O que é este blog?

Este blog trata basicamente de ideias, se possível inteligentes, para pessoas inteligentes. Ele também se ocupa de ideias aplicadas à política, em especial à política econômica. Ele constitui uma tentativa de manter um pensamento crítico e independente sobre livros, sobre questões culturais em geral, focando numa discussão bem informada sobre temas de relações internacionais e de política externa do Brasil. Para meus livros e ensaios ver o website: www.pralmeida.org. Para a maior parte de meus textos, ver minha página na plataforma Academia.edu, link: https://itamaraty.academia.edu/PauloRobertodeAlmeida;

Meu Twitter: https://twitter.com/PauloAlmeida53

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulobooks

Mostrando postagens com marcador This day in History. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador This day in History. Mostrar todas as postagens

domingo, 29 de outubro de 2017

29 de Outubro de 1929: o dia da Grande Crise - This Day in History (NYTimes)

On This Day: October 29

Updated October 29, 2013, 2:28 pm
On Oct. 29, 1929, stock prices collapsed on the New York Stock Exchange amid panic selling. Thousands of investors were wiped out.

Stocks Collapse In 16,410,030-share Day, But Rally At Close Cheers Brokers; Bankers Optimistic, To Continue Aid



CLOSING RALLY VIGOROUS
Leading Issues Regain From 4 to 14 Points in 15 Minutes
INVESTMENT TRUSTS BUY
Large Blocks Thrown on Market at Opening Start Third Break of Week.
BIG TRADERS HARDEST HIT
Bankers Believe Liquidation Now Has Run Its Course and Advise Purchases
RELATED HEADLINES Leaders See Fear Waning:
Points to "Lifting Spells" in Trading as Sign of Buying Activity
OTHER HEADLINES Grundy For Curbing "Backward States" On The Tariff Bill:Veteran Republican Lobbyist Tells Senate Inquiry the West Needs "Silencing."
Coalition Fighting Move To Kill Tariff:Will Try to Force Through Bill, While Reed Favors Ending Session Nov. 15.
Kahn Refuses Post In Senate Campaign: Calls Choice Unwise:He Writes to Moses to Withhold His Name for Treasurer Due to "Divided Reception."
Missing Airliner Brought in Safely
U.S. Steel To Pay $1 Extra Dividend:American Can Votes the Same and Raises Annual Rate From $3 to $4
Reserve Board Finds Action Unnecessary:Six-Hour Session Brings No Change in the New York Rediscount Rate.
Stock prices virtually collapsed yesterday, swept downward with gigantic losses in the most disastrous trading day in the stock market's history. Billions of dollars in open market values were wiped out as prices crumbled under the pressure of liquidation of securities which had to be sold at any price.
There was an impressive rally just at the close, which brought many leading stocks back from 4 to 14 points from their lowest points of the day.
From every point of view, in the extent of losses sustained, in total turnover, in the number of speculators wiped out, the day was the most disastrous in Wall Street's history. Hysteria swept the country and stocks went overboard for just what they would bring at forced sale.
Efforts to estimate yesterday's market losses in dollars are futile because of the vast number of securities quoted over the counter and on out-of-town exchanges on which no calculations are possible. However, it was estimated that 880 issues, on the New York Stock Exchange, lost between $8,000,000,000 and $9,000,000,000 yesterday. Added to that loss is to be reckoned the depreciation on issues on the Curb Market, in the over the counter market and on other exchanges.
Two Extra Dividends Declared
There were two cheerful notes, however, which sounded through the pall of gloom which overhung the financial centres of the country. One was the brisk rally of stocks at the close, on tremendous buying by those who believe that prices have sunk too low. The other was that the liquidation has been so violent, as well as widespread, that many bankers, brokers and industrial leaders expressed the belief last night that it now has run its course.
A further note of optimism in the soundness of fundamentals was sounded by the directors of the United States Steel Corporation and the American Can Company, each of which declared an extra dividend of $1 a share at their late afternoon meetings.
Banking support, which would have been impressive and successful under ordinary circumstances, was swept violently aside, as block after block of stock, tremendous in proportions, deluged the market. Bid prices placed by bankers, industrial leaders and brokers trying to halt the decline were crashed through violently, their orders were filled, and quotations plunged downward in a day of disorganization, confusion and financial impotence.
Change Is Expected Today
