Category: 100 Years Ago

24 MARCH 1925

A new crisis has arisen in Egypt owing to the dissolution of parliament, which had been opened only a few hours earlier by King Fuad. The Ziwar Pasha cabinet resigned following the election of Zaghlul Pasha to the presidency of the chamber, but the King declined to accept their resignation.

The King, in a message to Marchioness Curzon, says that the nation will join with him in mourning the loss of a foremost statesman, and will ever gratefully remember the brilliant and manifold services Lord Curzon rendered during his long and active career under three Sovereigns.

Tributes to the late Marquis Curzon were paid in both Houses of Parliament, the House of Lords, of which he was leader, adjourning as a mark of respect.

The Singapore Naval Base scheme was discussed in the House of Commons during the report stage of Navy Estimates. Disapproving of the project, Mr Ramsay MacDonald moved the reduction of the estimate under review. His proposal was rejected by 280 to 129.

Crops have been damaged by the floods in South Africa.

In an air accident in Transcaucasia, three Soviet officials and two pilots were killed. Four days’ mourning has been proclaimed in the Caucasian Republics.

Two British officers have been killed in an aeroplane accident in Waziristan.

The British steamer Massilia went ashore at Wingate Reef, off Port Sudan. The passengers were safely taken off.

23 MARCH 1925

M. Herriot had conversations on the security problem with Lord Crewe, British Ambassador in Paris, and M. de Fleurian, French Ambassador in London.

The Cape-Natal Express fell into the river near Harishill. The accident was due to the collapse of the bridge over the river at this point. The driver and the fireman and several natives lost their lives.

In the Indian Legislative Assembly Sir Alexander Muddiman, the leader of the House, said that India owed the late Lord Curzon a great debt of gratitude for bringing to a triumphant issue his policy regarding the memorials of India’s great and varied history. Sir Frederick Whyte, President of the Assembly, associated himself with the tribute paid by Sir Alexander Muddiman.

The Government resolution approving of the contract with Sir Wm. Petersen to establish and operate a steamship service in the North Atlantic was passed by the Canadian House of Commons. It was later referred to a Special Committee of Investigation, who will report on the matter.

Another earthquake shock has been felt in the Quebec district, but no damage is reported.

The personnel of the British delegation to the Empire Press Conference to be held in Australia in the autumn is announced.

A new famine is spreading all over Soviet Russia.

The sixth anniversary of the foundation of Fascism was celebrated in Italy. Signor Mussolini made his first public appearance in Rome since his illness, and was enthusiastically acclaimed.

22 MARCH 1925

There was concern for the health of the Earl of Ypres following a serious operation.

The Cabinet was expected to announce its plan for reform of the House of Lords.

21 MARCH 1925

20 MARCH 1925

The death-roll in the Southern Illinois tornado is put, in the latest accounts, at about 1000, the number of injured at 2500, and the homeless at 10,000.

The First Lord of the Admiralty, in submitting the Navy Estimates to the House of Commons, dealt at length with the Singapore base scheme, and gave figures of cost under main heads. He emphasised the purely defensive character and purpose of the project. To talk of the British naval programme as provocative was, he said, sheer nonsense. Out of 352 warships building or projected our contribution was 20 ships.

The British Sugar Subsidy Bill was brought from the Commons and read a first time in the House of Lords. A first reading was given to the Government of India Civil Service Bill, introduced by Lord Birkenhead. The Therapeutic Substances Bill and the Merchant Shipping Equivalent Provisions Bill were read a third time.

Lord Curzon’s condition has become worse.

The Earl of Ypres (formerly Sir John French) underwent a serious operation in London.

The death is announced of Sir George Donaldson, a well-known musical amateur and art patron.

19 MARCH 1925

Attention having been called in the House of Lords to the demoralisation resulting from juvenile unemployment, Viscount Peel stated that the Government was considering a proposal to empower Local Authorities to compel attendance between the ages of 14 and 16 at juvenile unemployment centres in areas where the central authority was satisfied unemployment of this kind was sufficient to justify the step.

The British Sugar Subsidy Bill passed third reading in the House of Commons by 346 to 56. The Former Enemy Aliens Bill was read a second time and the financial resolution for the Church of Scotland Property and Endowments Bill passed Report stage.

The Glasgow Boundaries Bill was read a second time in the House of Commons by a majority of 118.

A cyclone in Southern Illinois has caused serious loss of life.

Thirty-three men were entombed in a coal mine at Fairmont, West Virginia, United States, as a result of a terrific explosion.

A great fire in the northern section of Tokio has destroyed 3000 buildings. Twenty thousand people are homeless.

Trujillo, the third largest city of Peru, is reported to have been destroyed by floods.

On the question of North Atlantic shipping fares the Canadian Premier stated in the Dominion House of Commons that the Government’s decision finally to take action was reached long before the Preston report was made. The same subsidy as that given to the Petersen lines would be granted to other Companies if they would submit to control of rates by the Government. If the scheme succeeded, he predicted, it would not be long before other parts of the Empire joined in a common effort to reduce rates.

The King and Queen leave London for their Mediterranean trip to-day.

18 MARCH 1925

17 MARCH 1925

Mr Austen Chamberlain discussed the security question with M. Herriot, the French Premier, in Paris.

The chief topic discussed on the Army Estimates in the House of Commons was the obstacle raised to recruiting for the Supplementary Reserve by two large Trade Unions apprehensive of the use to which the Reserve might be put in the event of industrial disputes.

The War Office announces that it has been decided to reintroduce forthwith Section A of the Army Reserve.

The King and Queen are leaving London on Thursday morning for Genoa, where they will embark on the Royal yacht.

It is officially announced that Prince George underwent an operation for enucleation of tonsils. The condition of His Royal Highness is satisfactory.

Mr Cosgrave, in a St Patrick’s Day message to the Irish peoples in America, says the Government of the Irish Free State recently received from the people a further endorsement of their satisfaction with the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

16 MARCH 1925

The Council of the League of Nations has sent a conciliatory reply to Germany on the subject of her entry into the League.

Mr Ramsay MacDonald, speaking at Fulham, said his view was that the British Government rejected the Geneva Protocol simply because the Labour party had agreed to it.

A convention has been concluded by the Turkish Petroleum Company with the Iraq Government for the exploitation of the petroleum of Iraq, excluding Basra vilayet, for seventy-five years. Four groups will participate equally—the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the Royal Dutch Shell, seven of the principal American oil companies, and sixty-seven French concerns, the combined capital being nearly a thousand millions sterling. The convention stipulates that the Chairman shall always be British.

A violent storm which swept the Mediterranean and caused considerable damage to shipping forced the British Fleet to seek shelter at Palma, Majorca.

Provoked to riot by the action of the police in forbidding the translation of an English “comrade’s” speech into German, a gathering of German Communists at Halle was fired upon by policemen present. In the ensuing panic a rush was made for the exits, when the steps outside the main entrance collapsed, injuring many.

The Parliament of Northern Ireland has been dissolved, and the writs for a General Election have been issued. In Sir James Craig’s election manifesto the Boundary question is characterised as “the supreme issue.”

A special correspondent states that the results of the recent by-elections in the Irish Free State are, taken as a whole, highly encouraging to the Government.

15 MARCH 1925

A crowded Ealing to Barking train caught fire near Hammersmith, but fire extinguishers on the trains were used to put the fire out.

Two candlesticks were stolen from St. Mary’s Church in Bow which had been presented to the community as war memorials.

An outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease was confirmed on the Isle of Wight.