Life, 1918-08-22 · page 10 of 34
Life — August 22, 1918 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces: 1. **"Possession"** (poem by Arthur Guiterman): A romantic poem about woodland ownership, with an accompanying illustration of woodland creatures rejecting human claims to "their" forest. 2. **"A Serious Problem"** (by Lawrence Kane): Discusses Franklin D. Roosevelt's Assistant Secretary of the Navy and a personnel issue. The text suggests Roosevelt has been silent on a navy matter and hopes to resolve it before returning from Europe, implying political tension over naval administration during this period. 3. **"Deduction"** (cartoon): Shows people at a voting booth labeled "BALLOT BOX" with a caption about women voting for booze during a recent election, satirizing the seeming contradiction between prohibition enforcement and women's voting behavior. The page reflects early 20th-century American politics and social debates around prohibition and women's suffrage.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
262 Possession HEN soft I lay in the mossy bed That swells to the foot of the hemlock tree, In the pride of a lover's heart I’ said, “The sweet, green woods belong to me! But the and the brown d doe And the chipmunk, rocked on the woodchuck gray hazel stem, And the hare and the deermouse an- swered, “No!"— The sweet, green woods belonged to them! Then the Jack-in-the-Pulpits, friends of youth Looked archly out from their pur- pling hoods With an elfin laugh as they told the truth: “You all belong to the sweet, green woods!" Arthur Guiterman. A Serious Problem = problem of what to do about Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, is a serious one. Mr. Roosevelt has occupied his present position for more than five years; and in all that time he has maintained a clam-like silence, and restricted himsel{ to violent and uninterrupted toil. We know, and the navy knows, that his work has been excellent. He has al- ways been able to see what the navy needed, and to go out and get it with a minimum of pother and a maximum of results. It is in no small measure due to Mr. Roosevelt's labor that al- most any craft in our navy is now in a position to take a three-thousand mile jaunt and knock the spots from a German conning-tower before washing up at the end of the trip. In spite of all this, we had to wait until Mr. Roosevelt made a trip to Europe before he would talk on the subjects we wanted him to talk on. When he re- turns from Europe, he will relapse into his former clam-like silence and dig ferociously into his task of keeping our navy on the crest of the wave. If he remains in Europe, he will keep on saying the things we want to hear; but “CREAT HEAVENS! WHAT'S THE MATTER?” “satrec! WHY, I WENT TO A FANCY DRESS BALL DRESSED AS A HUZZAR, AND THEY MISTOOK ME FOR THE GERMAN CROWN PRINCE.” he won't be able to look after the navy as he has in the past. We don’t want him to be silent; and we don’t want his guiding hand removed from the navy. We wish that somebody would solve the problem for us. Lawrence Kane. Deduction “ FELLOW in the machine that just passed lost his hat and n't come back after it.” “Probably one of his wife's tions.” selec- THE SUNNY SIDE OF SUFFRAGE IT 1S REPORTED THAT IN MANY COMMUNIT DURING A RECENT ELECTION AS MANY WOMEN VOTED FOR BOOZE AS FOR PROHIBITION