Life, 1923-08-16 · page 15 of 36
Life — August 16, 1923 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon ("Grand Old Party"):** Shows fat railroad executives and politicians gathered around a table labeled with state names (California, Minnesota). The caption "Too Much Johnson" suggests they're discussing railroad monopolies and freight rates—the "Grand Old Party" (Republicans) protecting railroad interests. **Article Context:** Farmer Homer P. Squedge discusses how high taxes, fertilizer costs, and freight rates burden farmers while crop prices remain low. The piece satirizes railroad monopolies' influence over government policy, suggesting farmers should reduce production to force price increases—a producer's strike concept. **Bottom Cartoon ("The Price of Vanity"):** A horse had her tail docked for vanity, now suffers from flies. This fable warns against prideful decisions with negative consequences—likely paralleling farmers' economic suffering from poor policy choices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Fables for Farmers “ MS like they’s going to be good times for us S farmers, after all,” opined ruralist Homer P. Squedge to the customary Saturday evening gathering at the Piketown Mercantile Emporium, “Times has been mighty hard, what with high taxes, dear fertilizers, and freight rates about double what they used to be, while prices of crops is so low that often it don't pay to ship ‘em to market. Lots of us has been clean discouraged, and will- ing to sell out for what we cam get and move into town, where honest labor gets union wages and the forty-four- hour week. Guess it’s going to be all right now, though, for I've been readin’ a piece in the Weekly Bugle put in by one of them philanthropists down in Wall Street, New York, who says he represents the hard-working security holders who own pretty much all the railroad stocks and bonds. It’s his idea that what's the matter with the country is the way railroads is being persecuted by the gove’ment so’s they can't borrow money on the bales of nice engraved bonds and stock they've got all ready to issue just as soon as there’s a little more normalcy. If the farmers will only let up on this talk of redoocin’ freight rates the railroads'll be able to borrow a heap more money, and spend it for improvements, This’ll give employment to a lot of workers, who'll use part of their wages buying stuff to eat, and the farmers will get back some of the money the railroads take from them.” “Mebbe you're right,” interjected Deacon Pinkworth, “but it seems like goin’ a long way round to get back to where we started at. Pears an easier way would be for us farmers to stop workin’ so hard, and raise less crops, “t00 MUCH JOHNSON” wouldn't be bothered with so much freight, and them city folks would have to pay us decent prices or go hungry. We heerd a lot about that consum- er’s strike a spell back. Wonder if it ain't about time for a producer's strike?” Whidden Graham. so the railroads THE PRICE OF VANITY “ “WHY IS MINNIE JUMPING ABOUT so?” SHE HAD HER TAIL BOBBED IN THE SPRING AND NOW SHE CAN'T KEEP THE FLIES OFF HER.” comicbooks.com