Life, 1918-08-29 · page 17 of 34
Life — August 29, 1918 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon: "If Barbara Frietchie Had Lived in Belgium"** This references the famous Civil War poem where Barbara Frietchie defiantly waves the American flag at Confederate troops. The cartoon imagines her doing the same to German soldiers occupying Belgium during WWI. The image shows civilians being brutalized by armed German troops in a Belgian street—a stark contrast to the poem's romantic defiance. The satire highlights Germany's brutal occupation policies and suggests that such civilian resistance would be crushed, not heroically tolerated as in American legend. **Accompanying Editorial Text** The page argues that nations reflect their *people's* character, not just government policy. It contrasts democratic nations (Britain, France, America) whose populations transcend governmental failures, with Germany and Russia, where populations have been either subjugated or too undeveloped to resist. The piece asserts America fights so governments exist "for people," not vice versa. **Secondary Item: Mexico/Oil** A brief note criticizes Mexican leader Carranza (allegedly German-influenced) for confiscatory oil taxation, complicating Allied supply lines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IF BARBARA FRIETCHIE HAD LIVED IN BELGIUM with practicable world government. And hecause he believes in democracy, he will take a liberal view of the amount of self-government that even depend- ent peoples may be trusted with. R I the war has demonstrated anything, it is that nations are what their people are, and not what their govern- ments will them to be. British direc- tion and leadership have been faulty enough, and have made most of the mis- takes that were possible, but the Brit- ish people have lived up to their tradi- tion and lived down, or died down, all mistakes, France is the France of French men and French women, in spite of French government, and the United States is the country of the American people. Russia went to pot because its people were too ignorant and too undeveloped to stand the strain of war. It is coming back because its people are better than the Bolsheviki government they allowed to be im- posed on them, and would not endure the German subjugation to which that government assented. In Germany the government, having trained the people for generations to submission, has had its will with them, with consequences that grow daily more terrible and more 305 ominous. Evidently it is people that matter than’ governments, that idea will govern in the rehabilita- tion of Europe. Germany to-day is at- new distribution of German more and tempting 2 kings in conquered provinces, who will hold them under orders from Berlin But that method is played out, and the United States is in the war to insure an end of it. The German idea is that people were made for governments. The idea that is winning the war is that governments exist for people, and that even people who are incapable of self-government must he governed in their own interest, and not exploited for the henefit of their governors. (Z - 3 ‘Compadre!, [beset UR relations with Mexico are em- barrassed again, this time about oil. The great oil wells in the Tam- pico district are owned and managed by British and American co A considerable supply of oil from them y to complete the supply re- The government panies, is neces: quired by the Allies. of Mexico may properly tax the wells and their output, which, indeed, are at present its chief source of legitimate revenue. But ranza, presumably under German influence, has laid im- positions on the oil companies which amount to confiscation; the companies have refused to be confiscated ; and the American and British governments have on their hands the task of making Carranza sce an advantage in sweet reasonableness, The detail of news that we would best to hear would relate to the capture or destruction of the erman U-boats that are operating on There is a limit to the mis- like now chief they can do, but they are an an- noyance, and as the ocean hereabouts is commodious, it is mighty hard to catch them. Even one sample boat brought ashore would be acceptable, if only to satisfy public curiosity and make it known whether—as is sup- posed—these boats are war-duplicates of the Deutschland which paid us a visit in happier days for Germany than these, before the United States got into the wa comicbooks.com: