You know, the United States ought not extend credit to China. Why take the risk? We know that China's gold and silver reserves have been exhausted. It's just a weak attempt to uphold their crumbling currency.
This, according to a yellowed and aged article in the Milwaukee Sentinel, dated August 4, 1939. A friend of mine, while remodeling his house, discovered the vintage newspaper beneath the floorboards of his kitchen. He has since unearthed an entire catalogue of preserved news from my grandparents' generation. I have spent the last couple of weeks carefully turning the pages, fascinated at the window I've been given to a long-past world.
My, how the tables have turned. As of 1939, China had already been at war with Japan for nearly a decade (following the Manchurian Incident in 1931). On the eve of World War II, the United States was engaged in talks regarding the extension of credit to China. The biggest question on the minds of US politicians was whether or not the Chinese government had enough collateral (in gold and silver) to secure the credit. Fast-forward three generations, and the situation between China and the US has almost completely been reversed.
Of course, in scouring the pages of these vintage rags, I had to chuckle. Some things, patently so, do not change. From the Milwaukee Journal, dated July 16, 1939, is an article entitled "Senators Cool on Neutrality." Fast approaching the traditional August Recess, the U.S. Senate was caught up on a number of issues, many of which are still plaguing our public servants today.
For example, the number one issue for the U.S. Senate in 1939 was something called the "Lending and Spending" program. Among its expressed purposes was to restore prevailing wages and provide some $800 million to affordable housing. The article hints of heated debate regarding the passage of this program. It seems that Republicans regarded the Lending and Spending program as a means for Democrats to "prime the political pump for 1940." Verbatim, this article reads as one printed today on the pros and cons of Obama's Economic Stimulus Package.
Other items on the U.S. Senate's agenda in 1939 include the question of how to finance Social Security, how to "clean up" federal politics, and the Deportation Bill. Literally, legislation was proposed in 1939 that would "deport aliens unless they take proper precautions to become citizens."
Between the current and ongoing debates on Social Security, measures such as McCain-Feingold, and the unending discussions of amnesty, it is nice to see that some things stand the test of time.
Switching gears, I scanned the papers for European news. As of August of 1939, Germany controlled Czechoslovakia, but had not yet invaded Poland. The fear of war practically dripped from the aged pages, and for good reason. German as well as Slovakian troops had taken up arms and were spread along the Polish border. Both countries seemed to be claiming Poland as their own, and citizens of Zilina were advised to be "ready to leave their homes at a minute's notice."
Then, something jumped out at me. Tucked neatly between a car advertisement and the results of a Pennsylvania murder trial was this headline, "Haven for Jews in Africa Proposed."
Of all the images of World War II, those of the holocaust continue to dominate the conscience. Literature, movies, and documentaries have (and continue) to explain what happened, and why. But what is hardly ever discussed, or recognized, is that concentration camps and death camps like Auschwitz were not the first course of action sought by the Nazis for the Jews.
By 1939, Jews in Germany had already faced a decade of gradual, but constant persecution. During the 1920s, government propaganda singled out Jewish people as the culprit for widespread economic depression. During the 1930s, by way of legislation, Jews were restricted from certain professions, limited from enrollment in certain schools, and could not be treated at municipal hospitals. Outright violence broke out in 1938, and by 1939, Jews were required to carry identification cards signifying their religious heritage.
It would not be until October of 1939 that Jews were forced into the ghettos, and from there, labor and extermination camps. Which is why the article, "Haven for Jews in Africa Proposed" (Milwaukee Journal, August 20, 1939), caught my attention.
The Nazis originally proposed, and pursued, the idea of deporting the Jewish population to Madagascar. High-ranking officials in the Nazi regime took a liking to the idea; certainly it would be a diplomatically easier sell than ghettos and camps. The end result would not have differed much, which is why the use of the word "Haven" is so curious.
Still, I read the article with great interest. The body follows the headline, in that it sounds idyllic, like a veritable Eden provided for the Semitic population of Europe. Why, there would even be compulsory training for young people, to combat unemployment, and the "haven" would not infringe upon the sovereignty of the native population.