That there will be a change today seemed likely from statements made last night by financial and business leaders. Organized support will be accorded to the market from the start, it is believed, but those who are staking their all on the country's leading securities are placing a great deal of confidence, too, in the expectation that there will be an overnight change in sentiment; that the counsel of cool heads will prevail and that the mob psychology which has been so largely responsible for the market's debacle will be broken.
The fact that the leading stocks were able to rally in the final fifteen minutes of trading yesterday was considered a good omen, especially as the weakest period of the day had developed just prior to that time and the minimum prices for the day had then been established. It was a quick run-up which followed the announcement that the American Can directors had declared an extra dividend of $1. The advances in leading stocks in this last fifteen minutes represented a measurable snapback from the lows. American Can gained 10; United States Steel common, 7 /2, General Electric, 12; New York Central, 14 1/2, Anaconda Copper, 9 1/2; Chrysler Motors 5 1/4; Montgomery Ward, 4 1/4 and Johns Manville, 8. Even with these recoveries the losses of these particular stocks, and practically all others, were staggering.
Yesterday's market crash was one which largely affected rich men, institutions, investment trusts and others who participate in the stock market on a broad and intelligent scale. It was not the margin traders who were caught in the rush to sell, but the rich men of the country who are able to swing blocks of 5,000, 10,000 up to 100,000 shares of high-priced stocks. They went overboard with no more consideration than the little trader who was swept out on the first day of the market's upheaval, whose prices, even at their lowest of last Thursday, now look high in comparison.
The market on the rampage is no respecter of persons. It washed fortune after fortune away yesterday and financially crippled thousands of individuals in all parts of the world. It was not until after the market had closed that the financial district began to realize that a good-sized rally had taken place and that there was a stopping place on the downgrade for good stocks.
Third Day of Collapse
The market has now passed through three days of collapse, and so violent has it been that most authorities believe that the end is not far away. It started last Thursday, when 12,800,000 shares were dealt in on the Exchange, and holders of stocks commenced to learn just what a decline in the market means. This was followed by a moderate rally on Friday and entirely normal conditions on Saturday, with fluctuations on a comparatively narrow scale and with the efforts of the leading bankers to stabilize the market evidently successful. But the storm broke anew on Monday, with prices slaughtered in every direction, to be followed by yesterday's tremendous trading of 16,410,030 shares.
Sentiment had been generally unsettled since the first of September. Market prices had then reached peak levels, and, try as they would, pool operators and other friends of the market could not get them higher. It was a gradual downward sag, gaining momentum as it went on, then to break out into an open market smash in which the good, the bad, and indifferent stocks went down alike. Thousands of traders were able to weather the first storm and answered their margin calls; thousands fell by the wayside Monday and again yesterday, unable to meet the demands of their brokers that their accounts be protected.
There was no quibbling at all between customer and broker yesterday. In any case where margin became thin a peremptory call went out. If there was no immediate answer the stock was sold out "at the market" for just what it would bring. Thousands, sold out on the decline and amid the confusion, found themselves in debt to their brokers last night.
Three Factors in Market
Three factors stood out most prominently last night after the market's close. They were: Wall Street has been able to weather the storm with but a single Curb failure, small in size, and no member of the New York Stock Exchange has announced himself unable to meet commitments.
The smashing decline has brought stocks down to a level where, in the opinion of leading bankers and industrialists, they are a buy on their merits and prospects, and brokers have so advised their customers.
The very violence of the liquidation, which has cleaned up many hundreds of sore spots which honeycombed the market, and the expected ability of the market to right itself, since millions of shares of stock have passed to strong hands from weak ones.
Bids Provided Where Needed
