Life, 1919-07-03 · page 34 of 52
Life — July 3, 1919 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes post-WWI idealism and social absurdities. **"No More War"** mocks the League of Nations by suggesting that if women delegates (Jane Addams, Chrystal MacMillan, Sir Robert Cecil mentioned) handle disputes, wars will end—not through strength but because women will be so busy with scheduling and discussion that hostile nations will simply tire out and surrender. It's sardonic commentary on both women's newfound political involvement and the League's ineffectiveness. The Wilson joke treats the U.S. President as a luxury item subject to taxation—a dig at his prominence or perceived extravagance. **"Comparative Anatomy of Utopia"** contrasts naive visions of paradise across different groups: children imagine candy castles, boys want toys, girls envision fashion retail, geniuses see reversed class hierarchies, moralists want order, and—notably—a Russian millionaire under Bolshevism dreams only of basic survival ("three square a day"). This darkly satirizes the Russian Revolution's material devastation. The bottom strip catalogs items escaping luxury tax (facial features, infants)—absurdist humor about taxation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WAS ONCE KNOWN AS “THE GREAT WHITE way!” No ‘More War At is now well and right as right can be. It appears that Miss Jane Addams, Miss Chrystal MacMillan and other high ladies have been duly received by the International Conference for Permanent Peace at Zurich. It also appears that Sir Robert Cecil has declared that women can be elected to the highest posts in the League of Nations. This practically means that there will be no more war. If any nation gets obstreperous, the question will come up before the ladies of the League. By the time they have all succeeded in keeping their appointments and have begun to discuss the matter, the obstreperous nation will become so fatigued that it will be glad to crawl into bed, pull down the sheets and forget that it is even alive. ‘D' IN'T you think a tax ought to be collected on Presi- dent Wilson?” “Why?” “Doesn't he come under the head of luxuries?” “say! YOU COME DOWN AND LET ME HAVE THAT PLAce!” Comparative Anatomy of Utopia HE child conceives Utopia as a city of castles built of caramels, The boy sees it as a shining heap of marbles and tops and fishing-rods. The girl, as a vast millinery establishment, with her first leau as head floor-walker. The genius conceives it as a place where landlords pound the typewriter while the genius dictates. ie moralist conceives it as a place where all the streets are chalk lines. A Russian milhtonaire under the Bolsheviki conceives Utopia as three square a day and a place to sleep. y OSCULATION WHISKERS BALD HEADS INFANTS AND ALSO THESE THINGS THAT HAVE ESCAPED THE LUXURY TAX comicbooks.col