Life, 1917-07-12 · page 28 of 40
Life — July 12, 1917 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** Shows two monkeys in a domestic scene. The caption describes "Mr. Monkey, the well-known pacifist" being asked by his wife to fire the cook. The satire equates pacifism with weakness and inability to take decisive action—even in a simple household matter. The monkey's pacifism is mocked as impractical. **"Poppy-Drinkers" Section:** A scathing critique of pacifists, comparing their movement to opium addiction. The text argues that pacifists have adopted the white tulip as their emblem, but it resembles a poppy—symbol of drug-induced delusion and false security. The satire suggests pacifists are deluded into believing they're safe from harm, and that pacifism leads to "oblivion and ultimate destruction." **"The Test" Section:** A philosophical argument about citizenship, suggesting a person's worth should be measured by whether a nation of clones like them would be strong and capable of fighting when necessary, while preferring peace when practical. **Context:** These pieces reflect early 20th-century anti-pacifist sentiment, likely connected to debates over American military preparedness or intervention before/during World War I.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
mtilly } ili | ut | wevelleian MR. MONKEY, THE WELL-KNOWN PACIFIST, IS REQUESTED BY HIS BETTER HALF TO DISCHARGE THE COOK Poppy-Drinkers THE pacifists have adopted the white tulip as an emblem. This shows that the pacifists are on the right track. The tulip is similar in size and shape to the poppy, from which opium is derived. One who lingers too long in a field of poppies falls into a languorous doze, in which he fancies himself secure from all harm, and sees visions of surpassing loveliness. One who partakes of the juice of the poppy is filled with a false confidence, and becomes so numb in body and brain that if anyone gave him a swift kick, he would scarcely feel it. There is only one finish for the person who toys with the juice of the poppy, and that is oblivion and ultimate destruction. In selecting as an emblem a flower that can scarcely be told—in emblem form—from the poppy, the pacifists have made a wise selection; for, judged by his words, the pacifist lives “to eat the lotus of the Nile and drink the poppies of Cathay.” The Test PRACTICAL way to gauge one’s value as a citizen is truthfully to consider how a nation composed entirely of one's self and facsimiles of one’s self would weigh in the international balance. Would its citizens be lazy, otiose, fitfully virtuous and periodically vicious ; or self-controlled, industrious, fond of a fight when others asked for it, but attached to peace whenever practicable? Precisely as a man can answer such questions his eligibility for citizen- ship may be measured. SEEING THINGS AT NIGHT Mt i 1] i Hey comicbooksfegiay