100 Years Ago April 1919 – Wilson ill?
Selected from the pages of the Penny Press and lightly annotated by Sally Haase
French Soiled Greatly Damaged. Paris, April 1: Over 3,000,000 acres of French farming soil have been so badly devastated by the war that it is absolutely non-productive reports an inquiry into war damages. This land has not been workable for four years as it lies in the zones of northern and eastern France over which the contending armies surged to the grapple of death. The desolate conditions suggest that it will be many years before the soil will yield crops again. Another cause of damage is the bombardment or the cutting up of the land for defensive purposes. Equally serious is the loss of livestock. The Germans drove all of the cattle into Belgium and then when the fighting was over they were left to starve by the thousands.
High School Military Training. Boston, April 2: Military training in high schools of the county, as well as in colleges, is planned as part of a war department’s program. Any college, preparatory school, or high school which agrees to enroll 100 boys over the age of 14 years in military training may apply to have a unit of the reserve officers’ training corps established and an army office to give instruction.
Lenine’s Reply to Pope. Rome, April 2: A sarcastic reply has been received at the Vatican, to a note addressed to Nicolai Lenine, protesting against brutalities inflicted upon Russian churchmen. The Bolshevik foreign minister declared the “all Russians are equal, regardless of religion,” and charged the Russian priests with hoarding food while the people were starving. The Pope’s protest stated that churches were being destroyed by the wholesale and 20 bishops and hundreds of priests had been murdered.
50,000 For Occupation Army. Washington, April 3: General Pershing was informed of the decision to enlist 50,000 volunteers for overseas service. With the arrival of each detachment of 1,000 he was to return an equal number of men who had enlisted for the period of the war.
Grey Hound Of The Air. London, April 3: Now comes the grey hound of the air – 800 feet long to carry 110 passengers, with saloon, smoke room and an elevator. Great airships and airplanes have been overcoming the terror of the air with as much reliability almost as the ships that cross on the surface.
Wilson Confined To Bed. Paris, April 4: President Wilson was unable to take part in the peace conference discussions today because of a bad cold which compelled him to stay in bed. The president has been suffering from a cold ever since his second arrival in France. Furthermore his vitality is taxed by the enormous amount of work accumulated in Washington.
Filipino Appeal For Independence. Washington, April 4: Manuel Quezon, president of the Philippines, presented to Secretary Baker a formal request for independence. He said Filipinos found inspiration and justification for our decision to appeal to the government of the United States for granting of our independence in the declaration of principles of which America in the recent world war held life and property. America fought for ‘the liberty, self-government and undictated development of all people and assumed her full share in the war for the liberation of people everywhere.’
“Mr. Secretary,” he wrote, “may I be permitted to recall at this juncture that in fighting for so high and noble ideals, the Fillipino people have stood by you during the gigantic struggle. Sir, when our national independence shall be granted us, the world will know that the people of the America are indeed bearers of good will …and it was our liberty, not your power, our welfare, not your gain, you sought to enhance in the Philippines.” [Ceded to the U.S. after the Spanish- American War in 1898, the U.S. did not grant independence to the colony until 1946.]
House Committee To Europe. Washington, April 11: Plans for a European tour of inspection by the house military affairs committee will visit American battlefields. While abroad they will confer on the plan of a “field of honor,” in which it is proposed to bury all American dead who fell on the fields of France.
Wilson Will Leave France. Paris, April 7: President Wilson has ordered the ocean liner George Washington to proceed from the United States immediately. The George Washington is the ship in which the president has been traveling back and forth between the United States and France. The president, who has been suffering from a severe cold, worked in his bedroom inspecting reports on conditions in Germany. The State department officials made no attempt to interpret the significance of the president’s decision to summon the ship.
Poland Fears Russians. Paris, April 7: A constant stream of fugitives is pouring into Warsaw with fresh tales of boshevik horrors. One half of the 600,000 people left in Petrograd are starving with great numbers dying daily. The wood pavements of the former Russian capital are being torn up for fuel. Even books in the libraries are being burned. People are being shot on the least provocations. Dead bodies are left lying in the street in heaps. Aristocrats in Russia have accepted degradation or death with complete fatalism. Everywhere moral anarchy is rife.
Make Korea Christian. Washington, April 7: It is the intention of the leaders of the Korean provisional government in Manchuria to make a Christian country of Korea, once the country is free from Japan, thus making it the first independent country in Asia to become Christian. “The Koreans would not stand for any autocratic government like that of Japan. They have been trained under American Christian influence and the leaders are imbued with the American democratic ideas,” said Dr. Rhee, newly appointed secretary of state.
Notes from the Peace Conference:
Apr. 8: The diplomatic battle has reached such a stage that everyone’s nerves are on edge.
Apr 9: A French newspaper complains today that “President Wilson’s order for the return of the liner George Washington was used to intimidate France to make concessions. It is high time to tell President Wilson that France’s demands are no more than just.”
Apr 10: Much speculation was caused here by the announcement that two noted surgeons had been ordered to proceed to embark on the George Washington at President Wilson’s order.
Apr 11: In addressing the League of Nations committee, President Wilson made an impassioned plea for the adoption of the clause specifically exempting the Monroe Doctrine, to avoid any misunderstanding and because of public sentiment in the United States.
Mutiny Of U.S. Troops In Russia. Washington, April 10 & 11: Senator Hiram Johnson related the hardships of our troops in a letter from an officer in Russia. It tells of “terrible suffering of American boys, of their fighting in the snow with a temperature of 32 degrees below zero, of the wounded falling and freezing to death; of poor rations and lack of clothing; and of their harsh British commander. The war department tells of the refusal of an infantry company to go to the front lines and demanding an explanation of their being held in Russia. Details of the mutiny of American troops in Russia are in the hands of Secretary Baker who is en route to Europe.
100 years ago, much has changed and, then again, nothing has changed.
