Life, 1925-11-05 · page 28 of 50
Life — November 5, 1925 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satire compares the Continental Congress of 1776 to the 68th Congress (1923-1925), mocking contemporary legislative dysfunction. The "Helpful Spirit of Seventy-Six" imagines the Founding Fathers behaving like modern politicians—bickering over trivial details (blue vs. buff uniform facings), long-winded speeches, procedural obstruction, and self-interested delays while supposedly declaring war on Britain. Named congressmen represent real 1920s politicians engaging in petty disputes and obstruction. The "Wanted" poster for Theodore Martinit (who disrupted a football game by refusing to sit) appears to be a humorous aside, possibly referencing an actual incident. The joke's point: The 68th Congress was notoriously gridlocked and ineffectual. By imagining the Revolutionary Congress as equally dysfunctional, Life ridicules contemporary lawmakers, suggesting they lack the decisive patriotism of the founders. The satire implies that modern Congress wastes time on procedural arguments while avoiding substantive action—a sharp critique of post-WWI American political paralysis.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Helpful Spirit of "Seventy-Six (As It Might Have Been If the First Congress Had Resembled the Sixty-Eighth) when in the course of human events it be- comes necessary for one people to dissolve—— Mr. Apranam Crark (of New Jersey): 1 object! Tue Presiwinc Orricer: Well, I don't care. Now look here, you fellows, this is serious busi- ness. We're about to declare war. Mr. Witttam Frovp (of New York): goody! I boney a General! Mr. James Witson (of Pennsylvania): Mr, Presi- dent, may I have the floor? THe Presioinc Orricer (doubtfully): 1 guess so. You'll have to take it as is. And there's an awful lot of splinters in it. I was thinking of having a new floor laid, but you know how things are these days—all upset, and what with the British and everything. Mr. Witson: What I was going to say is that if we are going to have a war we have to have uniforms. Now we could all club together, or pass a bill, or something, and get uniforms and nobody would be allowed to fight in our army lessen they had a uni- form, and—and (This goes on for an hour and a half.) Mr. Wituiam Extery (of Rhode Island): 1 want to say something—I want to say some- thing. Tue Presipinc Orricer: You hush up! I'm President of this here Congress. I think the uni- forms should be blue with buff facings— Mr. Cuartes Carrot (of Carrollton, of Mary- land): No! Buff with blue facings! Cuor No! Buff 'n’ blue! Yes! Blue 'n’ buff! No! Yes! Whois? Youare! I amnot! (This goes on for about a year and a half.) Te PRESIDING OFFICER: Gentlemen: Goody- and yelling WANTED For Bouncery Theodore Martnit, age 31, kept hopping up at a football game staying on his feet until pulled down by those behind him. Tue Presipixc Orricer: Well, anyhow, it’s all decided that we're going to have a war and the name of the war is the War of the American Revolution. Att THE Gentlemen: Hurray! Hurray! Hur- ray! Mr. Wituiam Froyp (putting on a@ false mus- tache): Mr. President, guess who I am. Tue Prestoinc Orricer: The gentleman from New York is recognized. Mr. Fioyp: Oh, the dick- ens! (He sits down, dis- appointed.) Mr. Carter Braxton (of Virginia): Mr, President, I want to make a speech. It’s a kind of humorous recitation with gestures—— Mr. Otiver Wotcott (of Connecticut): Will the gen- tleman from Virginia yield to a question? Mr. Braxton: I'll yield to the question but not to the speech. Mr. Francis Lewis (of New York): That reminds me of a kind of puzzle: my first is in oyster but not in bed, my second’s in taxation without representation but not in order—— (This goes on for several more years, during which the Congress investigates the condition of the alluvial deposits along the banks of the Charles River and raises its salary.) Tue Presiwinc Orricer (somewhat older, but still strikingly handsome): Well, anyway, we're going to have a war—— (A messenger enters and gives the President a note, which he reads.) Tue GentLemMen AsseMmstep: No fair! it out loud. Mr. Button Gwinnett (of Georgia): don’t you leave out any of the hard words! Tue Presivinc Orricer (reading) : Gentlemen, “Attaboy, Mac!” Read And Everybody}s comicbooks.com