Today -100: March 27, 1912: Of stolen primaries and crying prime ministers

Supporters of Roosevelt do indeed bolt the Indiana Republican convention after it instructs the delegates-at-large to the national convention in Chicago to vote for Taft. TR supporters claim he had the support of the actual majority of state delegates (some of the seats were contested) but that they were road-rollered. They hold a separate rump convention and name their own delegates-at-large to Chicago. One of the regular delegates is TR’s old vice president.

TR does badly in NY primaries. “They are stealing the primary elections from us,” he says of the party machine, noting that his poll-watchers were thrown out.

126 British suffragettes are put on trial for the window-breaking party in London early this month and given sentences of 4 to 6 months. The leaders of the Women’s Social and Political Union, at least the ones the authorities were able to find, will go on trial for conspiracy.

Headline of the Day -100: “Asquith in Tears; Strike Goes On.” A conference between the miners’ union and the owners broke down. Asquith tried to take it out of their hands by a bill which just passed the House of Commons establishing a minimum wage for miners. The king has had to cancel his plans to attend the Grand National (horsie races), so you know this shit is serious.

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Today -100: March 26, 1912: Take a tip from father

The governor of Indiana and his wife were refused a room at a Chicago hotel because of police regulations against registering couples without baggage. And the governor of Arizona spent a night in the penitentiary, just to see what it’s like. He had mush and beans for breakfast.

Theodore Roosevelt holds a bunch of campaign rallies in NYC, several of them in casinos, prior to the NY primaries (the ballot is 14 feet long). At the New Star Casino, Maud Malone, the president of the Harlem Equal Rights League, interrupts his speech to ask about votes for women. He says he would support “some sort of a referendum” of women. She continued to pepper him with questions, and he stopped her being thrown out – for a while. Then the band struck up “Take a tip from father,” then TR begged her to let him finish, she told him he wanted women to have babies but not votes, he told her that this “exhibition” showed that he has more respect for “your sex” than she has, and finally she was dragged out. When she was out, he claimed she’d been put up to it by the opposition, although he must have known who Maud Malone was.

Today -100: March 25, 1912: Of final tests, nominations, assassinations, and governors in sombreros on horses

Foreshadowing Headline of the Day -100: “Final Tests for Titanic.” I believe it failed the math portion of the tests: 3,000 passengers and crew divided by 20 lifeboats...

The Montana Republican state committee rejects the Rooseveltian proposal for a primary and will just go ahead and endorse Taft without asking the voters.

Taft wins delegate conventions and primaries in Indiana. A rumor which is “generally believed” holds that Roosevelt’s managers in the state received $15,000 in soft money (hey, that was a lot of money then), part of which they spent on newspaper ads warning of fraud in the primaries and conventions. The Rooseveltians will contest all of Taft’s wins at the state convention, possibly planning to bolt and hold a separate convention if the decisions go against them. In other words, the Taft people hold the levers of the party, here and in other states as well as nationally, and are using them ruthlessly against Roosevelt. TR’s supporters, who aren’t averse to pulling the same tricks where they have the power to do so, are establishing a narrative of a party machine using trickery to suppress the wishes of the majority of party members.

The Ottoman Empire’s prince-governor of the Aegean island of Samos is assassinated by a Greek.

Oregon Governor Oswald West has exhausted his travel budget and must now travel by horse instead of train to the convention of Western governors, 500 miles away in Boise. He will wear a sombrero.

Today -100: March 24, 1912: Of collapsing platforms, strikes, kintopps, and invisible airships

In Portland, Maine, a platform on which Theodore Roosevelt was standing collapses. TR fell, but was not hurt. “It was the weight of intellect” that caused the collapse, the tubby former president tells the audience, before giving his speech as planned. He’d probably give his speech as planned even if someone shot him in the chest or something...

The coal strike in Britain has put 3 million people out of work, shutting down railroads, cotton mills, etc. Even worse, there will be no special trains for the start of the flat racing season next week.

In Berlin, a conference of the National Association of Managers, Actors and Playwrights comes to the conclusion that the number of movie theaters (kintopps, they were called at the time) should be limited so as not to compete with proper theatres, and movies’ subject matter should be confined to science and education and absolutely not drama.

Baron Adam Roenne has patented (in Britain) an “invisible” airship. It will be covered in chromium, which will make it reflective, rendering it invisible above 2,500 feet. In fact, there’s one above you right now, probably.

