Today -100: January 26, 1924: Of loans (or “loans”)

Harry Sinclair’s personal attorney tells the Senate Teapot Dome hearings that last year Sinclair loaned (or “loaned”) $25,000 in Liberty bonds to then-interior secretary Albert Fall to buy some ranches in New Mexico. That’s in addition to the $100,000 loan (or “loan”) we already knew about. Rep. John Morehead (D-Neb.) introduces a resolution for the cancellation of the Teapot Dome lease on the ground that it was corruptly obtained. Which it was.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 25, 1924: Poodles defended

Oil tycoon Edward Doheny admits to the Senate Teapot Dome inquiry that he loaned $100,000 to Interior Secretary Albert Fall in 1921, shortly before Fall granted him the lease on the Navy’s oil reserves in California. He says it was just a coincidence and Fall was an old friend. The money was of course delivered in cash, brought by Doheny’s son.

The Labour government will restore diplomatic relations with Russia, and has already chosen an ambassador.

Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald warns India not to try anything, in case you were wondering if a Labour government would defend imperialism.

Petrograd is changing its name to Leningrad.

Headline of the Day -100:  

Italians are often afflicted by throat affection.

Headline of the Day -100:  

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 24, 1924: Evolution!

The North Carolina Board of Education votes to ban the teaching of evolution.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 23, 1924: Lenin RIP

Vladimir Lenin dies.

The NYT’s  Walter Duranty predicts that Stalin and Trotsky will “bury the hatchet over his grave.”

Headline of the Day -100:  

Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour prime minister of Britain.

Harry Sinclair, to whom journalists caught up in Plymouth on his way to Le Havre, denies bribing then-Interior Secretary Albert Fall for the Teapot Dome lease: “The entire situation is a political move and a case of American politics.”

Japanese Foreign Minister Matsui Keishiro tells the Diet that the treatment of Japanese on the Pacific Coast of the US is “regrettable.”

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 22, 1924: Six or eight cows

The Senate Teapot Dome inquiry heats up, with Archie Roosevelt, son of Pres. TR, testifying. Archie was a vice president with a Sinclair Oil subsidiary; he resigned yesterday to save his reputation from the Teapot Dome scandal. He doesn’t seem to have been involved in it but at the time of the sale of the Naval reserves he was at Sinclair Oil and his brother TR Jr. was assistant secretary of the Navy, which just looks bad. He testifies that Harry Sinclair paid $68,000 to the foreman of then-interior secretary Albert Fall’s New Mexico ranch. He also reports that Sinclair has skedaddled for Europe to avoid having to testify (Sinclair had him buy the ticket and keep his name off the passenger list). Archie cites Sinclair’s secretary G.D. Wahlberg as his source on the payment, but Wahlberg testifies he knows nothing about it. He says Sinclair did give Fall “six or eight cows” and Roosevelt must have misheard that as “$68,000.” Edward Doheny, at first thought to have also fled to Europe, actually went to New Orleans, but definitely not to consult with Sinclair, perish the thought. He also has the nerve to say that if the Mexican rebels continue interfering with his oil interests in Tampico, he’ll demand the US government do something about it (and indeed Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes threatens consequences if Tampico port is mined).

The British Parliament votes no confidence in the Baldwin government, 328-256. During the debate, Baldwin asks “Do my honorable friends look like a beaten army?” He complains about the lack of gratitude in politics.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 21, 1924: Of blockades and lack of confidence

Winston Churchill still wants Parliament to delay voting no confidence in the Baldwin government, and then when it does to make that vote also repudiate “socialism.” Which, hey, just leaves the 3rd-place Liberal Party of which Churchill is still a member. Fancy that.

The US sends a cruiser to Tampico to threaten the Huertista rebels if they again attempt to enforce their blockade of the port.

Mexican soldiers travel through the US, from Naco, Arizona to El Paso, Texas. They are made to register with Immigration, which takes 4 hours to process the 1,500 soldiers.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 20, 1924: Whether there is land there or not it should be the property of the United States

Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby tells the House Naval Affairs Committee that the real purpose of sending the dirigible USS Shenandoah to the Arctic is to look for any previously undiscovered land and then annex the hell out of it. “This area is certain to be of high strategic value if we look forward to warfare and commerce in the future. Whether there is land there or not it should be the property of the United States.”

The Philippine Legislature adopts a budget, eliminating all funding for Gov.-Gen. Leonard Wood’s office and his yacht (they don’t like him very much).

The Communist Party conference in Moscow ends with unanimous approval of the Central Executive Committee’s policies and castigation of opponents as “factionaries.” Stalin counts the “six errors” of Trotsky.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 19, 1924: Of faulty actresses and tankers

Mabel Normand is in a state of complete nervous collapse, please excuse her from attending the hearing in the case of her chauffeur shooting that guy. Edna Purviance does come, but claims she was in another room and can’t remember anything that happened that evening.

The Huertista rebels fire at a couple of American commercial ships, including a Sinclair Oil tanker, which were running their barricade at Tampico.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 18, 1924: It would be a waste of time to indulge in the thankless task of slaying a suicide

The crew of the dirigible USS Shenandoah think that surviving that gale means it can totally fly to the Arctic (Spoiler Alert: the USS Shenandoah will never fly to the Arctic). 

