Life, 1921-02-10 · page 30 of 42
Life — February 10, 1921 — page 30: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical piece by Wallace Irwin presenting a humorous dialogue between an American narrator and "Arthur Kickahajama," a Japanese YMCA member, about international disarmament—a topical League of Nations debate of the 1920s era. The satire mocks the naïveté of disarmament proposals. Arthur's character comically illustrates European hypocrisy: nations claim to support throwing away guns while each hesitates to disarm first, fearing others won't comply ("Who shall throw first?"). The absurdist humor includes exaggerated economic consequences (eggs become noisy, dentists remove teeth) to suggest disarmament's impracticality. The cartoon depicts a pile of confiscated weapons, suggesting the literal chaos of actual arms collection. Irwin's target is Western politicians (Italy, England, France) who make pretty speeches about peace while maintaining military advantage—a common post-WWI criticism of League of Nations inadequacy. The Japanese character serves as an outsider observer exposing Western diplomatic theater.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Letters of a Japanese Schoolboy Can Nations Remove Firearms Without Undressing Completely ? 0 Editor Life | T con be on comical without losing his sense of humor: Dear Si Undoubtedly the time has ripened when all Nations shall beat their spears prune-hooks and re- turn to cheap sports like aggyculture, bookbinding and_ hotel into business because warfare have become so darnly H.C. that it cannot pay the interest The price of hayonuts are advancing upwards day-by-hour and _poi- senous on indemnit gas have got so expensive that many dentists are removing teeth with- out it, In pursuit of this umportant thought 1 wish you would tell your printer fo!- lowing politikal interview which evap- orated between me and Arthur Kickaha- jama, Japanese Y. M. C. A, yestdy p.m. when we held a frontporch to- gether. “Togo,” he sa ave got so do without it “Who is robbing us now?" I ask to know. “Those snarrel, distinctually, “war- fare xpensive that we must bruttle Profiters again,” he “Firstly it must be one thing, then another. So soonly do we get used to walking without because of Leather Profiters than we must cease shoes eating 2$ eggs because they are so fresh that they become noisy. Still, how- everly, we remain patient but irritated. And what nextl I am disabled to reply. “Last wee he report, machine guns shot up 228!" “O Arthur Kickahajama, Y. M. C. A.,” T snagger, “do not thus! Have things come to such a handsome that man cannot afford to own his own machine gun? And yet they Miss Call free country. How, without any of those mechani killers, can Japan capture Fresno, Cali- fornia, when the time come: “This cannot be done,” Arthur with a si & grone, “unless Japan invent some new way pretty quick to cheat California. League of Nations, Col. Geo. Harvey, King of Greece, Senator Borah and other great world powers he price of inform me pass poor this a By Wallace Irwin throw like chorus “We shall now guns,” they say away our girls have pressed their brains together and found one thing, They got a nice way to make Hon. World happy forever, or almost that long. is Disarmament.” ame of this idea “Would not such an idea lead to war or something?” I ask to know with Sen- ator Lodge alarm. are oftenly take guns away from people than to give them Arthur corrode. “Yet why shouldn't we try something or something else?” “How should workec more dangeras to some, this Disarmament be I ask to know. . “Differently each time,” Ar- “Ttaly, England and France say ilized narrate thur. that nice way would be for all nationalities to drop guns, knives, air- planes and etc. out of their pockets and hold up hands while President and Board of Aldermen of Swiss Republik go round collecting those wicked tools, giving written receipts to all generals above rank of Ist Sargent. Same thing would happen to navies, only it would le done in boats.” “Banzai!” I ollicute. “Iam hit by the delicious simplicity of that arrangement, hy goll Not so very,” growell Arthur Ki ahajama, Y. M. C. A, What are the tumbling block in the way of such Disarmament?” are next question for me. “All Europe are mingled in it,” nar- rate Arthur. “They meet with kiss-kiss expression and you would think you could hear coo-coo from doves. But what then? ‘We shall now throw away our guns,’ they say together like chorus Then they stand around admir- ing each other similar to cats, ‘Who shall throw first?’ require Hon. K of Italy (socialist). ‘Sippose you do it,” reject Hon. Hoyd Geo. (Roosevelt Republican). ‘Oh no, not to do!’ holla Hon. Italy, ‘for if we should start re- moving pistols from Hon. Terence d’Annunzio, Sinn Fein Mayor of Fiume, what sort of occurrence would happen to us? The French are a bright little people. Pussibly Hon. France would set nobile example for all mankind, in- cluding ladies.’ ‘Inconvenient,’ snagger girls, We must cease eating Sexgs be- cause they are so fresh that they be- come noisy. comicbooks.com