Proquest Typo of the Day (LAT story): “HOW THE COMPASS SHITS ABOUT.: CHANGES FROM 1750 TO 1910 NOTED BY UNCLE SAM”.

Today -100: March 23, 1912: Of loans, Chinese suffragettes, and explosions

Rep. Charles Lindbergh (R-Minn.), father of the aviator/fascist, proposes a constitutional amendment to eliminate the Senate and have a unicameral Congress of 315 members, 300 elected for 7 years + 15 members-at-large elected for 15 years with veto powers over the rest of the members.

The Great Powers propose a $300m loan to China, $240m for railroads, $60m for arms. Russia is not best pleased, sees an American plot.

Chinese “suffragettes” force their way into the National Assembly and break some windows. Possibly the equal suffrage measure wasn’t quite as good as reported yesterday?

It seems that the explosion that killed the 28 Southern Pacific scabs in San Antonio was not nitro, but a common or garden variety steam-engine explosion.

News Quiz USA

BBC Radio 4 is trying an American pilot version of its venerable news comedy show the News Quiz. With Lewis Black, Andy Borowitz, Kathleen Madigan, Todd Barry and Ted Alexandro. It’s not quite the same without short lesbians and funny English, Scottish and Danish accents, but whaddayagonnado?

Listen here for the next week. We should all encourage this attempt to bring Radio 4 comedy formats to America (I think the idea here is to sell this show to NPR), if only because of the ancient Mayan prediction that if Charlie Brooker and Lewis Black are ever in the same place at the same time, the world will end.

Today -100: March 22, 1912: Of suffrage and patronage

The Chinese parliament gives women the vote on the same terms as men (literacy tests, age 20, property owners). A woman, Yik Yug-Ying, is immediately elected to parliament from Canton.

The Senate Committee on Contingent Expenses will provide funds for an investigation (if one is ordered) into whether the Taft administration has been sending post office inspectors around the country to pressure postmasters to work for Taft’s re-election, which it has (and firing a lot of Roosevelt loyalists). In those days of a smaller federal government presence beyond Washington, the post office was a major source of political patronage. This was most important in this election in the South, where the Republican Party had a tiny presence, allowing postmasters to dominate the process of selecting delegates to the national convention. With so few states having popular primaries, the party nomination process was a dirty, dirty business. Unlike now, of course.

Today -100: March 21, 1912: Are the American people fit to govern themselves?

Emil Seidel, Socialist mayor of Milwaukee, is defeated in his bid for re-election, the D’s & R’s uniting behind a unity candidate.

Gov. Woodrow Wilson denies rumors that he failed to vote for William Jennings Bryan in 1908 or that he ever said that he prefers Chinese to Polish immigrants.

Speaking at Carnegie Hall, Theodore Roosevelt defends his position on recalls, initiative, direct primaries and the like, saying that the fundamental issue before the Republican Party is “Are the American people fit to govern themselves, to rule themselves, to control themselves?” Good question. He disagrees with the view of some (i.e., Taft) that the Constitution is a “strait jacket to be used for the control of an unruly patient – the people”. He notes that the country is “suffering from the tyranny of minorities” which own all the coal and water power, profit from adulterated drugs and food, control the monopolies and trusts and sweatshops – and the Republican convention.

The Massachusetts State Senate rejects women’s suffrage 17-14 and the direct election of US senators 19-14.

Democrats in Congress offer a plan to give the Philippines independence in 1921 (July 4th, naturally) after eight years of “probationary independence” during which the Filipinos would elect a congress (some Filipinos; there’d be a property franchise and a literacy test), whose legislation could be vetoed by the US president. A Philippines president would be nominated by the US president and confirmed by the US Senate. Polygamy would be outlawed.

Nalle

Newt Gingrich 1) attacks Robert De Niro for making a joke about America not being ready for a white First Lady, 2) surreptitiously asks aide to get Halle Berry’s phone number.

Today -100: March 20, 1912: Of warships and primaries

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill gives a speech in Parliament saying that Britain plans to keep building warships at a faster rate than any of its competitors, and this means you, Germany (specifically, he wants to build 60% more ships than Germany does).