Former British Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, somehow once again leader of the Liberal Party, will back a no-confidence motion against Stanley Baldwin’s Conservative government, ensuring that the next government will be Labour. He says the Tory government would be remembered for confusion, vacillation and impotence. You may insert your own joke here. He says, “It would be a waste of time to indulge in the thankless task of slaying a suicide.” Winston Churchill, still in the Liberal Party but not in Parliament, roars a protest against Asquith’s move.

The Obregón government in Mexico asks permission to move its troops through US territory to attack the Huertista rebels. This will also require permission from Texas (Arizona and New Mexico’s governors have already given theirs).

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 17, 1924: There is no such thing as liberty without observance of the law

At the White House, Pres. Coolidge declares to delegates of the Anti-Saloon League annual convention, “there is no such thing as liberty without observance of the law.”

The US Navy dirigible Shenandoah is torn from its mooring in Lakehurst, New Jersey and dragged 60 (other reports say 80) miles with its crew before they regain control. It was out of radio contact most of the time, so radio stations stopped regular broadcasting and asked listeners to look out for it and report in. Finally WOR Newark heard back from the Shen. It’s nose will require expensive repairs.

The House Immigration Committee approves a ban on Oriental immigrants, although immigration officers could allow in individual students, merchants, whatever.

Philadelphia Director of Safety Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler drafts Philly’s firemen into his war on “bandits,” giving them .45 revolvers so they can “pitch in.” He also wants 100 motorcycles because vroom vroom.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 16, 1924: Vigorously resented

The Democrats choose New York City for their Convention. It came down to a bidding war, because the party still has a deficit from the 1920 election. $255,000, including broadcast rights and preparing Madison Square Garden.

Rebel Gen. Adolfo de la Huerta declares a blockade of the port of Tampico, and the US is not best pleased, calling it an unwarranted interference with ordinary commercial transactions and saying it would be “vigorously resented.” Vigorous resentment is the worst kind of resentment.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 15, 1924: Of drivers’ licenses and the Klan issue in Louisiana

NY Gov. Al Smith points out to the Legislature that NY is behind other states in setting automobile regulations. He suggests a statewide system (not just in NYC) of drivers’ licenses (upstate Republicans have blocked this in the past), giving the state the power to revoke licenses and to collect accurate data on accidents.

The Louisiana primary vote is tomorrow, and candidates have been forced to declare themselves on the Ku Klux Klan. The 3 Democratic gubernatorial candidates, one of whom is Huey Long, all oppose the Klan, and Lt Gov Hewitt Bouanchaud says he will follow outgoing Gov. John Parker’s policy of not appointing any to office (Bouanchaud is Catholic). Long is also running against Standard Oil.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 14, 1924: Of conventions, valets, states, and cynical allusions

The DNC is about to pick a site for the Convention, and William Gibbs McAdoo’s backers are fighting the choices of machine-ridden Chicago or New York, especially NY (NY Gov. Al Smith doesn’t feel like a major candidate, but maybe he does to McAdoo.) Maybe they should find someplace cooler in the summer, in case....

After church, Calvin & Grace Coolidge go to the negro section of Washington to visit dying Arthur Brooks (I almost typed Albert Brooks), White House valet since 1909.

A delegation of representatives of the 3 leading Puerto Rican political parties, appointed by the Legislature, is coming to the US (that’s how the NYT phrases it), along with (US-appointed) Gov. Horace Towner. Those parties have all dropped demands for independence, but they want statehood, not territorial status, and they want it as soon as possible. The NYT opposes statehood because the majority of Puerto Ricans are illiterate.

Students from 16 Eastern universities gather at the U of Penn to discuss getting rid of drinkers and bootleggers at their universities. One step: “ask the Faculties to avoid cynical allusions to the matter.”

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 13, 1924: In which is revealed what were the best contracts the United States government ever made

The British railway engineers & firemen union says it will order a strike, but won’t say when. Which is embarrassing for the Labour Party’s plans to form a government. 

NYC Police Commissioner Richard Enright is charging 13 of the 22 inspectors, as well as a bunch of deputy inspectors and captains, with failure to enforce Prohibition.

Former Interior Secretary Albert Fall says the Teapot Dome and Elk Hills deals were “the best contracts the United States government ever made,” and he’d love to tell the Senate Committee all about it... health permitting. Which it didn’t yesterday when he was supposed to appear. He’s currently hiding out in Palm Beach, although he denies that he’s hiding out.

At the Communist Party conference in Moscow, acting PM Lev Kamenev attacks War Minister Leon Trotsky, after which a censure resolution is adopted. Evidently Trotsky is supporting economic positions contrary to those of the Central Committee. Trotsky is not present, being ill. Lenin is not present, being dying.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 12, 1924: The King’s Peach

The British Cabinet decides that the King’s Speech can’t be broadcast on radio, since it’s a political speech (written by the party currently in power), and those are banned from the airwaves.

Eleftherios Venizelos gives in, oh so reluctantly, and will form a Greek government after all, after the Liberals prove too divided to form one.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 11, 1924: Oops

A British battleship bumps a British submarine, accidentally – or so they’d have us believe – sending all 43 submariners to the bottom of Portland Bill, which is a body of water rather than a hipster coffee shop. Elsewhere in the exercise, two other subs have a fender-bender.

The West Virginia Democrats endorse former ambassador to Britain John W. Davis for president. Let the Johnmentum begin!

