Life, 1928-12-07 · page 10 of 64
Life — December 7, 1928 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon:** The top illustration shows a woman (labeled "Movie Actress") being interviewed by a man. The joke hinges on a reference gap: she claims to have worked for "a perfect lady, once"—implying that being a "perfect lady's maid" is an absurd or impossible achievement, making it a dubious qualification. **The Statement Below:** Will Rogers, the famous humorist and ex-presidential candidate, provides commentary on the 1928 election. He discusses how both major parties (Democrats and Republicans) worked to influence voters, particularly in Washington, D.C., and expresses skepticism about politicians' character. Rogers adopts a detached, cynical tone about the entire political process, joking that he won't worry about politics while working on other matters.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
QVGA GG L FE RRP Ral Movie Actress: How did you ever get a reference saying you were a perfect lady’s maid? Maw: I worked for a perfect lady, once. Statement from Ex-President Will Rogers (Nore: Ex-President Rogers, having been | elected and having resigned, is prepared to help Mr. Hoover run the country during the next four years, While he refuses to take any active part in the continuance of prosperity, aside from his own, he will issue statements from time to time, and will do everything within his power to justify the faith in him ex- pressed by the voters of the Anti-Bunk Party. His first public utterance since Election Day follows.) Berore the final results of this last Do; Fight get embalmed in the World AL manac, I just want to read one thing into the record so as to get credit for my party in future years. Now it is well known that the Mellon gang carried Pennsylvania, the Anti- oon League carried Ohio, the real estate salesmen carried California, and | Tammany carried New York (for every- body but Al). et it is not generally known that the Anti-Bunk Party carried the District of Columbia. Yes, both the Republicans and Page 24— Democrats worked hard to swing the vote their way in the city of Washington, but the voters there went practically solid for me. Now that’s what I would call signifi- cant, Those people in Washington are more interested in a presidential election than anyone else. The voters in the rest of the country may get all excited about who is going to run the government and collect their taxes and deliver their mail, But the citi- zens in Washington are the people that have to live with him for four years. So the question they ask themselves about every Candidate that comes up is, “Will he make a good Room-mate?” I'm happy to chink they selected me on those grounds. Outside the District of Columbia I didn’t go so good on account of a lot of people not knowing I was running. Now I'm not going to Alabi myself, I'm not even going to be a Good Sport about it, I know it’s customary for a De- feated Candidate to say nobely, “The better man won.” But I doubt if in this case he did. The bigger man and the fatter man won, But that don’t make him an} better President than I would. I thi I could look on the Senate and Congress with as much disdain as any of our other Presidents, To Al Smith I just want to say that I wouldent for anything have gone into the race and split the vote if I'd known what was going to happen. But those Republicans are tough birds to beat, Al. They not only have corralled all the best Issues, but they've got all the Government jobs, so they really got some- thing to offer. Well I am not downhearted, I know |that 1932 is coming and by that time they may have new plumbing in the White House. I guess Hoover will spend more getting the place fixed up than Cal did, and so it will be more desirable quarters for me and my family. In the meantime, I’m working so don’t need to worry. Politics is a side-line with me, It’s not a business. So I say to the American people, You voted according to the dictates of your comicbooks.com