A couple of days ago, President Taft claimed to support presidential primaries, such as those just set up by the Massachusetts Legislature (only 6 states had provisions for them at the start of the year), but with lots of caveats and, as Roosevelt points out, only several days after Massachusetts had already enacted them. But what about Maryland, Michigan and elsewhere, TR asks, where Taft’s people are fighting primary legislation tooth and nail?

Today -100: March 19, 1912: Of bribery, presidential smooches, explosions, and married women

New Mexico has been a state for, what, a minute and a half? Four legislators are arrested for soliciting bribes, asking $5,000 each to vote for A.B. Fall for US senator. A sting operation was set up, with the cooperation of Fall, who will be one of NM’s first two senators and (spoiler alert) will go to prison for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal as President Harding’s Interior secretary.

President Taft kisses the first child of the re-election campaign season, one Mary Irene Barter, 11, in Boston. “It didn’t feel different from other kisses I have had, except it was before all those people,” Mary said on Yelp.com.

New war scare in Europe: Russia v. Turkey over Persia.

32 strikebreakers working for the Southern Pacific Railroad in San Antonio die in an explosion believed to have been caused by nitroglycerine. The NYT lists some of the identified bodies by name, adding at the bottom of the list “five negro helpers,” who I guess didn’t have names. Also, an 82-year-old woman was killed seven blocks away when the front end of a locomotive crashed into the roof of her house.

The Continental and Commercial Bank of Chicago will require the “resignation” of all female employees who get married. A bank vice president says the bank would prefer not to have to hire women at all, but needs must.

Today -100: March 18, 1912: Of insane aliens, members for aviation, and shaving Chinese

Alarming Headline of the Day -100: “Too Many Insane Aliens.” A report from the NY State Lunacy Commission to Gov. Dix complains about the cost and wants them deported. The report says that 1/6 of NY’s revenues goes to taking care of the insane.

While many of the Republican convention delegates have already been chosen, by fair means and foul, Roosevelt wins his first state convention, that of North Carolina.

French aviator Jules Vedrines, who earlier this month became the first man to fly a plane faster than 100 miles per hour, loses election to the French parliament, to which he was running as “member for aviation.” He flew to his rallies, speaking of the need for a large air force.

Headline of the Day -100: “All China is Shaving.”

I’m not somebody who believes that women are going to be single-issue voters

A week and a half ago, Obama held a press conference. I wrote up a post, decided it was sub-par, and deleted it. But there was one answer of his that I don’t want to let go. Asked about the “war on women,” he politely declined the opportunity to declare himself and the Democratic Party to be on the side of the women: “Women are going to make up their own mind in this election about who is advancing the issues that they care most deeply about.”

He went on:

there are millions of strong women around the country who are going to make their own determination about a whole range of issues. It’s not going to be narrowly focused just on contraception. It’s not going to be driven by one statement by one radio announcer. It is going to be driven by their view of what’s most likely to make sure they can help support their families, make their mortgage payments; who’s got a plan to ensure that middle-class families are secure over the long term; what’s most likely to result in their kids being able to get the education they need to compete. ... So I’m not somebody who believes that women are going to be single-issue voters.

Notice how quickly he moved to non-gender-specific issues like mortgages and education. He’s just not comfortable with the notion that women might vote based on their interests as women. He’d rather talk to them about mortgages and “a whole range of issues” than reassure them about their reproductive autonomy.

Of course women are interested in a whole range of non-vagina-related issues (unlike Rick Santorum), but it doesn’t make them (gasp) single-issue voters if they draw a line in the sand and say that, other issues aside, they will not vote for someone who attacks their right to control their own body. To suggest that such voters are “narrowly focused” is an insult to them and to the principle itself.

Today -100: March 17, 1912: Define “enlightened”

The NYT editor replies to a letter to the editor from James H. Hubert (an actual black dude, although the NYT may not know that, lacking Ye Olde Google), who says that Taft has not been as good for the blacks as Roosevelt was, having fired negro federal officeholders in the South. The editor responds, and I’ll quote in full: “The enlightened friends of the colored people in the South believe that their salvation can best be worked out in business and the industries and that the worst possible disservice to them would be to lead them into politics.”

Lawrence Oates of the Scott Antarctic expedition goes outside. He may be some time.

