Today -100: August 31, 1917: For the salvation of the country we will kill with all our souls

Kerensky says that as minister of war he is re-establishing the military death penalty that he abolished when he was minister of justice; “this re-establishment hurts to the very soul, but for the salvation of the country we will kill with all our souls.”

The city of Spartanburg, South Carolina, objects to the War Department’s plans to station black troops in the training camp there. Mayor J.F. Floyd worries that, “with their Northern ideas about race equality, they will probably expect to be treated like white men. I can say right here that they will not be treated as anything except negroes.” The Chamber of Commerce says, “It is a great mistake to send Northern negroes down here, for they do not understand our attitude.” Oh, I think they understand it very well.

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