Tag: 100 Years Ago

15 JANUARY 1925

The Inter-Allied agreement on war claims was formally ratified before the dispersal of the Paris Conference delegations. In the closing speeches emphasis was laid on the spirit of accommodation and goodwill shown by the Powers concerned. This, it was urged, encouraged hope of a settlement of outstanding post-war problems.

During Tuesday night’s storm the London steamer Cardiff Hall, 3994 tons, foundered off the south coast of Ireland, and all on board were lost.

The steam flat Bankhall, belonging to Messrs Lever Brothers, sank in the Mersey. The captain and the engineer were drowned.

In Edinburgh and district much damage was done by the gale. The Rivers Tay, Lyon, and Spey were in heavy flood, and between Newtonmore and Kincraig for a distance of nine miles fields were under water.

Two men were killed and several injured in an explosion at an oil fuel station at Port Victoria, near Sheerness.

At the inquest on the victims of the Croydon air disaster there were several sensational incidents. The Coroner held that certain allegations that witnesses had been tampered with was not proved.

The Minister of Labour, speaking in Glasgow on the industrial outlook, said he thought light could be seen at the end of the tunnel, but it required the co-operation of all parties to enable industry to get right through the tunnel and out at last to a place in the sun.

14 JANUARY 1925

The final report of the financial experts at the Paris Conference will be placed before a concluding plenary session to-day. Ratification of the agreement by all the delegations is expected. France, it is reported, will sign unconditionally.

The White House contradicts reports that the change in the American Foreign Secretaryship would lead to modification of the foreign policy followed by Mr Hughes at the State Department. It is added that United States policy with regard to Russia will remain unchanged as long as conditions continue as they are.

A Melbourne telegram states that the Federal Parliament may be summoned to deal with the shipping strike.

A Berlin-Cologne express collided in dense fog with a stationary train at Herne, in Westphalia. Twenty-three of the passengers in the stationary train were killed, and 50 were injured. Three persons were killed and several injured in a similar accident at Hettingen, in the Ruhr.

Sixteen lives have been lost by the foundering of the Tyneside vessel John Harrison. The chief engineer resided in Ayr.

It was announced by Mr David Kirkwood that the Secretary for Scotland had decided to appoint a Commission to inquire into the Clydebank rent dispute. Further evictions took place at Clydebank in the morning, when a number of Pressmen were attacked by an unruly mob.

13 JANUARY 1925

Details are given of the settlement effected at Paris by the delegates of the major Allied Powers and recommended for final endorsement by the full session of the Conference today. Satisfaction was expressed at Washington’s acceptance of the agreement between Colonel Logan and Mr. Winston Churchill for the collection of war claims.

There is much speculation in Washington as to the cause of Mr Hughes’s resignation. It is suggested that Mr Coolidge and Mr Hughes have differed on some major issue in foreign policy—possibly the recognition of the Soviet.

Dr Luther’s efforts to form a Cabinet have failed through the reluctance of the Centre party to alter their standpoint.

Proposals for the expansion of the Royal Air Force are announced.

Statistics issued by the Commissioners of Prisons show decreased admissions in 1924. On the question of the habitual petty offender, especially elderly women, it is suggested that some kind of detention home would be the most appropriate treatment.

Lord Weir, in a broadcast talk from Glasgow, referred to the question of steel houses, and replied to recent criticism.

Railwaymen at a meeting at Chester resolved that 24 hours’ notice be given to the Railway Companies demanding the withdrawal of the Army Order relating to the Supplementary Reserve so far as it affects railwaymen.

A Bill forbidding Government officials to belong to secret societies has been introduced in the Italian Chamber.

12 JANUARY 1925

On all the main questions before the Inter-Allied Conference in Paris agreement has been reached by the delegates of the Great Powers. Confidence is felt that this result will be confirmed by the full Conference tomorrow.

Following the failure of Dr Marx to form a Government, the President of the Reich has asked Dr Luther to assume the task.

Mr Hughes, the United States Secretary of State, has resigned.

Mr Stephen Walsh, the Secretary for War who signed the Army Order constituting the technical reserve, has declared that the Order is explicit, and that members of the Reserve will not be called out in aid of the civil power.

Evidence as to the activities of M. N. Roy, an agent of the Third International, is contained in the judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in the revolutionary conspiracy case.

Mr A. J. Cook, secretary of the Miners’ Federation [ad], stated that if the Government passed an Eight Hour Day Act the men would refuse to operate it.

The return published by the Mines Department for the quarter ending last September shows a further reduction in the output per person per shift. A debit balance of £78,452 is shown in the quarter’s working of Scottish mines.

The death is announced of Lord Pentland of Blyth, a former Secretary for Scotland and Governor of Madras.

11 JANUARY 1925

US and British leaders argued at the Inter-Allied Financial Conference in Paris about money relating to war loans from the First World War. Belgium also said that it feared that their war reparations were being whittled down and Romania rejected allegations that it had done too well out of the conflict.

A telegram from Moscow stated that revolver shots were fired at Zinovieff, the leader of the Third International and President of the Leningrad Soviet. It was thought that none of the shots had hit their target.

10 JANUARY 1925

The efforts of the German chancellor to form a cabinet have failed in the face of gathering obstacles, the last of them the attitude of the People’s party. President Ebert has been informed of the situation, and it is thought probable that he will ask Dr. Luther, the finance minister, to take up the task.

