Life, 1918-02-14 · page 9 of 40
Life — February 14, 1918 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main illustration depicts a military soldier stopping a civilian in a snowy landscape, with the caption "Halt! Who goes there?" / "A friend." / "Then get me a warm overcoat, friend. I'm going to fight so that you can keep yours." This appears to be **WWI-era satire critiquing class inequality** in military service. The joke suggests that wealthy civilians avoid fighting while poor soldiers freeze, and that the soldier fights partly to protect the civilian's comfort and property. The accompanying text discusses Charley Schwab's philosophy on wealth and social responsibility, positioning the cartoon as social commentary on how the burden of war falls unequally on working-class soldiers versus privileged civilians. The smaller cartoon labeled "Kamerad!" (German surrender term) appears related to this theme.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
—4+—— “HALT! WHO GOES THERE?” “A FRIEND.” 249 “THEN GET ME A WARM OVERCOAT, FRIEND. I’M GOING TO FIGHT SO THAT YOU CAN KEEP Yours.” The aristocracy of birth, Mr. Schwab thought, would cease to exist; the aris- tocracy of wealth would be no more, and the coming aristocracy would be composed of men who have done some- thing for their country and the world; men who have worked for the good of mankind. “We must not fight this movement,” he said, “but educate it. Don’t think I am anxious to give away my wealth and work with my hands, but we will find that we must eat the pill, sweet or bitter. I do not care about creeds, whether of philosophy or religion, but I do feel that what comes will be right, for God determines that what is good shall come.” These are interesting as well as pious sentiments, not wholly sound, perhaps, in theology or all other respects, but timely. Without doubt, in His mys- terious way the Almighty moves, in the long run, for human improvement, but He shows no prejudice against very bad intervals, in which His erring creatures go wrong and have an ex- ceedingly dolorous time. But certainly we have had enough of that in the war, and are entitled to look for a season of pleasant pastures for the chastened human race, to follow it. Charley Schwab will never have to work much with his hands. His head is too good, and his mind too liberal. Brains more than brawn will continue to rule the world as heretofore. But he is warranted in looking for great social changes and leveling processes, and he is wise in his disposition to be as hos- pitable to them as he can, and see in them possibilities of good that will out- weigh all their possible discomforts. “ KAMERAD!” comicbooks.com