelor (right) in separate domestic scenes, satirizing their different life circumstances. The text pieces discuss: 1. **"Intern Them"** — argues Americans who opposed U.S. entry into WWI should face internment, criticizing pacifists and those questioning the war's necessity. 2. **"Pity the Headliner"** — sympathizes with newspaper writers struggling under strict wartime censorship that limits what they can publish, forcing them to use vague language. These pieces reflect WWI-era political tensions: suppression of dissent, censorship of the press, and debates over patriotism versus free speech. The commentary suggests wartime restrictions on civil liberties were controversial even among supporters.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
inte Oy weft) HUSBAND Intern Them we have camps of internment for Germans, why not for Americans who have differed with the administra- tion about its previous policy of unpre- paredness? There are a number of soldiers and sailors and citizens who still think we ought to have been ready for war several years ago, and who have said so. There are a few editors who have Suggested that something ought to be done. There are some old-timers who have helieved for some time that we ought to have gone in long ago, helped out the Allies, with men and money, and shown that the cheap commercial spirit with which we are credited is not the dominant spirit in this country. All these are now roaming about. IF THE HAPPY STATE They still feel that pacifism has done more to bring on the war than any other agency. There are many who for two ) feeling that in the end war was inevit- able, were ashamed of being Americans because our pacifists at Washington felt that to resent having Germany murder our citizens might be miscon- strued by the gentle Hohenzollerns. There are alse some who have actu- ally laughed aloud to think we should be such simpletons as to believe any- thing Germany said. Something ought to be done about all these people. They have an idea that they ought to stand by their country, regardless of the pacifists and pro- Germans who have heen trying to be- tray it. Shut ’em up, by all means! ears, BACHELOR Pity the Headliner F anyone has a few extra vials of compassion, let him pour them over headlines. He is not to stroll through the dic- the unfortunate writer of He has a hard time of it at liberty tionary at will and choose the words He is bound down hy He is inter- he likes best strict space limitations, ested not so much in what words mean, but in how many letters they possess His problem is to create a large amount of sensation with a small amount of fundamental verbiage stripped of all minor words which ordinary writers usually deem necessary, such as con- nectives, modifiers, definitives, ete This should make clear why lines seldom give reliable clues to the contents of the subjoined text. hhead- comicbooks.com