A state constitutional amendment is proposed in the NY Assembly to increase the gubernatorial term from two years to four. Another suggestion is to allow women to serve on juries. Not require them to, mind you; that didn’t happen until the mid-70s (which explains “Twelve Angry Men”).

The state of Illinois steps in to stop dry raids in Williamson County conducted by the Ku Klux Klan. They’ve also been beating & robbing Italians, as was the custom.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 10, 1924: Of assassinations and censorship

Franz Josef Heinz, the self-proclaimed president of the “Autonomous Government of the Palatinate,” is assassinated, alongside a couple of bysitters, in the Wittelsbacherhof Hotel restaurant in Speyer by members of the Viking League paramilitary group, who presumably would prefer the Palatinate remain in Germany.

Ohio bans Mabel Normand and Edna Purviance films. Ditto Michigan for Normand.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 9, 1924: Um, sure

Coolidge wants the tax-reduction bill passed before the veterans’ bonus bill. Also, he opposes the Democrats’ alternative tax bill, which he says favors the rich by taxing them the most when they have the power to pass on those taxes to consumers.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 8, 1924: Go out and get some

Coolidge puts an embargo on arms sales to the Huertaista rebels in Mexico.

Headline of the Day -100:  

This is the sort of authoritarianism you can expect when you put a US Marine general on a leave of absence, one Smedley Darlington Butler, in charge of a city’s cops (and firemen and elevator inspectors). Gen. Butler says “I have a free hand and will not be interfered with by the politicians.” He tells 2,000 cops at the Metropolitan Opera House, “I don’t believe there’s a single bandit notch on a policeman’s gun in this city. Go out and get some.” Spoken like a veteran of many imperial wars treating the mean streets of Philly like the Philippines.

Elsewhere in law enforcement, Birmingham, Alabama police have gotten 5 black men to confess to 8 axe murders through the use of “‘truth serum,’” the NYT’s quote marks presumably indicating they were falsely told they had been injected with truth serum.

The New York State Moving Picture Commission declines to ban the films of Mabel Normand or Edna Purviance as many other locales are doing because the infatuated chauffeur of the former shot a guy in the presence of the latter.

Michigan Agricultural College (Go Aggies!) is planning to broadcast a sort of running account of a basketball game on the radio. This will be a first.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 7, 1924: Of peace plans, bombs, and munitions

Edward Bok, former editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal, sponsored a $100,000 prize for the “best practicable plan for U.S. cooperation in world peace.” Of the 22,165 submissions, he chose:  join the World Court, cooperate with the League of Nations, which has to change the provisions of its Covenant (“substitute moral force and public opinion for military and economic force...”)... I’m gonna stop there, since this is just the Republican position from when they were torpedoing Wilson’s attempt to join the League. This is... nothing... justifying my ignoring all the stories about this contest until now.

Someone throws bombs at the Japanese Imperial Palace. The police leap into action and suppress a newspaper that reports the incident, which seems to have been more in the nature of a demonstration than an actual attack intended to hurt anyone. A Korean is arrested, as was the custom.

The State Dept warns against US arms dealers selling to the Mexican rebels, but it’s not a formal ban, at least not yet.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 6, 1924: Hail King Harry!

Eleftherios Venizelos, returning to Greece from exile, is elected president of the National Assembly almost unanimously and celebrates by having a heart attack. Before this, Venizelos said he intended to remain in office only until the possibility of a civil war passes.

Mexican rebel general Adolfo de la Huerta orders rifles & machine guns & ammo for both in New Orleans to test the US government’s claim when it sold arms to the Mexican government that there is no embargo on arms sales to Mexico.

The NYT says the British public is “resigned” to the possibility of a Labour government and thinks it might not even be a calamity. The possibilities of a fusion Tory-Liberal cabinet, or the king simply putting Asquith in office, are fading. Those “resigned” Britishers are reassuring themselves that Labour can’t do anything especially radical with a minority in Parliament and zero members in the House of Lords.

Albania keeps offering its crown to foreign princes & dukes, and keeps being turned down. Now they’re trying American oil guy Harry Sinclair, who just a few days ago testified very much against his will at the Senate Teapot Dome hearings. His connection with Albania is that he breeds horses there.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 5, 1924: Of arms sales and censorship

The US sells 5,000 rifles, 5 million rounds of ammunition, and 8 aeroplanes to Mexico to use in crushing the rebellion. Coolidge is ignoring Congress to make the sale, like a common Joe Biden.

As New Hampshire bans Mabel Normand’s movies, and Ohio and Kansas look to follow, Mabel appeals to Americans’ sense of fair play. Good luck with that.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 4, 1924: Chin out

40 or so people die in a starch explosion at the Corn Products Company in Pekin, Illinois.

There have been disturbances at the vault in Marion where Warren G. Harding’s body is entombed, possibly aimed more at the guards than Harding, possibly by children: bugles blown, stones thrown at the guard houses, etc. So Lt. Harriman, in command of the guard, sends for riot guards and says he’ll shoot at future people causing disturbances.

Rep. William Upshaw (D-KKKGeorgia) demands that Pres. Coolidge “begin a righteous crusade by breaking every jug and bottle in official Washington and by using the Executive guillotine on the neck of every drinking official including army, navy and Cabinet officers.” In other words, that Cal fire every government official who engages in “drinking devilment.” Upshaw also wants to deport aliens who break Prohibition (we’ve been hearing that idea frequently of late). And a lot more ideas along those lines.

