Today -100: July 9, 1914: Of conspiracies, Rabbie Burns, pacifications, and sailors

Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested again, and several WSPU leaders are put on trial for conspiracy “maliciously to commit damage and injury and to spoil certain real and personal property of the liege subjects of our lord the King.” They refuse to plead and keep yelling until they’re removed from the court.

Two suffragettes attempt to blow up the cottage where Robert Burns was born, but are foiled by a night watchman. One of the suffragettes is arrested. In court she is “very violent and loquacious.”

Mexican Foreign Minister Ruiz reports in person to the Mexican Congress on the Niagara negotiations, announcing for the first time that Huerta is willing to resign in the interests of peace. He presents it as a surrender to the United States rather than to the Constitutionalists, but will require a deal with the latter, at which point he will announce that “pacification” is complete, declare victory and go home (or, more likely, into exile. He knows what happens to political losers in Mexico). The other victory he is declaring is that the composition of the next government will be decided by negotiations between Mexicans instead of being imposed by the US(he’s pretending the rebels will give him that sort of recognition, which they won’t).

The juiciest of today’s false rumors from Mexico: Pancho Villa has been assassinated by a woman.

Zapata is offering his support to Carranza – in exchange for his men being allowed to keep every landed estate they’ve captured.

The Democratic, Republican and Progressive parties of Idaho all support prohibition. There will be a referendum in 1916.

The House of Lords votes to exclude Northern Ireland from the Home Rule Bill.

A story some American sailors arrested whilst on shore-leave in Havana and released on the request of the US ambassador ends with this sentence: “The sailors have been the best behaved lot who ever visited Havana.”

Didn’t the US just invade Mexico for doing the same thing?

Friday is World War I day on Turner Classic Movies, starting at 3 a.m. PST. I’d recommend everything after 5 p.m.: Paths of Glory, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Big Parade, Westfront 1918. Oo, and the next movie is Kameradschaft, which isn’t WW1, but still good.

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