Today -100: February 4, 1924: He kept us out of war until he didn’t

Thomas Woodrow Wilson is dead. The 28th president of the United States was 67.

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Today -100: February 3, 1924: Of dying presidents and new prime ministers, non-testimony, duels, and cabbies v. goats

Woodrow Wilson is still dying.

Alexei Rykov is named Prime Minister of Russia and of the Soviet Union, replacing Lenin.

Russia arrests an American (?) who took film footage of Lenin’s funeral, which foreigners were banned from doing.

Former Interior Secretary Albert Fall takes the Fifth before the Senate Teapot Dome committee. He also claims there were various irregularities in the setting up of the committee that make it null and void.

The Navy’s chief engineer, Rear Admiral Robison, defends the Navy’s contract with Doheny to construct fuel tanks at Pearl Harbor, saying Japan might try to invade the Pacific Coast, possibly acting in concert with Britain (less of a worry now that the British-Japanese naval alliance has expired).

Hungarian Prime Minister István Bethlen will fight a duel with Dep. Stephan Rakovsky over statements the latter made in the National Assembly. We’re not informed what those statements are.

In other dueling news, in Italy Prince Mario Colonna and the editor of the Tribuna fight quite a bloody one over an article attacking an organization of economic theorists headed by the prince.

Paris cab-drivers are complaining about the herds of goats that roam the city in summer, supplying milk to children.

Ernst Lubitsch’s film The Marriage Circle premieres. Lots of amusing little touches. Adolphe Menjou shaves.

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Today -100: February 2, 1924: I am ready

Woodrow Wilson is dying.

He says, “I am ready. I am a broken piece of machinery.”

Britain recognizes the Soviet Union, without conditions.

Since the US plans to send a dirigible to the Arctic to claim any previously undiscovered land for the US, Canada will send a steamer to claim it for Canada.

William Gibbs McAdoo would really prefer not to be dragged into the whole Teapot Dome thing – his law firm was employed by Edward Doheny in his dealings with Mexico but not with anything Teapot-adjacent.

The NYT says of the Teapot Dome hearings, “The Republicans seem to be possessed with a panic fear, the Democrats intoxicated with partisan zeal.” Everyone should just slow down, the editorial suggests.

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Today -100: February 1, 1924: Cancel culture

The Senate passes, 90-0, the resolution calling on Coolidge to cancel the Teapot Dome & Elk Hills oil leases.

A fight breaks out in the Japanese Diet over an attempt to derail a train carrying 3 opposition leaders. The prime minister threatens to call new elections.

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Today -100: January 31, 1924: Indisposed

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Speaking of indisposed, the Senate Teapot Dome committee appoints 3 doctors to see if former Interior Sec. Albert Fall really is too sick to testify (his own doctors testified today, behind closed doors).

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Today -100: January 30, 1924: No colonies, no remedies

Eleftherios Venizelos has another heart attack while debating opposition leader Alexandros Papanastasiou in the Greek National Assembly about unbanning royalist newspapers.

Navy Sec Edwin Denby says he won’t resign, even if the Robinson resolution calling for him to do so passes. He defends the legality of the Teapot Dome leases.

Responding to resolutions in the Senate calling for his removal from office, Attorney Gen. Harry Daugherty says “I am not worried about the situation in Washington.” He says he doesn’t feel a need to respond to the attacks against him, and that’s why he’s in Florida instead of Washington. Sure it is.

Pres. Coolidge regrets that Americans are so pessimistic.

A German professor has supposedly found a cure for African sleeping sickness. The German Colonial Society wants to leverage that to demand the return of its pre-war colonies. “No colonies, no remedies,” says the head of the Bremen branch, Edouard Achelis.

Is this the most cynical approach to sleeping sickness? Well, the real cure these days is Eflornithine. The pharmaceutical company that owns the patent stopped manufacturing it in the mid-1990s because the disease affected poor sub-Saharan Africans and was therefore not very profitable. Fortunately, after a few years they resumed production when they discovered that Eflornithine also treats unwanted facial hair in rich white women, and that’s a population Big Pharma knows how to market to.

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Today -100: January 29, 1924: Of special counsels, noisy but negligible minorities, and have you driven a Ford lately, comrade?

The Senate passes a resolution calling on Coolidge to fire Navy Sec. Edwin Denby and any other Navy personnel who did bad shit in the Teapot Dome & Elk Hills leases. (I just had to correct a typo “Teapot Dom.” “Teapot Dom & Elk Hills” sounds like a middling porno. Just saying.)

The House gives Coolidge up to $100,000 for the special counsel he was forced to promise to appoint to look into Teapot Dome / Elk Hills. Dems complain that Coolidge claimed there were D’s as well as R’s involved in the scandal. Many of the attacks in the debate focus on Attorney Gen. Harry Daugherty. House minority (D) leader Finis Garrett notes that Coolidge’s decision to appoint a special counsel, “admit[s] before the world that he cannot risk his own attorney general to protect the interest of the government, and at the same time that attorney general remains in the Cabinet.” Assistant Secretary of the Navy Teddy Roosevelt Jr. is also being called on to resign by congresscritters of both parties.

The NYT reports, from unnamed sources, that Teapot Dome has not proved profitable for Harry Sinclair’s Mammoth Oil and he might be willing to give up the lease if he was compensated for his investment so far (he expected to make $100 million).

Mussolini rejects the idea of an alliance during the next parliamentary election with any other parties, which he calls “a noisy but negligible minority.”

Mayor Daniel Hart of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, not only says he supports the American Legion for breaking up a Communist meeting yesterday, but in future the city will only license meetings approved by the Legion.

Ford has a deal to export automobiles to Russia, probably ones manufactured in its Danish branch.

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Today -100: January 28, 1924: Of cold funerals, reeds, and Fiume

Walter Duranty of the NYT reports that Lenin’s funeral is really cold, so cold, did I mention how cold it was?

Sen. James Reed of Missouri announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president.

American Legion members break up a Communist meeting in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in honor of Lenin. They force Communists to salute the flag. On their way to the meeting they ran across Mayor Daniel Hart, who said he’d send the cops to assist them.

Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and Yugoslav Prime Minister Nikola Pašić sign the treaty annexing Fiume to Italy. And there’s a mutual defense provision.

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Today -100: January 27, 1924: Shall the United States have corrupt government or clean government?

Pres. Coolidge issues a statement saying he has the Justice Dept observing the Senate Teapot Dome inquiry, and will prosecute anyone who needs prosecutin’ and cancel any contracts “illegally transferred or leased.”

Cordell Hull, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says the Teapot Dome scandal is “the greatest political scandal of this or any other generation.” He says the 1924 election will be partly fought on the issue should the US have corrupt government or clean government. He points out that when Coolidge was VP he sat in the Cabinet (the first to do so) when the oil leases were discussed, and never said a word about Teapot Dome or any of the other Harding Administration scandals until yesterday, when he said he was reluctant to believe anyone involved had criminal intent.

Japan’s Prince Regent Hirohito gets married. Mrs Prince Regent and him inform the imperial spirits that they are doing so. 122 imperial spirits, evidently.

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The 1919 treaty disarmed Bulgaria, so they are unable to fight the wolves, who were not disarmed by the treaty.

The US Bureau of Biological Survey reports that wolves are being hunted to extermination in the West. Also prairie dogs. It’s bragging about this.

Former president Balthazar Brum of Uruguay fights a duel with current Minister of War Rivera over the latter’s intention to introduce conscription. Neither is hit.

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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.

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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.

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Italians are often afflicted by throat affection.

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Today -100: January 24, 1924: Evolution!

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

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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