Life, 1919-09-04 · page 20 of 48
Life — September 4, 1919 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes labor union leader Warren S. Stone, Grand Chief of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, by comparing him to historical highwaymen Dick Turpin and Jesse James. The top cartoon shows a street hold-up, captioned "HOW ORDINARY CITIZENS FEEL THESE DAYS"—suggesting Stone's union tactics feel like robbery to the public. The article argues Stone is exploiting a psychological moment (like bandits seizing opportunities) to extract concessions from railroads. The satire's bite: Stone commands only 2 million organized workers yet somehow holds leverage over 27+ million unorganized laborers and the broader American public. The final irony comes via the motorist cartoon: citizens grumble about car maintenance costs, yet tolerate union "hold-ups" that arguably cost more. The piece mocks both Stone's power grab and the public's seeming helplessness against it—"the head policemen...are divided among themselves." This reflects early 20th-century anti-union sentiment among middle-class audiences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
How OKDINAKY CITIZEN PRELS THESE DAYS The Hold-Up H' ILD-UPS have been common in all ages but it is perhaps quite natural that they should not have reached their perfection until we had fully developed the noble idealism of the present day, We should not, however despise the humble efforts of Dick Turpin anc the late Jesse James, They were crude, ne doubt, but at least these gentlemen showed the way and the manner. They always knew how to seize, as Warren S. Stone, Gratl Chief of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engincers, so brilliantly remarks, the psycho- logical moment when the stage was coming around the curve. Mr. Stone considers that the American railroads are now com- The rea many of us, whose minds are m« ing around the curve why so vr less confused hy the complications modern civilization, do not quite understand what relationship Mr. Stone may bear to Dick Turpin or Jesse James, is only that. the setting is on so much larger a scale But in reality it is the same old game. There are fewer than two million organized workmen, and there are twenty- seven million altogether, not counting the rest of the poor devils, who constitute the so-called American free working people. Mr. Stone, however, appears to have a American people than The head policemen, instead of putting better chance of holding up. the Turpin or James him where he belongs, are divided among themselves. Motorist: ou, YES, A CAK COSTS A LOT TO KEER UP, EB BET IT'S CHEAPER THAN RUNNING AN OUTFIT SUCH AS YC cot THERE comicbooks.couim