Life, 1919-02-13 · page 21 of 42
Life — February 13, 1919 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a soldier offering a job to a civilian, captioned "Nothing too good for you, my boy. What would you like? A job." This appears to reference post-war employment concerns and labor unrest. The article discusses President Wilson's role at the Paris Peace Conference (evidently early 1919), sarcastically praising his diplomatic accomplishments despite being "only a professor." It notes rumors he might be recalled to preserve "the Republic," suggesting concerns about executive overreach. The piece addresses broader anxieties: whether democracy is actually functioning when powerful men negotiate world affairs; labor's restlessness in Britain and elsewhere; the uncertain situation in Russia and Germany; and widespread impatience for peace settlements and economic stability. The overall tone suggests both cautious optimism about peace-making progress and anxiety about post-war social instability—strikes, unemployment, and whether ordinary people will accept the outcomes being negotiated.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ NOTHING TOO GOOD FOR YoU, MY ROY. “A jon.” something like that may happen, and people may lose interest in drinks be- cause they are filled up with something better. But that is as much out of the calculations of the anti-salooners as of anyone else. They have done a big job, but they are entirely incapable of forecasting what the issue of it will be. m Abe ER fere ‘UT is it su that Democracy is really running things? It does not seem so to all people. We are informed that it was lately WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE?” rumored in Paris that our President had received a cablegram from Tumulty—“ Come back at once or the Republic may be proclaimed.” We see Mr. Wilson apparently the greatest autocrat a-going, and other sedate and powerful men sitting with him in coun- cil on the world’s most critical con- cerns, and it does not seem altogether like a Democratic mass meeting. But behind and beneath it all are great masses of people; eager, restless, at- tentive ; who must be satisfied if human wit can compass it, and who, unless they are satisfied, will raise hob, They and their needs and aspirations and desires are what the peace counsellors are concerned about, and that means Democracy. At least enough people 249 must be satisfied to keep the rest of the people in order, and that is what the Peace Council is trying to do, and not, it would scem, without pretty good success. The League of Nations has Ieen made; the difficult problem of the German colonies has been worked out, and territorial claims rationally adjusted. The papers say Mr. Wilson expects to start for home on Feb- ruary 14th. Considering he is only a professor and not versed in practical affairs, it must be, and doubtless will be, admitted that he has put up a truly creditable bluff at doing business. He is an interesting American prop- erty. That much will be generally con- ceded, even in the Senate, And when he gets home Congress will have an accounting from him, and we shall all find out, including the Senate, whether or not it is true, as Senator Hale says, that the American people are not be- hind him. EANWHILE we are marking time here at home, and not only we, but the rest of the world. Not much can go along until the peace is signed and the world knows where it is. With such an immense deal to be done it is trying to wait, and such diversions as strikes are very prevalent, especially in Great Britain. Labor feels a strong impulse to assert itself while things are still fluid and valuables are detachable, but that condition promises to obtain for some time to come, and nothing seems likely to be more than tempo- rarily settled—if at all—by grabbing and violence. Russia is still a large space on the map at which students look and won- der what is going on there, and who is the under dog for the moment in any one of the many fights there. Germany in nice order very much admired by our soldiers on the Rhine, is waiting for the clock to strike to get to work to repair and redecorate bedevilled France. Mr. Hoover has got a hun- dred million American dollars, and is feeding people. A great deal is doing in discussion and negotiation. A vast deal is to be done, and a vast number of people are impatient to be at it.