Today -100: March 16, 1912: Of insurgent hysteria

The Woodrow Wilson presidential surge is stalling out. Of the 74 delegates to the Dem. convention who have been chosen, all are for Champ Clark, the speaker of the House, except for 10 from Oklahoma. Wilson is having to be progressive enough to win votes in this progressive year without alienating the South, which he’s finding a bit tricky.

The London Times has an editorial on the suffragettes entitled “Insurgent Hysteria.” It blames the militant movement on hysterics and on “less excusable” women: unmarried women with no aptitude for professions, women with an abundance of leisure and a somewhat vacuous existence, etc.

In Philadelphia, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw calls for “militant suffrage for America”: “If we are played with, made fun of, just tolerated, greeted with supercilious smiles by members of Congressional committees, there is nothing for us to do but to resort to militant methods.”

As they would say in Britain, we got thrashed

Obama held a press conference with David Cameron yesterday. According to him, people are really interested in the fact that the two of them went to that basketball game yesterday. “Some have asked how it came about.”

I’M PRETTY SURE THAT MEANS “HAD GAY SEX.” EVERYTHING THEY SAY IN BRITAIN MEANS “HAD GAY SEX.” “During my visit to London last year, David arranged for us to play some local students -- table tennis. As they would say in Britain, we got thrashed.”

I’M PRETTY SURE THAT MEANS “HAVE GAY SEX” TOO: “That said, I’m still trying to get David to fill out his bracket.”

IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, AND I THINK YOU DO: “We’ve just finished up a very good discussion, and it was a reminder of why I value David’s leadership and partnership so much.”

MAN, IT’S JUST ALL ABOUT THE GAY SEX WITH THESE TOO: “Between us, we have the largest investment relationship in the world”.

“TEAMS,” HUH? “and we’ve instructed our teams to continue to explore ways to increase transatlantic trade and investment.”

SEX SEX SEX: “And I very much appreciate David’s perspective on the fiscal situation in the eurozone, where both our countries... are deeply connected.”

THAT MOMENTUM WON’T BREAK ITSELF, YOU KNOW: He refers rather indirectly to some unspecified “tragic events of recent days” in Afghanistan. But insists that “we can never forget” that “our forces are making very real progress: dismantling al Qaeda; breaking the Taliban’s momentum; and training Afghan forces so that they can take the lead and our troops can come home.” Just like they’ve been claiming to be doing every day for more than a decade now.

THREAT: “We also discussed the continuing threat posed by Iran’s failure to meet its international obligations.” If Iran were actually developing nukes, that might arguably constitute a “threat,” but failing to meet international obligations does not.

THE GAY SEXIEST REFERENCE YET: “We believe there is still time and space to pursue a diplomatic solution, and we’re going to keep coordinating closely with our P5-plus-1 partners.”

IF ONLY BECAUSE HE’S NOT IMMORTAL: “I’ll say it again: Assad will leave power. It’s not a question of if, but when.”

IT’S TIME: “We also think it’s important that there is a political aspect to this -- that all the various factions and ethnic groups inside of Afghanistan recognize that it’s time to end 30 years of war.” You make it sound like that 30 years of war is entirely their fault, like the countries that keep invading them don’t have something to do with it.

OBAMA ENTERING CONDESCENDING MODE IN 3..2..1.. “you asked why is it that poll numbers indicate people are interested in ending the war in Afghanistan. It’s because we’ve been there for 10 years, and people get weary, and they know friends and neighbors who have lost loved ones as a consequence of war.” Yeah, that’s it, the American people are “weary,” it’s not that they’ve come to a considered judgment that this is a failed mess.

Obama gives what may be a new justification for stopping Iran developing nukes: “It would embolden terrorists in the region who might believe that they could act with more impunity if they were operating under the protection of Iran.” I’m not sure how that “protection” would actually work, but by all means let’s base our foreign policy on what terrorists “might believe.”

WAS IT THE GIGGLING THAT GAVE THEM AWAY? “We will do everything we can to resolve this diplomatically, but ultimately, we’ve got to have somebody on the other side of the table who’s taking this seriously.”

THE FASTEST WAY TO END THE KILLING: Cameron: “We think that the fastest way to end the killing, which is what we all want to see, is for Assad to go.”

Freedom of religion

A quick note on rhetoric.

