NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 19 January 1923

19 JANUARY 1923

It was announced that Stanley Baldwin, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, would sail to the United States on 20 January 1923 to discuss the growing political issue of the British war debt owed to the US.

A meeting of the Cockburn Association was held which raised concerns about the impact of the proposed Scottish War Memorial on the skyline of Edinburgh. It was agreed that the matter would be debated further and proposals brought forward of alternative memorials, although it was felt that the location at Edinburgh Castle was appropriate.

The French Government said that they were taking action against six owners of coal mining operations for refusing to obey military orders. The French military had taken land over in the Ruhr Valley and made demands of the coal mine owners with the German Government saying that they were plunging the area into a state of famine and risking an uprising.

There was a strong demand from Germany to purchase British coal, with the depreciation of the mark not being a problematic factor with relation to making payments.