Friday, January 5, 1973. Airport Screening makes its US debut.

Mandatory screening of airline passengers went into effect in the United States.

Salt Lake City Airport.

The Canadian Parliament unanimously condemned the 1972 "Christmas" bombing of North Vietnam by the United States.  This infuriated President Nixon, who was otherwise busy with an Executive Order designed to reorganize the Federal Government and cut the number of White House staff, 4,000, in half.

Mali and Niger broke diplomatic relations with Israel and the Netherlands recognized German Democratic Republic, i.e., East Germany.

The Republic of Ireland amended its constitution removing the "special position" of the Catholic Church, making reference to other religions present in Ireland, and reducing the voting age from 21 to 18.  The special position had been resisted by the Catholic Church at the onset of its inclusion but included due to the insistence and influence of Éamon de Valera.

Joe Biden was sworn in as Senator from Delaware at a chapel at the Wilmington, Delaware hospital where one of his sons was hospitalized following a December 18 accident that killed Biden's first wife and his daughter.

Aerosmith released its first album, which was called Aerosmith.  On the same day, Bruce Springsteen released his famous debut studio album, Greetings from Ashbury Park, N.J.  Both albums showed an evolution away from the Rock & Roll of the 1960s.

A cold northern wind. The Alberta Sovereignty Within A United Canada Act.

From the prospective of the self-absorbed United States, it's often hard to realize that anything else is going on elsewhere, let alone that something much like what has been occurring in the US in recent years has been.

But in Canada, it has.

We got a glimpse of populist discontent in our northern neighbor this year with the Canadian truckers protest.  Since then, the government of Justin Trudeau has further restricted firearms access in Canada, where it was already severely restricted.

None of this sits well in some of rural Canada and the Canadian West.  Now Alberta, the province most like to react to such things, has reacted and passed a sovereignty bill.

It reads:

BILL 1

2022

ALBERTA SOVEREIGNTY WITHIN A UNITED CANADA ACT

(Assented to , 2022)

Table of Contents

1 Definitions

2 Interpretation

3 Resolutions

4 Powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Council

5 Authority and orders cease

6 Effect of directives

7 Crown is bound

8 No cause of action

9 Judicial review

10 Regulations

Preamble

WHEREAS Albertans possess a unique culture and shared identity within Canada;

WHEREAS it is the role of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Government of Alberta to preserve and promote this unique culture and shared identity;

WHEREAS the Constitution Act, 1867, the Constitution Act, 1930 and the Constitution Act, 1982 are foundational documents that establish the rights and freedoms of Albertans and the relationship between the provincial and federal orders of government, including the division of legislative powers between them;

WHEREAS the Province of Alberta is granted rights and powers under the Constitution Act, 1867, the Constitution Act, 1930 and the Constitution Act, 1982 and is not subordinate to the Government of Canada;

WHEREAS actions taken by the Parliament of Canada and the Government of Canada have infringed on these sovereign provincial rights and powers with increasing frequency and have unfairly prejudiced Albertans;

WHEREAS actions taken by the Parliament of Canada and the Government of Canada have infringed on the rights and freedoms of Albertans enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in an unjustified and unconstitutional manner;

WHEREAS the people of Alberta expect the Parliament of Canada and the Government of Canada to respect the Constitution Act, 1867, the Constitution Act, 1930 and the Constitution Act, 1982 as the governing documents of the relationship between Canada and

Alberta and to abide by the division of powers and other provisions set out in those documents;

WHEREAS the people of Alberta expect the Parliament of Canada and the Government of Canada to respect the rights and freedoms of Albertans enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and

WHEREAS it is necessary and appropriate for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to set out measures that the Lieutenant Governor in Council should consider taking in respect of actions of the Parliament of Canada and the Government of Canada that are unconstitutional or harmful to Albertans and for Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to have a free vote on such measures according to their individual judgment;

THEREFORE HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1 In this Act,

 (a) “aboriginal peoples of Canada” includes the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada within the meaning of section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982; 