One of the factors which Wall Street failed to take into consideration throughout the entire debacle was that the banking consortium has no idea of putting stocks up or to save any individuals from loss, but that its sole purpose was to alleviate the wave of financial hysteria sweeping the country and provide bids, at some price, where needed. It was pointed out in many quarters that no broad liquidating movement in the stock market has ever been stopped by so-called good buying. This is helpful, of course, but it never stops an avalanche of liquidation, as was this one.
There is only one factor, it was pointed out, which can and always does stop a down swing--that is, the actual cessation of forced liquidation. It is usually the case, too, that when the last of the forced selling has been completed the stock market always faces a wide-open gap in which there are practically no offerings of securities at all. When that point is reached, buying springs up from everywhere and always accounts for a sharp, almost perpendicular recovery in the best stocks. The opinion was widely expressed in Wall Street last night that that point has been reached, or at least very nearly reached.
Huge Blocks Offered at Opening
The opening bell on the Stock Exchange released such a flood of selling as has never before been witnessed in this country. The failure of the market to rally consistently on the previous day, the tremendous shrinkage of open market values and the wave of hysteria which appeared to sweep the country brought an avalanche of stock to the market to be sold at whatever price it would bring.
From the very first quotation until thirty minutes after 10 o'clock it was evident that the day's market would be an unprecedented one. In that first thirty-minutes of trading stocks were poured out in 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 share blocks at tremendous sacrifices as compared with the previous closing. The declines ranged from a point or so to as much sa 29 1/2 points, and the reports of opening prices brought selling into the market in confused volume that has never before been equaled.
In this first half hour of trading on the Stock Exchange a total of 3,250,800 shares were dealt in. The volume of the first twenty-six blocks of stock dealt in at the opening totaled more than 630,000 shares.
There was simply no near-by demand for even the country's leading industrial and railroad shares, and many millions of dollars in values were lost in the first quotations tapped out. All considerations other than to get rid of the stock at any price were brushed aside.
Brokerage Offices Crowded
Wall Street was a street of vanished hopes, of curiously silent apprehension and of a sort of paralyzed hypnosis yesterday. Men and women crowded the brokerage offices, even those who have been long since wiped out, and followed the figures on the tape. Little groups gathered here and there to discuss the fall in prices in hushed and awed tones. They were participating in the making of financial history. It was the consensus of bankers and brokers alike that no such scenes ever again will be witnessed by this generation. To most of those who have been in the market it is all the more awe-inspiring because their financial history is limited to bull markets.
The machinery of the New York Stock Exchange and the Curb market were unable to handle the tremendous volume of trading which went over them. Early in the day they kept up well, because most of the trading was in big blocks, but as the day progressed the tickers fell further and further behind, and as on the previous big days of this week and last it was only by printing late quotations of stocks on the bond tickers and by the 10-minute flashes on stock prices put out by Dow, Jones & Co. and the Wall Street News Bureau that the financial district could get any idea of what was happening in the wild mob of brokers on the Exchange and the Curb.
Peaks Reached in September
The bull market, the most extensive in the history of the country, started in the Coolidge Administration and reached its height with a tremendous burst of speculation in the public utility issues, the flames of speculation being fed by mergers, new groupings, combinations and good earnings.
The highest prices were reached in early September. At that time the market had a quick break and an equally rapid recovery. Then started a slow sag. Two developments, not considered important at the time, served to start the ball rolling downhill. The first of these was the refusal of the Massachusetts Public Service Commission to permit the Boston Edison Company to split its shares; the second was the collapse of a pool in International Combustion Engineering shares on the Stock Exchange, an over-exploited industrial which had been pushed across 100 by a pool and which crashed when the corporation passed its dividend.
In the meanwhile, the Hatry failure abroad had diverted a tremendous volume of selling to the United States, and under these influences the market continued to sag until it literally crumpled of its own weight.