The US Conference of Bishops issued a statement: “This dispute is not about access to contraceptives but about the government’s forcing the church to provide them.” Similarly, Darrell Issa, when refusing to let Sandra Fluke testify, said his hearing was “not about reproductive rights but instead about the administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience”. Really, guys, this is not even a little bit about contraception and reproductive rights? We’re pretending that the actual content of this so-called freedom of religion is not relevant? That’s like saying that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery because it was about states’ rights. They could make the claim that the freedom of religion of Catholics not to be involved with anything they find icky trumps the right of women to control their bodies, but they don’t do that; they insist that “freedom of religion” is the only issue under discussion here. As a rhetorical device, it’s similar to the refusal of many social conservatives to talk about gay marriage when objecting to gay marriage. Instead, it’s all about “preserving traditional marriage,” as they try to marginalize gays even from the discussion of gay marriage.

Today -100: March 15, 1912: Of assassination attempts, fricks, asphalt heads, kings running with scissors, unmarried & comely cops

Anarchist (“amateur anarchist,” the LAT calls him) Antonio Dalba shoots at the king and queen of Italy, misses, hitting a bodyguard and his horse instead. Their majesties were attending the annual memorial service for the previous king, Umberto I, who was assassinated by an anarchist in 1900 (which inspired Leon Czolgosz to shoot McKinley). Dalba is a legal minor (20), so cannot be executed. He will be sentenced to 30 years, but, perhaps because of his increasing mental instability, will be pardoned in 1921, only to be committed two months later to a mental hospital, where he will die in 1953.

Headline of the Day -100: “Think Frick the Donor.” Yeah, frick him! Frick him! Oh, it seems an anonymous $2.5 million donor to MIT is believed to be Henry Clay Frick.

Another Headline of the Day -100: “Resigns as Asphalt Head.” Asphalt Head – president of the General Asphalt Company, or Taft-era superhero? Sadly, the former, because I was picturing one of those comic book covers where the superhero (whose head is made entirely out of asphalt) walks away from a garbage can with his costume sticking out of it.

Yet another Headline of the Day -100 (LA Times): “King Uses a Scissors.” King George V, and they were metaphorical scissors, probably the only kind he was permitted to handle. He snipped the red tape of court precedence: henceforth, wives of ambassadors will now have the same rank as their husbands (when the American ambassador was sick, his wife refused to attend court to present American women rather than suffer the ignominy of being ranked after junior ministers).

L.A. gets its first two female deputy constables. The LA Times helpfully points out that they are both “unmarried and comely.” Even more helpfully, it gives their address (they live together).

Today -100: March 14, 1912: Of stupid and fantastic stories

President Taft is (finally) planning to get Congress to ban the sale of arms and munitions to the combatants in the civil war in Mexico.

Some of the British suffragettes who broke windows are sentenced to 4- and 6-month prison terms.

The Cuban government asked its ambassador to get a statement from President Taft about “rumors” that the US planned to invade it again (those rumors possibly caused by Secretary of State Knox having threatened that very thing in January). Taft responds: “The United States cannot be expected to take the trouble to deny all the foolish gossip which is, unfortunately, spread about its foreign relations. It should be understood in Havana that whenever the United States has anything to say about her relations with Cuba it will be said by the President or the Secretary of State. ... I am astonished to learn from you of the stupid and fantastic stories which are being circulated in some circles in Havana to the effect that intervention is being planned... [rumors which are] all the more surprising and reprehensible in view of the transparent politics of the United States. The Government of the United States, as an act of friendship, has indicated where dangers are and has adopted what has been well called a ‘preventive policy,’ that is, a policy which consists in doing all within its power to induce Cuba to avoid every reason that would make intervention possible at any time.” Yeah, I can’t see how stupid and fantastic stories about American intervention could start.

Striking corset workers (which sounds like something out of some sort of historical porno) in Kalamazoo, hit with a court order against picketing, are instead praying outside the factory (praying that scabs join the strike).

NY Governor John Dix, a Democrat, “has put on war paint” in preparations for battle with the Democratic/Tammany machine, which has just defeated his nominee for a position on the Public Service Commission for the 2nd district, which was I guess Boss Murphy’s attempt to show Dix who really runs things.

The huge Lawrence, Mass. mill strike is finally over, after two months, the IWW agreeing with textile mill owners to a pay increase of 5 to 25% (the lower-paid workers getting the largest increases).

Headline of the Day -100: “20th Century Goes into River.” Not a metaphor, apparently: the 20th Century was the train between Chicago and NYC.