(b) “Constitution of Canada” includes

 (i) the Canada Act, 1982, including the Constitution Act, 1982,

 (ii) the Acts and orders referred to in the Schedule to the Constitution Act, 1982, and

(iii) any amendment to any Act or order referred to in subclause (i) or (ii);

 (c) “federal initiative” means a federal law, program, policy, agreement or action, or a proposed or anticipated federal law, program, policy, agreement or action;

 (d) “person” includes a corporation and the heirs, executors, administrators or other legal representatives of a person;

 (e) “provincial entity” means

 (i) a public agency as defined in the Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act,

 (ii) a Crown-controlled organization as defined in the Financial Administration Act,

 (iii) an entity that carries out a power, duty or function under an enactment,

 (iv) an entity that receives a grant or other public funds from the Government that are contingent on the

provision of a public service,

 (v) a regional health authority established under the Regional Health Authorities Act,

 (vi) a public post-secondary institution as defined in the Post-secondary Learning Act,

 (vii) a board as defined in the Education Act,

 (viii) a municipal authority as defined in the Municipal Government Act,

 (ix) a municipal police service as defined in the Police Act,

 (x) a regional police service as defined in the Police Act, and

 (xi) any other similar provincially regulated entity prescribed by the regulations.

Interpretation

2 Nothing in this Act is to be construed as

 (a) authorizing any order that would be contrary to the Constitution of Canada,

 (b) authorizing any directive to a person, other than a provincial entity, that would compel the person to act contrary to or otherwise in violation of any federal law, or

 (c) abrogating or derogating from any existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada that are recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Resolutions

3 If, on a motion of a member of Executive Council, the Legislative Assembly approves a resolution that

 (a) states that the resolution is made in accordance with this Act,

 (b) states that, in the opinion of the Legislative Assembly, a federal initiative

 (i) is unconstitutional on the basis that it

 (A) intrudes into an area of provincial legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution of Canada, or

 (B) violates the rights and freedoms of one or more Albertans under the Canadian Charter of Rights

and Freedoms,

 or

 (ii) causes or is anticipated to cause harm to Albertans,

 (c) sets out the nature of the harm, if the resolution states that, in the opinion of the Legislative Assembly, a federal initiative causes or is anticipated to cause harm to Albertans, and

 (d) identifies a measure or measures that the Lieutenant Governor in Council should consider taking in respect of the federal initiative, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may take the actions described in section 4.

Powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Council

4(1) If the Legislative Assembly approves a resolution described in section 3, the Lieutenant Governor in Council, to the extent that it is necessary or advisable in order to carry out a measure that is identified in the resolution, may, by order,

 (a) if the Lieutenant Governor in Council is satisfied that doing so is in the public interest, direct a Minister responsible for an enactment as designated under section 16 of the Government Organization Act to, by order,

(i) suspend or modify the application or operation of all or part of an enactment, subject to the terms and conditions that the Lieutenant Governor in Councilmay prescribe, or

 (ii) specify or set out provisions that apply in addition to,or instead of, any provision of an enactment,subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council,

 (b) direct a Minister to exercise a power, duty or function of the Minister, including by making a regulation under an enactment for which the Minister is responsible, or

 (c) issue directives to a provincial entity and its members, officers and agents, and the Crown and its Ministers and agents, in respect of the federal initiative.

(2) A directive issued in accordance with subsection (1)(c) may be general or particular in its application.

(3) Where there is a conflict or inconsistency between

 (a) an order made or an order that is directed to be made under subsection (1), and

 (b) a provision of an enactment to which the order relates, the order prevails to the extent of the conflict or inconsistency.

(4) Nothing in this Act abrogates any authority or power vested in the Legislative Assembly or Lieutenant Governor in Council by any other enactment or by operation of law, including any authority or power of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to take action with respect to the federal initiative.

