Today -100: August 14, 1913: Of impeachments, straying aircraft, angry moose, pig suits, bebels, and blacks in government

The NY State Assembly votes 79-45 to impeach Gov. Sulzer. Of the 79 in favor, 72 were Democrats (like Sulzer) and 7 were Republicans. Of the 45 opposed, 26 were D’s, 16 R’s and 3 Progressives. 25 abstained. This marks something like the 8th time a governor of any state has been impeached. Only two were actually removed from office (some of the others pulled a Nixon and resigned first), both in 1871, the governors of North Carolina and Nebraska, the former basically for fighting the KKK and the latter for stealing government funds.

Which leaves only one question: who is the governor of New York now? The NY constitution seems to some to say that impeachment mean temporary removal from office, pending the trial, in favor of the lieutenant governor, Martin Glynn. Sulzer disputes this. (Spoiler alert: fun and games will totally ensue).

Since I started this feature less than 4 years ago, NY -100 has had five governors, including Glynn.

France and Germany agree to allow each other’s aircraft to land if they stray across the border, although the craft’s commander will then have to swear that they were not up to no good.

Headline of the Day -100: “Angry Moose Defy Forces of Fusion.” If I didn’t know that was something about New York City electoral politics, that would look a little weird.

Disappointing Headline of the Day -100: “Adele Ritchie in Pig Suit.” That is, she’s being sued for payment for some chickens and pigs she bought.

German Socialist August Bebel dies.

More evidence that Woodrow Wilson is not Good For the Negro: another of the very few federal posts traditionally held by blacks is given to a white dude. US ambassadors to Haiti had all been black since 1869 except for one four-year period. Now, Wilson gives the job to Madison Smith, a white former congresscritter from Missouri. This news, as well as the forced withdrawal of Adam Patterson’s nomination for the post of register of the Treasury, appears in the NYT only in the form of a letter from the editor of a black newspaper, The New York Age.

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