Today -100: June 29, 1922: Whoop for Hooper

Maxim Litvinoff, head of the Soviet delegation to the Hague Conference, says Russia will only recognize its debts (not, I think, including war debts) if it’s assured of a moratorium on paying them of, say, fifty years. He’s also resisting giving any details of Russia’s budget.

And we get the second-ever woman candidate for the US Senate. Selected by the Democratic convention, Jessie “Mrs. Ben” Hooper, the president of the Wisconsin League of Women Voters, will run against Fighting Bob La Follette. Her slogan will be “Whoop for Hooper,” which is super dooper. The convention also selects not one but two candidates for governor, one wet and one dry.

Speaking of slogans, campaign buttons appear for William Randolph Hearst: “A Business Man for Governor.” It’s not exactly “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war” or “Rosebud,” is it?

Irish Free State forces try to drive Rory O’Connor’s anti-Treaty IRAers out of the Four Courts, which now sport many new holes, as do many civilians and an unknown number of combatants on both sides. O’Connor issues a statement, posted all over Dublin – several NYT reporters are perplexed as to how a man under siege can do this – saying that none of his forces have been killed yet and “The boys are glorious and will fight for the republic to the end.” He points out that “Mr. Churchill cracked the whip in his speech Monday night when he ordered the Provisional Government to attack the Four Courts. His Free State agents have obeyed.” Éamon de Valera agrees with all that, saying the Republicans “are not willing that Ireland’s independence should be abandoned under the lash of an alien government.” Churchill issues a statement saying the Free State is acting entirely on its own and not in response to his statement telling them to do what they’re now doing and yes, we’ll certainly give them arms to suppress the Republicans if necessary.

The Free State claims the real reason it’s attacking the rebels now is that they’ve been extorting companies under the pretext of the boycott of Belfast, “which has no authorised existence.” Also, the rebels kidnapped a general.

The Communist Party of Great Britain applies to be affiliated to the Labour Party (like the Fabian Society and other groups), but is turned down by the Labour Conference. 

Russia lifts the limit of two letters a month that could be received by Russians from the US.

A. Bruce Bielaski escapes his Mexican captors while they’re sleeping.

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