domingo, 12 de março de 2017

Presente na criacao da... Guerra Fria: a doutrina Truman (This Day in History)

On This Day: March 12

Updated March 12, 2014, 11:42 am
On March 12, 1947, President Truman established what became known as the Truman Doctrine to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism.
Go to article »

Truman Acts to Save Nations From Red Rule



Asks 400 Million to Aid Greece and Turkey
Congress Fight Likely But Approval Is Seen
NEW POLICY SET UP
President Blunt in Plea to Combat 'Coercion' as World Peril
PLANS TO SEND MEN
Goods and Skills Needed as Well as Money, He Tells Congress
By Felix Belair Jr.
Special to The New York Times
RELATED HEADLINESCongress is Solemn:Prepares to Consider Bills After Hearing the President Gravely: Soviet Called Issue: Some Hold Truman Plan Is Blow to U.N. - All but Marcantonio Applaud
Bridges Says Plan to Slash Budget 'Is Knocked Askew': He Indicates Revisions Must Be Made to Fit Truman's Plea for Aid to Greece, Turkey - Proposal to Reduce Income Tax Upset
OTHER HEADLINESBevin Sharp in Big 4: Cites Report That Soviet Is Enlisting Germans in Armed Forces: Molotov is Set Back: He Admits Delay in Ship Demolition, Agrees to Prisoner Census
Yugoslavs Block U. N. Entry to Reported Guerrilla Base
Atlee is Upheld in Confidence Vote:Regime's Prestige Drops, but it Wins, 374-198 - Churchill Sees 'Crime Against Britain'
Marshall Ready to By-Pass Soviet if it Rejects 4-Power Cooperation
Dewey to Request $135,000,000 More to Aid City Housing:O'Dwyer, by Agreement, Drops Further Bid for Money in '47, Insures Planned Projects: Realty Tax to go to $2.97: Due, Says Mayor, to Jump in Budget - City Wins Albany Accord on Finance Bills
School Pay Voted by State Senate:Republicans Also Pass Taxes for Bonus, Barring Minority Changes in Both Bills
President Starts Key West Vacation:Makes Air Trip in Five Hours for Four Days of Sunshine and Swimming in Florida
Two-Term Presidency Limit Set by Senate in Voting Tenure Plan
Washington, March 12 - President Truman outlined a new foreign policy for the United States today. In a historic message to Congress, he proposed that this country intervene wherever necessary throughout the world to prevent the subjection of free peoples to Communist-inspired totalitarian regimes at the expense of their national integrity and importance.
In a request for $400,000,000 to bolster the hard-pressed Greek and Turkish governments against Communist pressure, the President said the constant coercion and intimidation of free peoples by political infiltration amid poverty and strife undermined the foundations of world peace and threatened the security of the United States.
Although the President refrained from mentioning the Soviet Union by name, there could be no mistaking his identification of the Communist state as the source of much of the unrest throughout the world. He said that, in violation of the Yalta Agreement, the people of Poland, Rumania and Bulgaria had been subjected to totalitarian regimes against their will and that there had been similar developments in other countries.
Cardinal Points of Departure
As the Senate and House of Representatives sat grim-faced but apparently determined on the course recommended by the Chief Executive, Mr. Truman made these cardinal points of departure from traditional American foreign policy:
"I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
"I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes."
In addition to the $400,000,000 to be expended before June 30, 1948, the President asked Congress to authorize the detail of American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey, upon the request of those countries. The proposed personnel would supervise the use of material and financial assistance and would train Greek and Turkish personnel in special skills.
Lest efforts be made to cast him in the role of champion of things as they are, the President recognized that the world was not static and that the status quo was not sacred. But he warned that if we allowed changes in the status quo in violation of the United Nations Charter through such subterfuges as political infiltration, we would be helping to destroy the Charter itself.
Aware of Broad Implications
President Truman said he was fully aware of the "broad implications involved" if the United States went to the assistance of Greece and Turkey. He said that, while our aid to free peoples striving to maintain their independence would be primarily financial and economic, he reminded Congress that the fundamental issues involved were no different from those for which we fought a war with Germany and Japan.
The standing ovation that marked the close of the President's address was echoing through the Capitol corridors as he left the building to motor to the National Airport, where he left by plane for Key West, Fla., for a four-day rest on orders of his personal physician, Brig. Gen. Wallace Graham.
The President appeared tired from the ordeal of his personal appearance before the joint session, but evidently satisfied that the specific recommendations of his message, with its delineation of the implications of a new policy, had temporarily discharged the obligation of the Executive. It was the turn of Congress to make the next move.
That move was not long in the making. Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, called a meeting of his group for tomorrow morning to consider the President's proposals. The House Foreign Affairs Committee was to consider the kindred $350,000,000 appropriation for destitution relief in liberated countries.
In the sharp and conflicting reaction to the President's program, many voices were raised on each side of the Capitol in approval and in criticism. However, there was little doubt that the vast majority in both houses would reflect the wishes of their leaders and go down the line for the new policy and the added financial responsibility it implied.
Would Bar Any Coercion
Apparently conscious of the advance demands by Senator Vandenberg and others that he set forth the full implications of his recommendations, President Truman explained that one of the primary objectives of our foreign policy had been the creation of conditions in which this and other nations would work out a way of life free from coercion by outside influences.
It was to insure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, that the United States had taken a leading role in the establishment of the United Nations, Mr. Truman went on. And the United Nations was designed to provide a lasting freedom and independence for all its members.
But these objectives could not be attained, said the President, "unless we are willing to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes."
Anticipating criticism, not long in developing, that his proposals to lend $250,000,000 to Greece and $150,000,000 to Turkey would "by-pass the United Nations," Mr. Truman explained that, while the possibility of United Nations aid had been considered, the urgency and immediacy were such that the United Nations was not in a position to assist effectively.
The President made it clear that the responsibilities he asked Congress to face squarely had developed suddenly because of the inability of Great Britain to extend help to either the Greek or Turkish Government after March 31. He said the British withdrawal by March 31 foreshadowed the imposition of totalitarian regimes by force in both countries unless the United States stepped in to support the existing Governments.
The President reiterated that it was a serious course on which he was asking Congress to embark. But he said he would not ask it except that the alternative was much more serious. The United States contributed $341,000,000,000 toward the winning of World War II, the President recalled.
Although there was a note of apology for the present Greek Government, which the President conceded had made mistakes, it was described as a freely elected one.
The Greek government, he said, represents 85 per cent of the members of the Greek Parliament. He recalled that 692 American observers had been present in Greece when the Parliament was elected and had certified that the election represented a fair expression of the views of the Greek people.
Although the President did not specify the allocation of the $400,000,000 it has been generally understood that the Administration intends to use $250,000,000 for Greece and $150,000,000 for Turkey. He asked further authority to permit the speediest and most effective translation of the funds into "needed commodities, supplies and equipment," which was taken to refer to the supply of surplus war equipment to the Greek Army out of United States Army supplies in Europe.

