Life, 1925-01-01 · page 17 of 37
Life — January 1, 1925 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This political cartoon depicts a grotesque caricatured figure labeled with "ELECTIONS," "ACTIONS," and "LEFT IT HERE," wearing a top hat and appearing distressed or defeated. The figure stands over what appears to be numbered items ("24" visible), suggesting ballot-related content. The cartoon critiques women's political participation, which the accompanying text explicitly addresses. Admiral Fiske's quoted statement argues that women voters are obstacles to military preparedness, claiming their "delicate nervous systems" prevent rational thinking about warfare. The cartoon visually mocks this political moment—likely the early 20th century when women's suffrage was debated—by representing women's electoral influence as something grotesque and chaotic. The satire cuts both ways: it ridicules both Fiske's misogynistic objections and, through exaggeration, the anxiety surrounding female voters entering politics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
RESIDENT COOLIDGE traveled to Chicago the other day in a public Pullman car in order to set an example of economy, if not of asceticism, and save our struggling government a couple of thousand dollars which a spe- cial train would have cost. He did this, no doubt, to satisfy his conscience and expound simplicity to the people of the United States. But the papers say that the thirty-four members of the football squad of the University of Pennsylvania, who expect to play the team of the University of Cali fornia on New Year's Day at Ber- keley, traveled on a spe- cial train with a baggage car equipped with shower baths! President Coolidge does not seem to be up to the times; not quite. DMIRAL FISKE has been saying that the obstacle to military — pre- paredness in this country is the women voters, who not only outnumber the men but largely dictate men's votes. Of all exist- ing matters, he says, the one that women under- stand the least is war. “Not only do they recoil from the idea of war, but the extreme delicacy of their nervous systems makes many of them incapable of even thinking about war in a rational way.” Granted as to the med- dlesomeness of women pol- iticians in matters that they only partially understand, but are the mass of women pacifists? Good heavens, no! Who teach our hands to war and our fingers to fight? The ladies! If they are opposed to great ex- penditures where armament is concerned it is not be- cause they object to war, but because grocery bills are so high and rents are so high and everything is so high, including the tariff, that they cannot get together dollars enough to keep the family comfort- able. Feminine objection LIFE + to war is economic. Old sea dogs like Admiral Fiske ought to know that. HE new Saturday Review of Litera- ture seems really to have quality. It gives readers a surprising sense of reading something worth the time it takes. It is handsome. It even has a good bit of advertising. It looks as though it might go. Because a paper is good is not a conclusive reason why it should fail. The Atlantic Monthly is good, yet it succeeds awfully. The New York Times is a good newspaper, excellent, yet it is very profitable. Be- cause the Saturday Review has merit, nobody need feel that it is doomed. Mr. Ochs, of the Times, by the way, feels able out of the affluence supplied him by that paper to undertake a Dic- tionary of American Biography, That is good, and the work, if he undertakes it, will probably be well done. It may be remembered t Mr. Smith of Smith & Elder, who did the same job for England, was able to finance it out of the profits of the Apollinaris Spring. Mr. Ochs will do it out of the profits of printer's ink and that is even more appropriate. E. S. Martin, “GOOD-BY!” comicbooks.com