Authority and orders cease

5(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Lieutenant Governor in Council ceases to have an authority to make an order under section 4(1), and any order issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council or a Minister under section 4(1) expires and ceases to have any force or effect, on the earliest of

 (a) the date on which the Legislative Assembly rescinds the resolution referred to in section 4(1), or

 (b) 2 years after the date on which the resolution referred to in section 4(1) was approved by the Legislative Assembly.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may extend an order issued under section 4(1) for an additional 2 years from the date on which the original order was set to expire.

(3) An extension of an order by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under subsection (2) may be made only once.

Effect of directives

6(1) A provincial entity and its members, officers and agents, and the Crown and its Ministers and agents, must comply with any directive issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under this Act.

(2) A directive issued under this Act must be published in The Alberta Gazette within 30 days from the date the order is made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under section 4(1).

(3) The Regulations Act does not apply to a directive issued under this Act.

Crown is bound

7 This Act is binding on the Crown.

No cause of action

8 No cause of action lies against and no action or proceeding may be commenced against

 (a) the Crown or its Ministers, agents, appointees or employees, or against the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, an office of the Legislature, or any agents, appointees or employees of the Legislative Assembly or an office of the Legislature, in respect of any act or thing done or omitted to be done under or in relation to this Act or a resolution or order under this Act, including, without limitation, any failure to do something when that person has discretionary authority to do something but does not do it, or

 (b) any other person or entity in respect of any act or thing done or omitted to be done in good faith under a directive issued under this Act, including, without limitation, anyfailure to do something when that person has discretionary authority to do something but does not do it.

Judicial review

9(1) An originating application for judicial review in relation to a decision or act of a person or body under this Act must be filed and served within 30 days after the date of the decision or act.

(2) In an application for judicial review to set aside a decision or act of a person or body under this Act, the standard of review to be applied by the court is that of patent unreasonableness.

(3) Nothing in this section is to be construed as making a decision or act of the Legislative Assembly subject to judicial review.

Regulations

10 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations

 (a) prescribing provincial entities for the purposes of section 1(e);

 (b) defining any term or phrase used but not defined in this Act. 

GOVERNMENT AMENDMENT AMENDMENTS TO BILL 1

The Bill is amended as follows:

A Section 1 is amended by adding the following after clause (e): (f) “regulation” means a regulation, order, rule, form, tariff of costs or fees, proclamation, bylaw or resolution enacted

(i) in the execution of a power conferred by or under the authority of an Act, or

(ii) by or under the authority of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, but does not include an order of a court made in the course of an action or an order made by a public officer or administrative tribunal in a dispute between 2 or more  persons.

B Section 3(b)(ii) is struck out and the following is substituted: (ii) causes or is anticipated to cause harm to Albertans on the basis that it

(A) affects or interferes with an area of provincial legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution of Canada, or

(B) interferes with the rights and freedoms of one or more Albertans under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,

C Section 4 is struck out and the following is substituted:

ALBERTA SOVEREIGNTY WITHIN A UNITED CANADA ACT

Amendment A1 agreed to December 7, 2022

Powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Council 4(1) If the Legislative Assembly approves a resolution described in section 3, the Lieutenant Governor in Council, to the extent that it is necessary or advisable in order to carry out a measure that is identified in the resolution, may, by order,

 (a) if the Lieutenant Governor in Council is satisfied that doing so is in the public interest, direct a Minister responsible for an enactment as designated under section 16 of the Government Organization Act to, by order,

 (i) suspend or modify the application or operation of all or part of a regulation authorized by that enactment, subject to the terms and conditions that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe, or

 (ii) specify or set out provisions that apply in addition to, or instead of, any provision in a regulation authorized by that enactment,  subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council,

 (b) direct a Minister to exercise a power, duty or function of the Minister, or

 (c) issue directives to a provincial entity and its members, officers and agents, and the Crown and its Ministers and agents, in respect of the federal initiative.