terça-feira, 15 de novembro de 2016

This (other) day in History: armisticio da Primeira Guerra Mundial, 11/11/1918

Eu já tinha lido este This Day in History do Nuew York Times desde o dia 11, pela manhã, mas não tinha encontrado tempo de postar no mesmo dia, sexta-feira passada.
Mesmo atrasado, a data é importante, e nem se tratava de Primeira Guerra, e sim de Grande Guerra, e se imaginava que, por causa da enormidade da catástrofe, com perdas de vidas humanas aos milhões, morticínios inéditos, destruições maciças, não haveria nenhuma outra guerra dessa escala.
E no entanto, uma outra guerra global ocorreu, vinte anos depois daquela que seria a última, "la der des der", como passaram a se referir os franceses.
Aliás, desde 1919, um economista do Tesouro britânico, relativamente pouco conhecido até então, já havia alertado, em The Economic Consequences of the Peace (uma análise dos capítulos econômicos do tratado de Versalhes), que as reparações impostas à Alemanha seriam quase tão catastróficas quanto a própria guerra e que poderiam provocar uma nova guerra. Foi profeta involuntário.
O Brasil entrou na guerra tardiamente, apenas em meados de 1917, pelo envio de um batalhão médico que praticamente não atuou nas frentes de batalha.
Na volta da guerra, soldados trouxeram da Europa, para as Américas, a famosa "gripe espanhola", que matou quase tanta gente quanto as trincheiras da Europa.
Em todo caso, aqui vai a postagem daquele dia saudado em quase todos os países como o fim de uma noite sem fim...
Paulo Roberto de Almeida
Neste link: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1111.html#article

On This Day
Read the full text of The Times article or other headlines from the day. Buy a Reproduction
Front Page Image

Armistice Signed, End Of The War! Berlin Seized By Revolutionists; New Chancellor Begs For Order