Mabel Normand has an appendectomy in the same hospital in which Courtland Dines is staying after being shot by Normand’s chauffeur. Memphis censors say her films will be banned in the city forever. They haven’t decided about Edna Purviance yet. Kansas Attorney General Charles Griffith will ask the censor board to ban films featuring both women. Will Hays is rushing to California to look into the affair, “and I have my chin out,” whatever that means.

John D. Rockefeller, 84, likes to play golf, and to be praised for how he plays golf. He keeps dimes in his pocket to hand out to anyone who applauds one of his shots.

For weeks before he was exiled, King George of Greece wouldn’t have his hair cut because he was afraid Greek barbers would do a Sweeney Todd on him, I guess. The first thing he did when he arrived in Bucharest was to get a haircut.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 3, 1924: Of scofflaws, pernicious non-Communist influences, and worried mustaches

A banker in Quincy, Massachusetts who glories in the name Delcevare King, is sponsoring a contest with a $200 prize to come up with an epithet for people who drink in violation of Prohibition laws which will be so harsh, so cutting that it will “stab awake the conscience of the drinker,” like “scab” or “slacker.” Entries received so far include bootocrat, boozshevik, law-jacker, sliquor and wetocrat. The winner, which will be announced in a couple of weeks: “scofflaw,” a new coinage sent in separately by two people. The obituary of Mr King in the ‘60s says the term was mostly used at that time for parking and other automobile-related offenses. How is it used today?

Russia extends its ban on religious schools to all private schools in order to combat “pernicious non-Communist influences.” It also bans corporal punishment in all schools.

Greece’s coup regime turns power back to the National Assembly, calling for a republic. Still, “No Parliament ever exhibited more worried mustaches.”

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 2, 1924: Of referenda, actresses & shootings, orderly procedures, hand-shaking, and corsets

Former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos suggests a referendum to decide whether Greece will become a republic, or, if it stays a monarchy, whether a different ruling family shall reign.

Denver oil man Courtland Dines is shot by actress Mabel Normand’s chauffeur (with her gun) because, he says, Dines was bothering Normand. Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin’s leading lady, also witnesses the shooting. The story implies that there was drinking involved. Dines was in a dressing gown, more proof that silent movies were documentaries.

Although there’s a movement in Congress to express opposition to arming the Obregón regime in Mexico, Coolidge intends to go right ahead regardless under authority the administration claims he has, “in the interest of orderly procedure,” whatever that means. These opponents have coined “the Harding doctrine,” for a policy of not selling arms to foreigners (Harding refused to allow an earlier proposed arms sale to Mexico).

Mussolini’s dictatorial powers expire.

 

President Coolidge and First Lady Grace hold the traditional New Year’s Day reception and both shake hands with 3,891 people.

King Albert of Belgium says his country’s financial future depends on 1) reparations from Germany, 2) exploiting the Belgian Congo.

Maternity corset, for fuck’s sake.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: January 1, 1924: Of arms and ashes

There’s a movement in the Senate to stop the proposed arms sales to the Mexican government for use against rebels. Some senators think it would break international law.

A thief is caught stealing the ashes of some saint in Avezzano, Italy. The crowd beat him up and set him on fire, as was the custom.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 31, 1923: I got nuthin’

Nuthin’

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 30, 1923: Of tax cuts & arms sales

Bankers, railroad presidents, lawyers, real estate operators and industrialists are just some of the diverse range of people expressing support for Treasury Sec. Andrew Mellon’s tax-cut plans, the details of which were (finally) released yesterday. They say the cost of living will go down and a dollar will again be worth... wait for it... a dollar.

The US will sell the Obregón government in Mexico military supplies to defeat the Huerta uprising, including millions of rounds of ammunition, but not the cruisers Obregón wanted. Or airplanes.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 29, 1923: Of pardons, names, and microphones

Chicago bootlegger Philip Grossman, the guy Calvin Coolidge pardoned who turned out not to be in prison but a fugitive, admits having paid thousands to a Republican politician for that pardon. His commutation may now not come through. Update: okay, I’ve now checked Wikipedia. The district court will send him back to prison, saying the president doesn’t have the power to pardon in contempt of court cases (the contempt consisting of selling booze when a court had told him not to), because that would violate separation of powers. The Supreme Court in 1925 will rule that presidents do have that power.

The New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital picks the names that will be foisted on foundlings in 1924. These are chosen “at random,” but assigned by sex. Annnnd race, although I don’t see anything especially racial in the names chosen. For example, white Protestant boys (are there no Catholics or Jews? do they get surrendered somewhere else?) will get names like Frederick Olmstead, Alexander Halliday, and Stephen Oliver. White Protestant girls will be Elizabeth Kemberley, Anne Draper, Margaret Dryden, etc. While black boys will be William Clinton, George Getty, Ralph Phime, etc. 

Dr Phillips Thomas has invented a microphone that can record insect noises too high for the human ear, so we can find out what they're saying about us.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 28, 1923: Of cane-guns, private business transactions, bombs, prohibition courts, and hypnotized cops

The Japanese Cabinet resigns, taking responsibility for the attempted assassination of Prince Regent Hirohito. Immediately, on the same day. A young Communist, I guess, used a cane-gun, which is cool, right? Hirohito continues on to the Diet, which he opens “with customary ceremonies” without members of the Diet (dieticians?) knowing what had happened until later.

