Today -100: January 22, 1919: Why should we not be masters in our own house?

Headline of the Day -100:

Good luck with that, guys. Prince Faisal of the Kingdom of Hejaz says the Arabs have an even greater right to independence than the new states in Europe “since we are the oldest democracy in the world.” That’s Prince Faisal saying that. “Why should we not be masters in our own house?” he asks.

Also looking for independence, 25 of the people elected to the British Parliament from Ireland (the rest being in prison or exile) constitute themselves as an Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann), declare Irish independence, adopt a provisional constitution, and appoint a delegation to present Irish claims to the Peace Conference. 2/3 of that delegation are currently in prison, leaving only Count Plunkett, a name I will never stop finding amusing. The TDs (that’s the term in 2019, I’m not sure what this group called themselves) have some difficulties trying to conduct the meeting in Gaelic.

Ex-king Manuel of Portugal changes his mind and says he’d be willing to take back the throne after all, now that the war is over and with the assassination of President Sidónio Pais last month and everything.

In the US Senate, Sen. Warren G. Harding says things are “drifting into chaos” in terms of reconstruction in the US and Wilson and his administration should “give up their idealism.” Evidently the first step in his campaign to become president is taking a firm anti-idealism stand. He thinks Wilson should have formalized a peace deal first thing, before he went around Europe being adored by the masses. Also, because Wilson kept talking about making the world safe for democracy, Harding thinks he’s personally responsible for Bolshevism, because logic. He says that in Europe, “If we must have anarchy on the one hand or hateful autocracy on the other, I choose autocracy.”

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