War Ends at 6 O'clock This Morning
The State Department in Washington Made the Announcement at 2:45 o'Clock
ARMISTICE WAS SIGNED IN FRANCE AT MIDNIGHT
Terms Include Withdrawal from Alsace-Lorraine, Disarming and Demobilization of Army and Navy, and Occupation of Strategic Naval and Military Points
By The Associated Press
RELATED HEADLINESOusted Kaiser Flees To Holland
Berlin Troops Join Revolt: Reds Shell Building in Which Officers Vainly Resist: Throngs Demand Republic: Revolutionary Flag on Royal Palace- Crown Prince's Palace Also Seized: General Strike Is Begun: Burgomaster and Police Submit- War Office New Under Socialist Control
Kaiser Fought Hindenburg's Call For Abdication; Failed To Get Army's Support In Keeping Throne
German Dynasties Being Wiped Out: King of Wuerttemberg Abdicates - Sovereign of Saxony to Follow Suit: Princes May Be Exiled: Socialists Are Demanding That Every Sovereign in the Empire Shall be Dethroned
More Warships Join The Reds: Four Dreadnoughts in Kiel Harbor Espouse the Revolutionary Cause: Guardships Also Go Over:
Washington, Monday, Nov. 11, 2:48 A.M.--The armistice between Germany, on the one hand, and the allied Governments and the United States, on the other, has been signed.
The State Department announced at 2:45 o'clock this morning that Germany had signed.
The department's announcement simply said: "The armistice has been signed."
The world war will end this morning at 6 o'clock, Washington time, 11 o'clock Paris time.
The armistice was signed by the German representatives at midnight.
This announcement was made by the State Department at 2:50 o'clock this morning.
The announcement was made verbally by an official of the State Department in this form:
"The armistice has been signed. It was signed at 5 o'clock A.M., Paris time, [midnight, New York time,] and hostilities will cease at 11 o'clock this morning, Paris time, [6 o'clock, New York time.]
The terms of the armistice, it was announced, will not be made public until later. Military men here, however, regard it as certain that they include:
Immediate retirement of the German military forces from France, Belgium, and Alsace- Lorraine.
Disarming and demobilization of the German armies.
Occupation by the allied and American forces of such strategic points in Germany as will make impossible a renewal of hostilities.
Delivery of part of the German High Seas Fleet and a certain number of submarines to the allied and American naval forces.
Disarmament of all other German warships under supervision of the allied and American Navies, which will guard them.
Occupation of the principal German naval bases by sea forces of the victorious nations.
Release of allied and American soldiers, sailors, and civilians held prisoners in Germany without such reciprocal action by the associated Governments.
There was no information as to the circumstances under which the armistice was signed, but since the German courier did not reach German military headquarters until 10 o'clock yesterday morning, French time, it was generally assumed here that the German envoys within the French lines had been instructed by wireless to sign the terms.
Forty-seven hours had been required for the courier to reach the German headquarters, and unquestionably several hours were necessary for the examination of the terms and a decision.
It was regarded as possible, however, that the decision may have been made at Berlin and instructions transmitted from there by the new German Government.
Germany had until 11 o'clock this morning, French time, (6 o'clock, Washington time,) to accept. So hostilities will end at the hour set by Marshal Foch for a decision by Germany for peace or for continuation of the war.
The momentous news that the armistice had been signed was telephoned to the White House for transmission to the President a few minutes before it was given to the newspaper correspondents.
Later it was said that there would be no statement from the White House at this time.
Socialist Chancellor Appeals to All Germans To Help Him Save Fatherland from Anarchy
Berne, Nov. 10, (Associated Press)--In an address to the people, the new German Chancellor, Friedrich Ebert, says:
Citizens: The ex-Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, in agreement with all the Secretaries of State, has handed over to me the task of liquidating his affairs as Chancellor. I am on the point of forming a new Government in accord with the various parties, and will keep public opinion freely informed of the course of events.
The new Government will be a Government of the people. It must make every effort to secure in the quickest possible time peace for the German people and consolidate the liberty which they have won.
The new Government has taken charge of the administration, to preserve the German people from civil war and famine and to accomplish their legitimate claim to autonomy. The Government can solve this problem only if all the officials in town and country will help.
I know it will be difficult for some to work with the new men who have taken charge of the empire, but I appeal to their love of the people. Lack of organization would in this heavy time mean anarchy in Germany and the surrender of the country to tremendous misery. Therefore, help your native country with fearless, indefatigable work for the future, every one at his post.
I demand every one's support in the hard task awaiting us. You know how seriously the war has menaced the provisioning of the people, which is the first condition of the people's existence. The political transformation should not trouble the people. The food supply is the first duty of all, whether in town or country, and they should not embarrass, but rather aid, the production of food supplies and their transport to the towns.
Food shortage signifies pillage and robbery, with great misery. The poorest will suffer the most, and the industrial worker will be affected hardest. All who illicitly lay hands on food supplies or other supplies of prime necessity or the means of transport necessary for their distribution will be guilty in the highest degree toward the community.
I ask you immediately to leave the streets and remain orderly and calm.
Copenhagen, Nov. 10--The new Berlin Government, according to a Wolff Bureau dispatch, has issued the following proclamation:
Fellow-Citizens: This day the people's deliverance has been fulfilled. The Social Democratic Party has undertaken to form a Government. It has invited the Independent Socialist Party to enter the Government with equal rights.

segunda-feira, 29 de agosto de 2016

I have a DREAM - Martin Luther King most famous speech - This Day in History (NYT)

ON THIS DAY (August 28, 1963)

In 1963, 200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0828.html#article

200,000 March for Civil Rights in Orderly Washington Rally; President Sees Gain for Negro