Spain foils a Communist plot, which may or may not be real, against the dictator Gen. Primo Rivera, whose name I’ve run out of puns for. Many arrests are made.

In the slow-moving Senate investigation of Tea Pot Dome led by Robert La Follette, Harry Sinclair of the eponymous oil company refuses to answer questions about his “private business transactions.”

A bomb is thrown at a Jewish women’s society ball in Vienna, with one killed & 43 wounded. The cops think the perps are from the Society of Awakening Hungarians.

Federal judges rule that the IRS’s “Prohibition Court,” created to collect taxes from bootleggers, is unconstitutional. It notes some of the people “taxed” had not been convicted of bootlegging.

Headline of the Day -100:  

In Sebenico, Croatia. The cop was told to “shoot” a piece of wood at the audience. Finding that it wouldn’t fire, he switched to his service revolver, which did, then arrested three audience members. When brought out of the trance, he went insane and was committed. I don’t think I believe this story.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 27, 1923: Of anti-Semitism

Romanian police and troops are standing guard at the universities in Bucharest, Jassy & Klousenburg to protect Jewish students from violence. Some professors are refusing to lecture in the presence of soldiers.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 26, 1923: A normal course

Former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos will return to Greece, as requested by 270 members of the Constituent Assembly, but says he won’t take over his old job and will just be mediator and adviser to his country (yeah, sure) to get it back to “a normal course,” whatever that means.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 25, 1923: Of pardons, assassinations, and raids

Pres. Coolidge issues 11 pardons, including for an 18-year old Mexican woman 14 months into a drugs sentence, a guy who was blinded by an accident in prison, and a black man (several of the pardonees are black) who, as a minor, killed his stepfather to stop him beating his sister 21 years ago. One pardoned Chicago bootlegger, Philip Grossman, was probably put on the list accidentally, or because of bribes, but he’s not actually in prison and has been a fugitive from justice for the last year. He’ll surrender now to get his commutation.

After 25 minutes, a Paris jury acquits Germaine Berton, the 20-year-old anarchist who assassinated Marius Plateau, leader of the far-right monarchist Camelots du Roi, in January. Her lawyers described it as a political act and essentially put the Camelots on trial, correctly pointing out that they preach and practice violence against radicals. Thanks to France’s weird judicial system, that means the Camelots’ lawyer can participate in the trial.

The federal Prohibition cops conduct a raid in Williamson County, Illinois of supposed moonshiners and bootleggers, taking in 75 people. The feds operated without the knowledge of local cops, using volunteers. You know, Klansmen.

The Irish Free State releases Countess Markievicz.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 24, 1923: Of propaganda, dazed Greeks, and illnesses the require vibratory stimulation

Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes shows his “evidence” that Soviet Russia is conducting propaganda in the US: an article from last year in Izvestia about the close relationship between Russia and the Third International, whose president, Grigory Zinoviev, hopes that the Workers Party of America “will now more successfully conduct its work among the millions of American proletarians.”

Headline of the Day -100:

A republic? A new king (evidently Britain is ready and willing to supply one)? The return of Eleftherios Venizelos as prime minister for the 4th time?

Although the Irish Free State is releasing many interned political prisoners, Éamon de Valera is still in his cell, reading Einstein.

For her (ahem) Christmas stocking:

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 23, 1923: Vive l’anarchie

Anarchist Marcelian del Val is executed in Toulon for killing 3 cops. He refuses a mass, saying “I mock religion.” His last words: Vive l’anarchie.

Russia is adopting the metric system, phasing it in by 1927.

Chief Deskaheh is trying to get the League of Nations to recognize the Iroquois as an independent state.

Germany has been slow in developing radio, and the government is hampering it with strict, indeed ridiculous, rules. To even purchase a radio, one must get a license after proving oneself a citizen of Germany of good moral character. No one is allowed build their own radios, and the models they’re permitted to buy can receive only certain stations and not transmit. Chancellor Wilhelm Marx will soon make the first broadcast by a prominent German person.

Canada will soon hang its first Eskimos. Ottawa says this is necessary to stop Eskimos committing murders, so many murders.

The French navy airship Dixmude (originally a German zeppelin seized as reparations) is feared lost in the Sahara, caught in a gale. It did, in fact, blow up off the coast of Sicily, killing 52 passengers and crew, the largest air disaster to date. Only 2 bodies were ever recovered.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 22, 1923: Of reeds

William Randolph Hearst is throwing his weight behind Sen. James Reed of Missouri to be the Democratic nominee for president, although Reed hasn’t shown much interest in the job. If that fails, Hearst may just let his papers support Coolidge.

Russia says the papers US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes is citing as proving Russia encouraged US Communists to prepare for revolution are forgeries.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 21, 1923: Not taking no for an answer

The South Dakota Ford-for-President Club ignores Henry Ford’s refusal to run for president and will go ahead working to put his name on the ballot.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will investigate Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes’ accusation that Russia conducts propaganda in the US for the overthrow of the government. Some congresscritters think Hughes is just making shit up. Hughes cites an alleged instruction from Grigory Zinoviev to US Communists to prepare for revolution. 

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 20, 1923: No persuasion was sufficient to put them straight

France awards Marie Curie a pension of 40,000 francs per year for herself and her children on the 25th anniversary of the discovery of radium.

