Today -100: May 19, 1913: The flag is not good to eat

Speaking to the Washington Peace Society, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan gives a fiery speech denouncing “subsidized patriotism which seeks to create war because of the profits in armorplate and battleships”. “War is in the interest of a few people, not of all. ... War rests upon feeling, not upon necessity.” “While sensational newspapers are trying to cultivate a feeling that will produce war, it is the business of the right-thinking people of this country to create a feeling that will not tolerate the idea of war.”

An IWW meeting is held in Paterson, NJ, preparatory to tomorrow’s riots. Some quotes from speeches: “The American flag is pretty to look at. Its colors are very striking... but it is not good to eat.” “America is a country of great resources, but it is in hock, and the pawnbrokers are the international firm of Rockefeller & Morgan.” (Those from Frederick Mohl). “The Paterson silk mills are slaughterhouses, where your blood is used to dye the silk that decorates the backs of the aristocratic women of the United States.” (Patrick Quinlan, who is awaiting sentencing.) “If you all stand together it will be the police who will go to jail and you will get your liberty.” (Unattributed). Upton Sinclair was one of the speakers.

NY Gov. Sulzer begins a tour to push for his direct primaries bill.

D.J. Crockett, grandson of Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier, is sentenced to death by a court-martial in Mexico, I have no idea for what, but escapes over the border with two other condemned Americans. It is thought they were allowed to escape to prevent tensions with the US government.

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