ACTION ASKED NOW
10 Leaders of Protest Urge Laws to End Racial Inequity
By E. W. KENSWORTHY
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES
RELATED HEADLINESPresident Meets March Leaders: Says Bipartisan Support Is Needed for Rights Bill
'I Have a Dream...': Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember
Congress Cordial but Not Swayed: Leaders of March Pay Calls of Courtesy at Capitol
Capital Is Occupied by a Gentle Army
OTHER HEADLINESU.S. Presses U.N. to Condemn Syria on Israeli Deaths: Stevenson Deplores Killing of Youths -- Thant Assures Council on Cease-Fire
Kennedy Signs Bill Averting a Rail Strike: Precedent Is Set: Arbitration Imposed by Congress -- Vote in House 286-66
U.S. Spurns Denial of Diem on Crisis: Absolves the Army Again in Vietnam Pagoda Raids and Points Toward Nhu
8 Dead in Utah Mine; Fate of 15 Unknown
Lodi Killer Slain; 2d Man Gives Up: Ex-Convict Is Shot 7 Times in a Midtown Hotel
2 Girls Murdered in E. 88th St. Flat
Washington, Aug. 28 -- More than 200,000 Americans, most of them black but many of them white, demonstrated here today for a full and speedy program of civil rights and equal job opportunities.
It was the greatest assembly for a redress of grievances that this capital has ever seen.
One hundred years and 240 days after Abraham Lincoln enjoined the emancipated slaves to "abstain from all violence" and "labor faithfully for reasonable wages," this vast throng proclaimed in march and song and through the speeches of their leaders that they were still waiting for the freedom and the jobs.
Children Clap and Sing
There was no violence to mar the demonstration. In fact, at times there was an air of hootenanny about it as groups of schoolchildren clapped hands and swung into the familiar freedom songs.
But if the crowd was good-natured, the underlying tone was one of dead seriousness. The emphasis was on "freedom" and "now." At the same time the leaders emphasized, paradoxically but realistically, that the struggle was just beginning.
On Capitol Hill, opinion was divided about the impact of the demonstration in stimulating Congressional action on civil rights legislation. But at the White House, President Kennedy declared that the cause of 20,000,000 Negroes had been advanced by the march.
The march leaders went from the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial to the White House to meet with the President for 75 minutes. Afterward, Mr. Kennedy issued a 400-word statement praising the marchers for the "deep fervor and the quiet dignity" that had characterized the demonstration.
Says Nation Can Be Proud
The nation, the President said, "can properly be proud of the demonstration that has occurred here today."
The main target of the demonstration was Congress, where committees are now considering the Administration's civil rights bill.
At the Lincoln Memorial this afternoon, some speakers, knowing little of the way of Congress, assumed that the passage of a strengthened civil rights bill had been assured by the moving events of the day.
But from statements by Congressional leaders, after they had met with the march committee this morning, this did not seem certain at all. These statements came before the demonstration.
Senator Mike Mansfield, of Montang, the Senate Democratic leader, said he could not say whether the mass protest would speed the legislation, which faces a filibuster by Southerners.
Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois, the Republican leader, said he thought the demonstration would be neither an advantage nor a disadvantage to the prospects for the civil rights bill.
The human tide that swept over the Mall between the shrines of Washington and Lincoln fell back faster than it came on As soon as the ceremony broke up this afternoon, the exodus began. With astounding speed, the last buses and trains cleared the city by midevening.
At 9 P.M. the city was as calm as the waters of the Reflecting Pool between the two memorials.
At the Lincoln Memorial early in the afternoon, in the midst of a songfest before the addresses, Josephine Baker, the singer, who had flown from her home in Paris, said to the thousands stretching down both sides of the Reflecting Pool:
"You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can't go wrong. The world is behind you."
Miss Baker said, as if she saw a dream coming true before her eyes, that "this is the happiest day of my life."
But of all the 10 leaders of the march on Washington who followed her, only the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, saw that dream so hopefully.
The other leaders, except for the three clergymen among the 10, concentrated on the struggle ahead and spoke in tough, even harsh, language.
But paradoxically it was King--who had suffered perhaps most of all--who ignited the crowd with words that might have been written by the sad, brooding man enshrined within.
As he arose, a great roar welled up from the crowd. When he started to speak, a hush fell.
"Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream," he said.
"It is a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
Dream of Brotherhood
"I have a dream..." The vast throng listening intently to him roared.
"...that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
"I have a dream..." The crowd roared.
"...that one day even the State of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
"I have a dream..." The crowd roared.
"...that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
"I have a dream..." The crowd roared.
"...that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
As Dr. King concluded with a quotation from a Negro hymn- "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty"- the crowd, recognizing that he was finishing, roared once again and waved their signs and pennants.
But the civil rights leaders, who knew the strength of the forces arrayed against them from past battles, knew also that a hard struggle lay ahead. The tone of their speeches was frequently militant.
Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, made a plan that he and his colleagues thought the President's civil rights still did not go nearly far enough. He said:
"The President's proposals represent so moderate an approach that if any one is weakened or eliminated, the remainder will be little more than sugar water. Indeed, the package needs strengthening."
Harshest of all the speakers was John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
"My friends," he said, "Let us not forget that we are involved in a serious social revolution. But by and large American politics is dominated by politicians who build their career on immoral compromising and ally themselves with open forums of political, economic and social exploitation."
He concluded:
"They're talking about slowdown and stop. We will not stop.
"If we do not get meaningful legislation out of this Congress, the time will come when we will not confine our marching to Washington. We will march through the South, through the streets of Jackson, through the streets of Danville, through the streets of Cambridge, through the streets of Birmingham.
"But we will march with the spirit of love and the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today."
In the original text of the speech, distributed last night, Mr. Lewis said:
"We will not wait for the President, the Justice Department, nor the Congress, but we will take matters into our own hands and create a source of power, outside of any national structure, that could and would assure us a victory."
He also said in the original text that "we will march through the South, through the heart of Dixis, the way Sherman did."
It was understood that at least the last of these statements was changed as a result of a protest by the Most Rev. Patrick J. O'Boyle, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, who refused to give the invocation if the offending words were spoken by Mr. Lewis.
The great day really began the night before. As a half moon rose over the lagoon by the Jefferson Memorial and the tall lighted shaft of the Washington Monument gleamed in the reflecting pool, a file of Negroes from out of town began climbing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
There, while the carpenters nailed the last planks on the television platforms for the next day the TV technicians called through the loudspeakers, "Final audio, one, two, three, four," a middle-aged Negro couple, the man's arm around the shoulders of his plump wife, stood and read with their lips:
"If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of the offenses which in the providence of God must needs come, but which having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove..."
The day dawned clear and cool. At 7 A.M. the town had a Sunday appearance, except for the shuttle buses drawn up in front of Union Station, waiting.
By 10 A. M. there were 40,000 on the slopes around the Washington Monument. An hour later the police estimated the crowd at 90,000. And still they poured in.
Because some things went wrong at the monument, everything was right. Most of the stage and screen celebrities from New York and Hollywood who were scheduled to begin entertaining the crowd at 10 did not arrive at the airport until 11:15.
As a result the whole affair at the monument grounds began to take on the spontaneity of a church picnic. Even before the entertainment was to begin, groups of high school students were singing with wonderful improvisations and hand-clapping all over the monument slope.
Civil rights demonstrators who had been released from jail in Danville, Va., were singing:
"Move on, move on. Till all the world is free."
And members of Local 144 of the Hotel and Allied Service Employes Union from New York City, an integrated local since 1950, were stomping:
"Oh, freedom, we shall not, we shall not be moved, Just like a tree that's planted by the water."
Then the pros took over, starting with the folk singers. The crowd joined in with them.
Joan Baez started things rolling with "the song" - "We Shall Overcome."
"Oh deep in my heart I do believe We shall overcome some day."
And Peter, Paul, and Mary sang "How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky."
And Odetta's great, full-throated voice carried almost to Capitol Hill: "If they ask you who you are, tell them you're a child of God."
Jackie Robinson told the crowd that "we cannot be turned back," and Norman Thomas, the venerable Socialist, said: "I'm glad I lived long enough to see this day."
The march to the Lincoln Memorial was supposed to start at 11:30, behind the leaders. But at 11:20 it set off spontaneously down Constitution Avenue behind the Kenilworth Knights, a local drum and bugle corps dazzling in yellow silk blazers, green trousers and green berets.
Apparently forgotten was the intention to make the march to the Lincoln Memorial a solemn tribute to Medgar W. Evers, N.A.A.C.P. official murdered in Jackson, Miss., last June 12, and others who had died for the cause of civil rights.
The leaders were lost, and they never did get to the head of the parade.
The leaders included also Walter P. Reuther, head of the United Automobile Workers; A. Philip Randolph, head of the American Negro Labor Council; the Rev. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, vice chairman of the Commission on Religion and Race of the National Council of Churches; Mathew Ahmann, executive director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress; Whitney M. Young Jr., executive director of the National Urban League, and James Farmer, president of the Congress of Racial Equality.
All spoke at the memorial except Mr. Farmer, who is in jail in Louisiana following his arrest as a result of a civil rights demonstration. His speech was read by Floyd B. McKissick, CORE national chairman.
At the close of the ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial, Bayard Rustin, the organizer of the march, asked Mr. Randolph, who conceived it , to lead the vast throng in a pledge.
Repeating after Mr. Randolph, the marchers pledged "complete personal commitment to the struggle for jobs and freedom for Americans" and "to carry the message of the march to my friends and neighbors back home and arouse them to an equal commitment and an equal effort."