Henry Ford says once again that he isn’t running for president and endorses Coolidge. He says 90% of the people “feel perfectly safe” with Cal. In fact, he suggests that the C-Man is too busy running the country to campaign, so everyone should just concede the election to him, I guess.

What’s the opposite of a beer hall putsch? Rumor was that another Nazi coup was scheduled during a performance of Tosca, but it didn’t happen.

A bill granting dictatorial powers to the Bavarian government fails to win 2/3 of the votes in the Landtag.

10 members of the Russian group Laboring Truth are arrested because “no persuasion was sufficient to put them straight.”

 

The KKK sets off 12 bombs on the campus of the University of Dayton, Ohio, a Catholic institution and burn a cross. You’d think that would make the NYT, wouldn’t you? It doesn’t. 

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 19, 1923: Principles!

Greece orders King George and Queen Consort Elisabeth into exile. She’s the daughter of the king of Romania, so that’s where they’ll go.

The State Dept replies to a Russian telegram about negotiations leading to US recognition, saying the US government “is not proposing to barter away its principles.” The next paragraph is a demand that Russia restore property confiscated from US citizens, if you were wondering what those principles are.

Italy warns France it wouldn’t accept an independent Rhineland, much less annexation by France of the German territories it’s currently occupying.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 18, 1923: But certainly no better

William Gibbs McAdoo announces his candidacy for president. He says the US won’t “progress in any direction through the Republican policies of stand-stillism and wishful thinking”.

A French court-martial is trying 40 German Düsseldorf police for breaking up a demonstration of Rhenish separatists on September 30th. A couple of French soldiers were injured, but the main charge is that the police didn’t obey French orders not to do anything.

Former kaiser Wilhelm wins a libel suit against an editor who published a story claiming that in 1895 Willy caused a naval officer on the royal yacht to commit suicide. Evidently he rode a bicycle off a mountain path into the sea.

New Jersey Gov. George Silzer approves the extradition to Georgia of a negro, Silas Parmore, accused of killing the Iron City police chief. Silzer says if anything happens to him, there will be no more extraditions to Georgia. An all-white Georgian jury will sentence Parmore to hang, but the state Supreme Court will overturn the verdict and he’ll be acquitted in a second trial 2 years from now, at which point Georgia Gov. Clifford Walker will write to Gov. Silzer that this proves that “the State of Georgia and its people are no worse than those of other States.”

A.W. Birch, owner of a hotel in Marlow, Oklahoma, is shot and killed defending (unsuccessfully) a black porter in his employ from a lynch mob. The all-white town doesn’t allow black people after dark.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 17, 1923: Of counter-offensives, rocket men, and something electrical

Mexican Pres. Obregón launches a counter-offensive against the rebels with however much of the army still obeys him. The former general will evidently lead the troops in person.

Today -100 is the 20th anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers.

Is this the next step?

Has Henri (?) Melot invented a jet plane? One without a propeller, and therefore able to reach higher altitudes?

New York Edison asks

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 16, 1923: I am delighted that a President of the United States has discovered the First Amendment to the Constitution

Coolidge commutes the sentences of 31 people still in prison for convictions under the Espionage Act during the Great War, for, you know, speaking against the war. Just in time for Christmas! In doing this, Coolidge is following the recommendations of a committee set up by Harding. Sen. William Borah says “I am delighted that a President of the United States has discovered the First Amendment to the Constitution and has had the courage to announce the discovery.”

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 15, 1923: They’re expected to nominate Calvin Coolidge sober?

In the French Chamber of Deputies, Socialist MP and future PM Léon Blum says the government’s Ruhr policy obtained neither reparations nor security, and indeed imperiled both.

Prohibition officials are already planning to prevent the attempts of bootleggers to bring into Cleveland next June the huge quantities of booze required to lubricate the Republican Convention.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 14, 1923: Wait, is he saying that Winston Churchill was... drunk? Unpossible!

Hiram Johnson is furious at the RNC decision to over-represent the South at the National Convention, which he sees as a Coolidge move to pump up the number of tame delegates. Yup, but another reason is that blacks in the North are threatening to bolt the party.

Rep. Frank Clark (D-Florida) protests the rule against congresscritters having sofas in their offices.

The French women’s suffrage bill is running into trouble, as was the custom. The current version does have women voting at 21 instead of 25, but includes a provision for fathers to have an extra vote for each of their children (including illegitimate ones). The Chamber rejects the government’s request for a postponement until it can come up with a position on women’s suffrage. The government is also considering a bill to make voting compulsory.

Lord Alfred Douglas is sentenced to 6 months in prison for criminally libeling Winston Churchill, who he accused of having taken bribes to lie about the Battle of Jutland. After an amusing trial in which Bosie’s lawyer hectored Winnie on the stand, the jury is out 7 minutes, even after hearing from a witness who saw Churchill in “an unfortunate condition” outside Boodle’s Club in 1913. Churchill denies having ever been a member of the club.

Polish Jews have been paying smugglers to get them into Germany.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 13, 1923: Of yucatans, counsels of dormancy, duels, and equal pay

The Mexican rebels claim to have taken Yucatan. 

The Republican National Committee restores the over-representation of the South at its Convention.

Democratic presidential candidate William Gibbs McAdoo calls Coolidge’s State of the Union address a “counsel of dormancy.” He says the US can, contrary to Cal’s claim, afford tax cuts and the Bonus at the same time.