(2) A directive issued in accordance with subsection (1)(c) may be general or particular in its application.

(3) Where there is a conflict or inconsistency between

 (a) an order made or an order that is directed to be made under subsection (1), and

 (b) a provision of a regulation to which the order relates, the order prevails to the extent of the conflict or inconsistency.

(4) For greater certainty, a regulation as referred to in this section does not include an Act of the Legislative Assembly.

(5) Nothing in this Act abrogates any authority or power vested in the Legislative Assembly or the Lieutenant Governor in Council by any other enactment or by operation of law, including any authority or power of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to take action with respect to the federal initiative.

What's all this mean?

Well, good luck in finding out.  The U.S. press doesn't follow Canadian politics at all, even in those regions where you would think it should.  Alberta is just north of Wyoming and many Albertans come through and work here, but the local news isn't covering it.  Canadians themselves, as part of their culture, tend to keep all of their complaints big secrets, so they'll never actually tell you what's going on.  We're more likely down here to find out about the blathering of some Pop Tart or Pop Twit, or the fastest weird tweet from Donald Trump written all in caps and featuring weird diction, than we are about something going on in Canada that really matters.

What we can say about Canada is this.  Canada has undergone massive societal and cultural shifts since the 1950s.  The country was once extremely English, save for in Quebec, and in a conservative way.  Quebec itself was extremely conservative as well, but in its own Quebecois way.  Starting in the late 1950s, Canada began to jettison its culture in this fashion and has gone the other way.  Laws regarding speech are in the books which would be unconstitutional in the US, and the country more or less has an unwritten highly liberal ethos in which things to the contrary are not culturally allowed, no matter what people may actually think.  A culture of Canadian politeness operates in this so that, at least on the surface, Canadians go along and don't interject their personal views much.  In the Canadian West, however, this meets opposition, but even there the culture of Canadian politeness operates so that you just have to know what's going on, as at least to non Canadians, Canadians aren't telling.

Canadians are also a very proud people and bristle at statements from outsiders, as a rule, that everything might not be prefect.  A claimed statistic I saw today, however, would suggest that more Canadians died of euthanasia within a referenced time frame than of COVID 19 which may be a tribune to its COVID 19 policies, but which serves to illuminate the introduction of euthanasia, which is distressing.

The trucker's convoy briefly brought out Canadians who were latent Trump supporters, oddly enough.  The difficulty of knowing what's going on in Canada from the outside, and its own culture of not really saying anything if strangers are invited to the dinner table, however, may be suppressing a bit a news story that's similar to what's been going on here for some time.

Following this act's passage, there were indications from Alberta's leadership that it might have to seek a referendum on, essentially, separation.

It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

Thursday, December 10, 1942. Raczyński's Note

Three students of an adult crafts class doing steamed crayon work in making table clothes and wall hangings. Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado

The Polish Government in Exhile isued "Raczyński's Note" an official diplomatic note to the Allied governments dealing with the German extermination of the Jews.  It stated:

The Germans unsuccessfully attacked Majaz al Bab in Tunisia.

The British and Canadian governments announced that they would unshackle German POWs on December 12.

The Irish Canadian Breakfast?

By BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives - Flickr: Irish Free State Butter, Eggs and Bacon for our Breakfasts / Du beurre, des œufs et du bacon de l’État libre d’Irlande au déjeuner, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17283294

 

Monday, November 9, 1942. The Germans invade Tunisia

In reaction to yesterday's landings in French North Africa and Morocco, the Germans invaded French Tunisia.  Vichy forces offered no resistance.  They were offering little resistance to the Allies further to the West, but they had resisted in Syria and Madagascar.

The Germans had no choice, as with the Allies at their back, they had to attempt to protect their rear.  This meant, however, that the Germans were fighting a two front war in North Africa, more or less protected from the south by desert, but open to flank attacks from the sea.

Sarah Sundin, on her blog, notes:

80 Years Ago—Nov. 9, 1942: German planes transport troops to El Aouina Airfield in (Vichy) French Tunisia to combat Allied landings in Algeria.

