Life, 1920-06-03 · page 19 of 52
Life — June 3, 1920 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains commentary on West Point military academy education and two cartoons satirizing social issues. **Top Cartoon:** "Is It Always True That 'Everybody Works But Father?'" depicts a domestic scene where a man relaxes in a boat while a woman and child labor nearby, literalizing the popular saying. The joke critiques the gender imbalance in household work. **Text Section:** Discusses Dr. Eliot's criticisms of West Point's educational approach, arguing that rigid military discipline ("teach them to obey") rather than critical thinking ("teach men to think") poorly serves officers. The author defends West Point's tradition while acknowledging reform is needed. **Bottom Cartoon:** "The Graduates: Thanks! But We Can't Carry Any More!" shows Lady Liberty handing diplomas to graduating men while she herself is already burdened with heavy responsibilities (represented visually). This satirizes the expectation that newly educated citizens will contribute to national burdens they didn't create, suggesting skepticism about whether education adequately prepares graduates for real-world obligations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IS IT ALWAYS TKUL THAT “ EVERYBODY WORKS BUT FATHEK as a fault of West Point training. Point. It may be that out-of-date Ethnology course Dr. Eliot would not approve struction impairs th eficiency, but wiccwanun tee guteree aon - fue feel mak UMANIANS plunder and raid West Point system, He believes in edu- at least they still recognize that their Armenians mumble and moan; rty. The West Point theory is business is the public service. Jugo-Slavs juggle and. struggle and ” discipline. Dr. Eliot’s education " teach men to think. West Point's edu- . We're All Human guggle, Groucher agreeable?” But Kurds have a whey of their aims to teach them to obey. To be sure, of educaturs and their systems are own, lefeated more. or less by individual the fact that some West Pointers and a due proportion of students un- Idiot's educational plan never learn to amount to much, does not prove that system is not worth improving. Ef to he a new order in the world, if old going to pass away and a new day iS re will have to be a new kind of and these eriticisms of Dr. Eliot's on int-are all the more important. ly Dr. Eliot's complaint about the in- of the West Point teachers applies to s that are rather recent. A generation oF too ago West Point professors were elderly and carefully chosen men, some from the army and others not, and they possessed and imparted noble tradition of a soldier's character tty. But in those days West Point .was @ small institution with much fewer pupi! nd all the world was different then, anyhow. Even now the sense of professional obligation aver- ages in the men from Annapolis and West The Graduates: TUANKS! BUT WE CAN'T CARRY ANY MOkE! comicbooks.com