Dueling is experiencing a minor resurgence in France, the latest being between aviator Raoul Moupin and writer Albert Nitar. Moulin is hit in the shoulder.

A referendum in Boston turns down equal pay for women teachers.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 12, 1923: Of alliterative princes

The French Chamber of Deputies again takes up women’s suffrage, and as usual some idiot proposes instead to give male heads of families an extra vote for each child they have (including illegitimate ones). A measure to give the vote to women over 25 is accepted in principle.

Prussia, annoyed that people still refer to former kaiser Wilhelm as “kaiser,” strips him of the title. He is now Prince of Prussia, the same title his son has.  (Update: Next month Prussia will defend this, saying also that the Hohenzollerns never had the right to the name Hohenzollern. The name hasn’t appeared on their birth & death certificates, etc.)

Jewish students are beaten up by Christian students at Budapest University. Authorities are threatening to close the U.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 11, 1923: Of bonuses, ended dictatorships, and Bohemians

Coolidge calls for a $300 million in budget cuts per year. He says he opposes the soldier Bonus because it would make tax-cutting “impossible for years to come.” He finds no “sound reason” for the Bonus. Able-bodies vets can just get jobs.

Rebels are headed, by train, for Mexico City.

Headline of the Day -100:  

Rather than ask for a renewal of his dictatorial powers from a Chamber which has tamely given him every damn thing he asked for, he wants elections for a new Chamber to give him dictatorial powers without the accusation that it is unrepresentative.

The Republicans are adjusting the apportionment of delegates to the 1924 Convention. California feels short-changed (presumably to screw over Hiram Johnson?), as do black people from the South, which is seeing its delegates cut in half because, well, no one votes (or is allowed to vote) Republican in the South. Traditionally, many of the Southern delegates have been black, providing tame backing for the party leadership, which paid them well for it. Now the party is thinking it’s been 60 years since the Civil War and they might someday be competitive in the South, so they’ve been ditching their black supporters there. One fun way to do that is to hold the conventions that pick delegates in segregated hotels.

People at the Greenwich Village Historical Society complain about the influx to the neighborhood of long-haired male and bob-haired female Bohemians.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 10, 1923: Hey, it worked for James T. Kirk

William Jason Fields, incoming Democratic governor of Kentucky, will not attend his own inaugural ball because there’ll be dancing and he doesn’t believe in dancing (he’s a Methodist, you see) and will ban it from the executive mansion.

The Huertista rebels capture Jalapa, the capital of Vera Cruz state.

Three “adventurers” will soon start a two-year voyage on a 36-foot yawl. They’ll be looking for a tribe of Indian Amazon-type warrior women (oh, and they’re supposed to be white) they expect to find at the sources for the Amazon River, having believed a tall tale by a sea captain. “The main purpose of our venture is to find a new type of feminine beauty.”

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 9, 1923: We’re going to Cleveland!

The Reichstag passes an emergency powers act allowing Chancellor Wilhelm Marx’s Cabinet to do whatever it wants without further Reichstag authorization for an indefinite period. The vote is 313-18, with 39 left-wing members of the Social Democratic Party ignoring the party whip and staying away.

Pres. Coolidge decides that the 1924 Republican Convention will be held in Cleveland (they’ve been using Chicago exclusively since 1904 but support for Hiram Johnson is strong there so...). The Republican Party is thinking about sending out 2,000 trained speakers to explain Treasury Sec. Andrew Mellon’s plan for reducing taxes mostly on the rich (dropping surtaxes from 50% to 25%). “Duh, we’re Republicans” would seem to cover it.

The Nash County, North Carolina commissioners protest Gov. Cameron Morrison’s sending troops to Nashville to prevent the lynching of a black man on trial for assaulting a white woman. Morrison, not exactly innocent of participating in racist violence in the past, says he’ll use “every particle of power given me by the Constitution of this State to prevent lynchings”.

The Ku Klux Klan contributes $25 to a small negro church, the Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, in Greenport, Long Island, which is building a new church.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 8, 1923: Just OK

The Oklahoma Legislature passes the weak anti-Klan measure, banning mask-wearing in public but not requiring the publication of membership lists.

Berthold Brecht’s first play, Baal, premieres in Leipzig.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 7, 1923: Down with imposition!

Calvin Coolidge gives his State of the Union (still not called that) Speech. “For us peace reigns everywhere.” How nice for us. He is against joining the League of Nations but for the World Court, with qualifications. He is for tax cuts (boy is he for tax cuts). He is against the bonus for veterans. He wants to build up the Coast Guard – with power boats! fun! – to fight booze smuggling. He won’t recognize Soviet Russia, but has nothing against US citizens doing business with it. He favors an anti-lynching law, though not at great length.

British elections: Stanley Baldwin’s Tories lose 80 seats in Parliament, bringing them to 258. Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour Party gains 49 seats, bringing them to 191, and David Lloyd George’s Liberals gain 43 seats, bringing them to 158. No one has close to a majority.

Frederick Pethick Lawrence, whose career in electoral politics was stalled by his pre-war involvement in the militant women’s suffrage movement and perhaps by his pacifism during the war, and will later be the last Secretary of State for India before it receives independence, enters Parliament at 51 after defeating Winston Churchill. During World War II Pethick Lawrence will be briefly Leader of the Opposition (the small part of the Labour Party that didn’t join the National Government), facing Churchill during prime minister’s questions.

