Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1924 · page 40 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #57 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an editorial page (not a cartoon) from **Whiz Bang**, a satirical American magazine. The section titled "Whiz Bang Editorials" with the motto "The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet" addresses the drug crisis as a serious national problem. The editorial argues that narcotic addiction—specifically cocaine and opium use—has become widespread and is directly linked to rising crime rates. While law enforcement understands this threat, the author claims ordinary citizens lack this awareness. The piece advocates for **public education through publicity** as the solution, referencing Whiz Bang's "big brother" publication, *True Confessions*, as a vehicle for exposing this evil through investigative journalism. The tone is reformist and urgent, reflecting early-20th-century Progressive Era attitudes toward drug prohibition and public health education campaigns. The "bull" metaphor suggests that bold, direct confrontation with the problem is more effective than violence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
35 Farmyard Fun and Filosofy Whiz Bang Editorials “The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet.” FEW problems dealing with the welfare of its citizens have assumed the grave importance to the government as that dealing with the suppression of the narcotic drug evil. It is no longer a sporadic outcropping of a vicious habit among a few neurotics; it is a national menace. Statistics gathered by governmental and private investigators show a condition that is positively appalling. That the increasing use of dope bears a close relation to the increasing prevalence of crime is a statement of fact that is only too well substantiated by police records. Narcotic agents and peace officers generally know and dread the curse that the product of the coca shrub and the poppy has spread over this land; but this knowledge is not universally possessed by the average citizen. As the white light of publicity seems to be the most effective means to combat any evil, Whiz Bang’s big brother, True Confessions