Life, 1928-09-14 · page 19 of 40
Life — September 14, 1928 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes fears about Mexican immigration and alleged "foreign scandals" affecting American politics. The caricatured figures—appearing to represent political opponents or ethnic stereotypes—are depicted struggling to contain or manage something labeled "Foreign Scandals" that's partially submerged in water. The accompanying text by Elmer Davis discusses concerns about Mexican immigration's economic impact on the American Southwest, referencing debates about labor competition and cultural assimilation. The cartoon's aquatic setting likely metaphorically represents the difficulty of controlling immigration or external political influences—suggesting that these "foreign" problems persist despite attempts to manage them. The satire reflects 1920s-era anxieties about immigration and foreign entanglements in American politics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BRET Ratarres ae Fc Be anrvnaoce rc emeanreae IF is he not ry Ke an re bor her m la ost Rez Bee REBRRERRE BOG **If We Could Only Get Him on Dry Land!” Britain; and Great Britain does not fill up its quota at present, nor is there any organ- ized British vote. But the organized Mexi- can vote is negligible outside New Mex- ico; so it inight profit our candidates to give some thought to this progressive Mexicanization of the Southwest. Of course if Mexican immigration were seriously reduced the present economic system of the Southwest would be gravely disturbed. The economic system of the Southeast would have been worse than disturbed if the slave trade had been abolished early in the eighteenth century; and the economic system of the North- cast would have suffered if immigration laws had cut down the supply of cheap European labor forty years before they did. None the less, if all that had been done, this might be an easier country to live in. And the home countries of Euro- pean immigrants were three thousand miles across the sea; the home country of the Mexican immigrants is just across the tiver, and it is not only Mexicans who have questioned the justice of the war by which we took most of the Southwest away from them. Certainly there have been enough object lessons of the harm done by racial minorities and irredentas in Europe, in recent years, to warn us that it can hardly pay to let an irredenta be created on our own soil. Elmer Davis. A Nose for News “*Chief of Police George Atwell of Mount Ver- non contradicted reports yesterday in New York newspapers to the effect that there were 560 speak easies there. There are only about 100, he said. Some barber shop owners, grocers, tailors and shoemakers carry around bottles of liquor on their hip and their patrons drink out of the bot- tles, making it hard to get evidence, Chief At- well said.""—New York Times. Ano so the libelous stain is removed from the fair name of Mount Vernon. “YOUNG COUPLE JUST MARRIED; TWO large, clean, cool rooms; a.m.i.; corner’ house, second floor, near bath; 6 windows; soft bed, day bed, 2 dressers, 2 nice rockers, pretty rug, new curtains, electric fan, 3 closets, new gas range, kitchen table, porcelain top; new breakfast set, sink, ice box, electric iron and board, sewing machine, Hoover cleaner, oil mop, Congoleum rug in kitchen, continuous hot water; privilege of washing in basement; back yard; unlimited phone; 15 min. to Treasury; near 6 stores and 2 car lines; $10 a week or $40 a month."” Advertisement in Washington Star. Wuat! No broom? “A beauty contest such as was held last year will be a feature of the celebration this year, the only difference being that the contestants will dispense with bathing suits."” —Logan (Ohio) Republican, A recorp crowd is expected. OST—Purse in Spitzer Bldg. Harriet Blair inside, Finder may keep contents as reward for return of purse, valued as keepsake."* —Ad in the Toledo Blade, Return the Purse and the Girl Is Yours. WHEN CHAMPIONS MEET Saw J. J. Tunney to G. B. Shaw, “The brain is mightier than the jaw.” “Yet both, I find, can earn big money,” Said G. B. Shaw to J. J. Tunney. comicbooks.com