Life — August 21, 1919 — page 21: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes competing interests vying for control during Reconstruction (post-Civil War era). A tall figure wearing a top hat—likely representing **wealth or Northern capital**—holds a flag reading "My Pen Knows No Sister," commanding smaller figures labeled **Labor, Public, Congress, and Reconstruction**. On the right, a figure labeled **House** and another identified as "Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the United States of America" appear to follow obsequiously. The cartoon's point: powerful economic interests are manipulating government institutions and public bodies like puppets during Reconstruction, treating them as subordinates rather than equals. The flag's cryptic message suggests these masters operate without accountability or transparency.