There was no full session of the inter-allied finance conference, but conversations between the heads of the principal delegations took place during the day. It is believed that satisfactory progress was made towards an Anglo-American understanding on reparation claims and towards a compromise with Belgium on the latter’s priority claim.

Marked “urgent and important,” the N.U.R. have forwarded a circular to all branches advising members not to join the proposed supplementary army reserve until satisfactory guarantees are obtained that under no circumstances will the reserve be used during a dispute between the railway companies and their employees.

A communist plot was discovered in Italy, where the police are continuing their campaign against all “subversive centres.”

9 JANUARY 1925

Private conversations took place in Paris between Mr Churchill, Colonel Logan, and M. Clementel on various questions connected with war claims. A plenary sitting of the Allied Finance Conference afterwards took place. There is hope of agreement on the main questions before the Conference.

Dr Marx has been asked by the President of the Reich to form a Government as speedily as possible. If he has difficulty in filling the posts Dr Marx will fill them with Under Secretaries.

In a letter to the Naval Committee of the House of Representatives, Mr Hughes, Secretary of State, expressed the view that the elevation of guns in American capital ships would not constitute a violation of the Washington Treaty, although such action might have an unfortunate effect in tending to promote competition in naval armaments.

In a letter to the Postmaster-General, the Union of Post Office Workers states the grounds on which it asks that a joint committee be formed to go into the new wage claim of the Union in respect of all grades of the service.

At the sitting of the Royal Commission on Food Prices the question of cold storage in Britain was raised, and it was contended that the present London rates were a great tax on the meat business.

An Egyptian who has given himself up to the police is expected to prove of considerable assistance in connection with certain lines of inquiry now being followed up for the murderers of the Sirdar.

 

 

8 JANUARY 1925

The Conference of Allied Finance Ministers was opened at Paris. Replying to a speech of welcome by M. Clementel, Mr Winston Churchill emphasised the limited and technical character of the work ahead. Important as
were the issues involved in the Conference, they were not issues comparable with those settled at many previous inter-Allied gatherings. The interest of the Conference lay in the prospect opened out in London of sure and
reasonable advance towards a better state of things in Europe. The discussion would be complicated, and the interests were conflicting; but above and beyond the special claims of any Power represented stood the need for
harmony in mood and for simplicity in method.

The German reply to the Allied Note on the evacuation of Cologne complains of the hardship of the occupation, and insists on her military weakness. The Note further declares that if the Allied Governments in their further dealing with the question of evacuation as well as of disarmament would be guided by the spirit shown at the London Conference, it would be possible to come to a speedy settlement.

A declaration of Liberal principles and aims to be submitted for approval of the forthcoming party Convention has been issued.

Sir Philip Proctor, giving evidence before the Royal Commission on Food Prices, stated that of the nation’s total consumption of meat 27 per cent. was mutton and 73 per cent. beef.

7 JANUARY 1925

The German Government, in a Note to the Allies protesting against the continued occupation of Cologne, maintains that Germany, in the main, has fulfilled her disarmament obligations. The reply rejects the allegations made by the Allies.

Winston Churchill arrived in Paris for the opening of the Allied Finance Ministers’ Conference to-day. It is hoped to reach a settlement of the war claims question, but there is reason to believe that the United States delegation is prepared to reject summarily any attempt to secure better terms than America is prepared to draft.

Zaghlul Pasha in an interview said he considered that a Republic would not only be unsuitable, but would be bad generally for Egypt. He expresses confidence in victory at the elections, the legality of which, nevertheless, he declared his intention to challenge, although it might mean going to the polls again. Sidky Pasha, Minister of the Interior, replying to the Nationalist leader’s declaration, smiled at Zaghlul’s constitutional pose. The elections, he said, were proceeding as they should proceed–free from intimidation and pressure.

Signor Mussolini’s Cabinet has been reconstructed and, with one exception, consists entirely of Fascisti.

In a collision between two trains near Beaubassin, Mauritius, several passengers were killed and some fifty passengers injured.

6 JANUARY 1925

The Allies’ Note to Germany points out that the evacuation of Cologne has been postponed because of definite breaches of the Treaty of Versailles in the matter of army organisation, military stores, conversion of munition factories, and other matters. The more important of these violations are set out in the Note.

The Conference of Allied Finance Ministers opens at Paris tomorrow. The official agenda involves the question of the allocation of the proceeds of the Ruhr occupation and that of the American claim for reparation. On the latter point, a Note has been received by Britain from the United States Government rejecting the compromise offered.

A Rome telegram states that all the organisations hostile to the Government have been dissolved. Liberal members of the Cabinet have resigned.

M. Raditch, the leader of the recently suppressed Croat Peasant party, who is accused of intriguing with the Soviets, has been arrested at Agram.

Attention is drawn by the Federation of British Industries to the suggestion that the South African Government is considering the withdrawal of the tariff preference at present given to many classes of British goods.

New Year trade forecasts for Canada strike an optimistic note, and a marked improvement in conditions in the West is emphasised. Attention is drawn to the great increase of investments of U.S. capital in the Dominion, and to the almost negligible investment of Scottish and English capital in Canadian securities during the past year.

Launching the Young Liberals’ 1925 campaign at the National Liberal Club, London, Mr Lloyd George claimed that Liberalism had saved Germany and France from disaster, and would ultimately save Italy. There never was a period in European history where nations stood more in need of Liberalism.