Life, 1923-02-22 · page 8 of 36
Life — February 22, 1923 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon depicts a domestic scene where a child has hurt their finger, and seeks comfort from their mother rather than the adult present (likely the father). The caption reads: "The Boy: Oh! have you hurt your finger? Wait a minute an' I'll get Mother to kiss it well." The accompanying article, "How It Can Be Done: A Plan for German Indemnities," addresses post-WWI reparations. The author proposes dividing Germany into administrative districts (Reichsbezirkssendungen) and Blätze (neighborhoods), each reporting financial assessments to an Inter-Allied Debt Commission in Genoa. Revenue would fund Allied war debts through systematic collection. The cartoon appears to mock ineffectual responses to complex problems—suggesting that Germany's indemnity crisis requires practical solutions, not sentimental gestures, much like a child's injury needs actual treatment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Boy: Oh! have you hurt your finger? Wait a minute an’ I'll get Mother to kiss it well. T has just been called to my at- tention that Germany is having trouble paying her indemnities. I only wish that I had known of this before, as I have a plan which I think would have fixed things up six months ago. They keep these things so secret. It is almost as if they didn’t want any help. In 1870 Germany was confronted by this same problem and I fixed it for them then. In 1870, however, the problem was not one of money, but of irrigation. They couldn't get enough water into the Tauber River to pay for keeping it running. It finally got so that they were import- ing water from Denmark, emptying it from tank cars at the top of the hill down which the Tauber flows and recapturing it at the bottom for shipment to Spain, who was buying it at second-hand for use in the Guadalupe. All rivers in Spain use second-hand water. Thus it will be seen that Ger- How It Can Be Done A Plan for German Indemnities many’s problem in 1870 and Ger- many’s problem to-day were not the same. This makes it easier to pre- scribe for to-day’s problem. My plan would be this Germany up into districts or Reichsabwesendungen. Have each district or Reichsabwesendung sub- divided into little individual coun- tries or Blatz, each with its own president, house-committee, and rest-room for the women employees. Each of these Blatzen will be as- sessed so much, according to the number of houses in it. Thus, a Blatz containing eleven houses would be assessed so much, while one con- taining twenty houses would not be assessed at all but would have to re- port to the president every Wednes- day and submit an estimate. Now. When these districts had fulfilled their obligations, it would be the duty of the Ratmeister to get in touch by telephone with the Inter- Allied Debt Commission at Genoa Divide (or the one at Innsbruck if the Genoa line is busy) and tell them how he is and what he has been do- ing all day. The Inter-Allied Debt Commission will refuse to listen, and the whole matter will then be thrown back into conference again, constituting the crisis for that month. Thus we have: Total indemnity ... Total indemnity Total indemnity Total Of this, one third goes to the house for current expenses. ‘The rest is figured out on a per capita basis and given to Cousin George to invest. He knows what all the good things are. After this, the rest is simple. Double your cost of production, in- crease your turn-over, touch the floor twenty times without bending your knees, and there is your indemnity paid with something left over for candy. R.C. B. « 3,000,000,000 marks + 6,000,000,000 marks 11,000,000,000 marks indemnity + 8,000,000,000 marks comicbooks.com