Life, 1920-04-22 · page 17 of 44
Life — April 22, 1920 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques the American Legion's post-WWI organization and direction. The top cartoon shows a man in a barrel (representing homelessness from rising rents) speaking to a stranger—satirizing economic hardship while contrasting with the Legion's focus. The main article by E.S.M. warns that while the Legion's character could be valuable, organized groups risk corruption. The author specifically fears the Legion will use its political power to lobby Congress for veteran bonuses ("raid the Treasury"), prioritizing members' financial gain over genuine patriotism and service to disabled veterans. The "Just Wishing" cartoon depicts a boy at a "dog shop" window—a visual pun on wanting what one cannot afford, likely reinforcing the economic anxieties of the era. The piece's central tension: organized veterans' power could do great good *or* serious harm, depending entirely on whether leaders pursue selfless patriotism or selfish exploitation of government funds.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE™ IF RENTS KEEP RISING Man in Bari BER WE The Legion in Danger W \S it a good thing for the American Legion to or- nize? Must everything be organized? An organization is something for somebody to use. It cans of getting something done. It gathers associa- purpose—community of interest together and makes trument of them. What was expected to be the most valuable thing that 1 who went to the war brought back was character. It was believed that their experience must have taught them sor ing of great value, and that the country in the com- rs would get the benefit of it. t will, but will it get it better or worse from having rvice men organized? lly, it is a serious question. They are more power- yanized, but also much more subject to misdirection handier to use for accomplishment of what ot to be done. The minute a group of people is organized, the question presses—What shall we do? Un- less there is combined action of some sort the organiza- tion will not prosper. The current drive of the American Legion for bonuses is attributed to the belief of influential m: ers of the Legion that it could not get large num- mue be i men to join it unless inducements were offered. If so ig was done to make membership in the Legion rofitable, then members would flock in. Why there eed to make the Legion very big Heaven knows, but ers of organization almost always look kindly—even usly—on size. The bigger the combine the more to its directors. nsiderable proportion of the members of the Legion know that the bonus ide They must loathe ‘ey must know that the value of the Legion, if it lave any value, will be due to unselfish patriotism, at the leaders who propose to use it to drive a path throvgh to the trough will either destroy it or make it a public danger. By as much as it can do good if nobly directed, by so much it will do harm if selfishly directed. It is no army of saints, but a very mixed conglomeration As in the case of an individual, the important thing about is rotten. el (to total stranger) : WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT, sik? I KEMEM WE HAD THAT HOUSE FOR ONLY TWO HUNDRED A MONTH! 745 it will be its character. If it intends to try politically to exact pay for its activities past and to come, it will be a much more costly instrument than the country can afford What do its good men think of it? There are thousands—tens and hun- dreds of thousands—of them; men who are truly the hope of the country. Will they let themselves be used along with their comrades to coerce timid legislators to hand out to them the taxpayers’ money? They will not let themselves be used for any such purpose They will not stay in the Legion if it is used to raid the Treasury for the benefit of the legionaries They will press the claims of the disabled, but surely they will not turn grabbers for their own account. And that brings back the question whether the organiza- tion of the Legion has been a good thing. Probably it was inevitable ; but it is a genie let out of its bottle. What the genie does will depend on who is his master. E. S. Af r JUST WISHING comicbooks.com