Labour Party Secretary Arthur Henderson loses his seat (although two of his sons win seats), as does Sir Reginald “Blinker” Hall, who ran Naval Intelligence and the code-breaking Room 40 during the Great War.

Lady Astor retains her seat.

Secretary of Labour Sir Clement Anderson Montague-Barlow, which is not a very secretary-of-labour name, loses his Salford seat to, hm, Labour Party member Joseph Toole, which is a very labor-type name.

The Liberals’ position is weakened, despite its increase in MPs, by the loss of many of Lloyd George’s closest associates.

The number of women MPs increases from 3 to 8, including future first female Cabinet member Margaret Bondfield (Lab).

A revolution starts in Mexico, as was the custom. The cause is the attempt of Pres. Álvaro Obregón to impose Gen. Plutarco Calles as his replacement next year (Obregón is not allowed to run for re-election). It’s led by Finance Minister Adolfo de la Huerta. Motto: Down with imposition! It is expected that Obregón will declare himself dictator.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 6, 1923: Of speakers and peace

Rep. Frederick Huntington Gillett  (R-Massachusetts) is re-elected Speaker of the House on the 9th ballot after a brief Progressive rebellion. This is the last time a speaker was not elected on the first ballot until Kevin McCarthy.

No Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded this year.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 5, 1923: Of dictatorships

German Chancellor Wilhelm Marx calls for unity, saying Germany is “actually at the end of our economic and financial strength.” And by unity, he very much means the continuation of near-martial law and dictatorial powers. Socialists – well, some of them – are likely to agree to the continuance of these powers in the hands of the non-Marxist Marx, with the compromise of a toothless advisory committee, because they really don’t want to face a new election. 

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 4, 1923: Of remissions, fighting for number 2, and relics of early Victorianism

Pres. Coolidge remits the 60-day sentence of NYC Controller Charles L. Craig (D) for contempt of court for criticizing the actions of a judge in a traction case in 1921. The NYT front page has been filled with stories about this for months, which I have not read. The White House is pointing out that this is a “remission,” not a pardon, and thus not a vindication for Craig, who they were afraid was enjoying the prospect of martyrdom too much.

Winston Churchill (L-Until-It’s-No-Longer-Convenient) pleads with the voters to make the Liberal Until It’s No Longer Convenient Party the chief opposition party rather than Labour, to fight the Tories’ abandonment of free trade.

PM Stanley Baldwin says the Conservatives, not the Liberals, are the party of progress. “They don’t know it, but they are a relic of early Victorianism and are picking their way in patterns and crinoline overmildewed,” whatever that means.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 3, 1923: Of pogroms and suicides

Pogroms in the Ukraine allegedly killed 200 Jews in the last month. The Red Army cavalry seems to be largely responsible.

Headline of the Day -100:  

French royalist (Action française) leader Léon Daudet is having his son Philippe’s body exhumed in order to prove that the 14-year-old was murdered by anarchists instead of committing suicide, or maybe that anarchists drove him to suicide. Daudet will pursue this for years, winding up sentenced to prison in 1927, escaping prison (from a 5 month sentence!) and going into exile until he’s pardoned in 1929.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 2, 1923: Of vicious mules and Barrymores

The Oklahoma Supreme Court reverses the damages award of a lower court to a man bitten by an army mule he was trying to rescue from a train wreck. The Court says “the vicious tendencies of mules are open and notorious,” so the guy assumed the risks when he approached the mule.

Which Barrymore would you go to see on Broadway, John in Hamlet or Lionel in Laugh, Clown, Laugh?

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: December 1, 1923: Of excellent understandings and indicted guvs

The Italian Chamber of Deputies discusses the possibility of a commercial treaty with the Soviet Union, which would entail official recognition. Mussolini says “The understanding between Italy and Russia in excellent.”

Indiana Gov. Warren McCray is indicted 8 times, with 192 counts, including embezzlement, forgery, issuing fake checks and promissory notes, etc.  When a reporter read him the charges, he laughed and asked “Wasn’t arson included?” He definitely did some of that shit trying to prop up his farm, but mostly he failed to do the Klan’s bidding or take its bribes.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.

Today -100: November 30, 1923: Of Marxes, Klux wreaths, and Fascism’s charm

Wilhelm Marx of the Zentrum Party, the Catholic party, will form a minority government of the same 3 parties in Stresemann’s cabinet, indeed with most of the same people in the same roles. Stresemann will be foreign minister. None of those 3 parties is the Social Democratic Party, on whose tolerance in the Reichstag Marx will nonetheless depend. Marx is the 4th person in a row Pres. Ebert asked to try to form a government, the other option being a new election, which would be... troublesome given the French occupation of part of the country and the rise of Nazis and other far-right groups.

Assistant Navy Secretary Teddy Roosevelt Jr. rejects an offer of support from the Ku Klux Klan for his run for governor of NY. “Americanism never goes masked,” he says.

Kluxers show up at the dedication of a monument to local Great War dead in Cedarhurst, Long Island and get into a fight with American Legionnaires determined to prevent them laying a wreath with the letters K.K.K.

Talking with the chief rabbi of Rome, PM Mussolini denies that the Fascist government has even considered an anti-Semitic policy. He regrets that foreign anti-Semitic parties seek to exploit “the charm which Fascism exercises throughout the world.”

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.