Today -100: October 10, 1920: They have grievances, but so have we all

Harding complains that while the US was attempting to impose altruism on the world, Britain gobbled up 80% of the world’s known oil reserves.

The commission in charge of building the (as yet unnamed) Holland Tunnel, ground for which will be broken Tuesday, says they’ve worked out the problem of ventilation, probably. This will be the first vehicular tunnel built for motor vehicles rather than trains.

In a speech in Carnarvon, Wales, British Prime Minister Lloyd George says Sinn Féin crime will be suppressed by “stern methods.” He says “police and soldiers do not go burning houses and shooting men down wantonly, without
provocation”. It is “all very well for people who are sitting comfortably at home here” to “pompously criticise” police in Ireland “about outrages and discipline when they are defending themselves.” He explains that when Sinn Féin don’t wear uniforms, and witnesses are unwilling to come forward, the police, when they, say, shoot fleeing suspects in the back, are “defending themselves.” “And that is what they call reprisals.” He is asking the country to “reserve its judgement about the men who in great difficulties have shown infinite restraint, and not to think that they are mere murderers wandering about Ireland and shooting innocent civilians.” And burning down whole towns, don’t forget about that, Dave.

He says some people want to go beyond the Home Rule Bills that Gladstone in the 1880s and Asquith in the 1910s thought “safe,” noting that these measures no longer satisfy the Irish people. He asks if it is necessary to satisfy Ireland in “an angry mood, which I think will pass... when it has that sulky disposition which we all have now and then” [ed.: wow]. He says even if Ireland were given independence, it would just want more, like the inclusion of Northen Ireland. And Ulster wouldn’t tolerate an independent state to its south, so there’d be civil war. And if Ireland were independent and had an army headed by the likes of Michael Collins, Britain would have to maintain a large army, which would mean conscription. And Ireland could side with Britain’s enemy in “our next war.” “What a chance you are asked to take to trust the destinies of Britain and the empire to a people who are apt to get fits of passion that sweep away all reason and make them swing violently from one extreme to another... They have grievances, but so have we all.” Irish Nationalist newspapers call this speech a declaration of war on Ireland.

Bombs blow up Cork City Hall.

Vice presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt flies to Kansas City for a campaign speech in an aeroplane, which is probably some sort of first.

King Alexander of Greece is feeling not at all well after that monkey bite.

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