What is most curious is that delegates from the United States seem to have offered their support for the proposal.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a column for the Times each Monday. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
This, according to a yellowed and aged article in the Milwaukee Sentinel, dated August 4, 1939. A friend of mine, while remodeling his house, discovered the vintage newspaper beneath the floorboards of his kitchen. He has since unearthed an entire catalogue of preserved news from my grandparents' generation. I have spent the last couple of weeks carefully turning the pages, fascinated at the window I've been given to a long-past world.
My, how the tables have turned. As of 1939, China had already been at war with Japan for nearly a decade (following the Manchurian Incident in 1931). On the eve of World War II, the United States was engaged in talks regarding the extension of credit to China. The biggest question on the minds of US politicians was whether or not the Chinese government had enough collateral (in gold and silver) to secure the credit. Fast-forward three generations, and the situation between China and the US has almost completely been reversed.
Of course, in scouring the pages of these vintage rags, I had to chuckle. Some things, patently so, do not change. From the Milwaukee Journal, dated July 16, 1939, is an article entitled "Senators Cool on Neutrality." Fast approaching the traditional August Recess, the U.S. Senate was caught up on a number of issues, many of which are still plaguing our public servants today.
For example, the number one issue for the U.S. Senate in 1939 was something called the "Lending and Spending" program. Among its expressed purposes was to restore prevailing wages and provide some $800 million to affordable housing. The article hints of heated debate regarding the passage of this program. It seems that Republicans regarded the Lending and Spending program as a means for Democrats to "prime the political pump for 1940." Verbatim, this article reads as one printed today on the pros and cons of Obama's Economic Stimulus Package.
Other items on the U.S. Senate's agenda in 1939 include the question of how to finance Social Security, how to "clean up" federal politics, and the Deportation Bill. Literally, legislation was proposed in 1939 that would "deport aliens unless they take proper precautions to become citizens."
Between the current and ongoing debates on Social Security, measures such as McCain-Feingold, and the unending discussions of amnesty, it is nice to see that some things stand the test of time.
Switching gears, I scanned the papers for European news. As of August of 1939, Germany controlled Czechoslovakia, but had not yet invaded Poland. The fear of war practically dripped from the aged pages, and for good reason. German as well as Slovakian troops had taken up arms and were spread along the Polish border. Both countries seemed to be claiming Poland as their own, and citizens of Zilina were advised to be "ready to leave their homes at a minute's notice."
Then, something jumped out at me. Tucked neatly between a car advertisement and the results of a Pennsylvania murder trial was this headline, "Haven for Jews in Africa Proposed."
Of all the images of World War II, those of the holocaust continue to dominate the conscience. Literature, movies, and documentaries have (and continue) to explain what happened, and why. But what is hardly ever discussed, or recognized, is that concentration camps and death camps like Auschwitz were not the first course of action sought by the Nazis for the Jews.
By 1939, Jews in Germany had already faced a decade of gradual, but constant persecution. During the 1920s, government propaganda singled out Jewish people as the culprit for widespread economic depression. During the 1930s, by way of legislation, Jews were restricted from certain professions, limited from enrollment in certain schools, and could not be treated at municipal hospitals. Outright violence broke out in 1938, and by 1939, Jews were required to carry identification cards signifying their religious heritage.
It would not be until October of 1939 that Jews were forced into the ghettos, and from there, labor and extermination camps. Which is why the article, "Haven for Jews in Africa Proposed" (Milwaukee Journal, August 20, 1939), caught my attention.
The Nazis originally proposed, and pursued, the idea of deporting the Jewish population to Madagascar. High-ranking officials in the Nazi regime took a liking to the idea; certainly it would be a diplomatically easier sell than ghettos and camps. The end result would not have differed much, which is why the use of the word "Haven" is so curious.
Still, I read the article with great interest. The body follows the headline, in that it sounds idyllic, like a veritable Eden provided for the Semitic population of Europe. Why, there would even be compulsory training for young people, to combat unemployment, and the "haven" would not infringe upon the sovereignty of the native population.
What is most curious is that delegates from the United States seem to have offered their support for the proposal.
- Dan Wegmueller of Monroe writes a column for the Times each Monday. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