This means of transportation was frankly remarkable.

It ought to also be noted that at this point in the war, the Western Allies were fighting in Africa and Asia, and therefore overall involved in a massive two front war on the ground.  The Soviets, who were constantly arguing for a second front in Europe, failed to appreciate that there already was one, effectively.   The Western Allies let this go unnoticed.

The French had occupied Tunisia since 1881, governing it as a protectorate.  Its status was at least technically different, therefore, than other African colonies held by the French, and it would ultimately be very much different than Algeria, which became an overseas department of France.

Tunisia had independence movements that predated the war, but it wisely avoided using the war as a means to argue for a change in government, as it did not want Axis control of the country.  The Free French would, however, mess with its government and depose its popular nationalist bey.  The country became independent in 1956.

Sundin also noted:

Germans force Danish King Christian X to appoint collaborator Erik Scavenius as prime minister.

Scavenius was not a Nazi, but took a down key approach, hoping not to create controversy with the occupying Germans.  He remains a controversial figure in Denmark.

Canada, Cuba and Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with Vichy France.

Another thing noted by Sundin: 

German spy Werner von Janowski is landed by U-boat U-518 at New Carlisle, Québec, but is arrested within hours on a tip from a suspicious hotel clerk.

Von Janowksi was  an odd figure the Canadians tried to turn, and there's some indication he may have ended up a triple agent.  He was eventually sent to the UK in 1943 and repatriated to Germany after the war. As he was from Prussia, he was then homeless, and ultimately ended up working as an interpreter for the German Navy once it was reconstituted.

And on a topic other than the war:

Charles Courtney Curran, noted for his highly romanticized paintings of women, passed away.

Colter Wall "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"- Live from Speedy Creek

Thursday, November 6, 1947. Meet The Press Premiers.

Meet The Press, the longest running television program in the United States, premiered in that format.  It had previously premiered on radio as American Mercury Presents:  Meet the Press on October 5, 1945.

While I very much favor This Week over Meet the Press, it occurs to me that somewhat ironically, as I listed to the audio podcast variant, I listed to it closer to the radio version.

The first guess for the then 30-minute Thursday night program was James Farley, the Postmaster General and DNC Committee chairman.  The initial moderator was Martha Roundtree, reprising her role from the radio variant, and the only woman moderator of the show to date.  Roundtree hosted the program until 1953.

She died in 1999 in Washington D.C., nearly blind since the 1980s, due to the harsh effects of primitive television lighting.

As noted, I do listen to it, but I'm not a fan of the current moderator, Chuck Todd.  Indeed, I was hoping for a second female moderator in the form of Kasi Hunt.

On the same day, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov told a Moscow audience that the means of making an atomic weapons were no longer secret.  American intelligence took that to mean that the Soviet Union knew how to build a bomb, but didn't necessarily have one.  The Soviets, who had penetrated the American government fairly successfully, suspected that the US was working on such a weapon by 1942 and started their own project accordingly.  Nonetheless, they had not developed a bomb by this point themselves, but were only two years away from doing so.

Canada invited Newfoundland to join the Canadian Dominion.

Thursday, November 2, 1972. AIM takes over the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Trudeau steps down.

Pierre E. Trudeau announced that he would step down as Prime Minister of Canada following a 109 to 109 tie between the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservatives.  The New Democrats would have thrown their 30 seats in with the Liberals, which Trudeau knew at the time.

Period banner of the Liberal Party.

The American Indian Movement took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. The organization had been formed in 1968.

Monday, November 2, 1942. Stars and Stripes reborn.

Stars and Stripes, which had its birth as an Army newspaper during World War One, was reborn.

US made 105mm Self Propelled gun in British service, November 2, 1942.

Phase Four of the Second Battle of El Alamein, Operation Supercharge, commenced.  Rommel, back in command of the Afrika Korps, cabeled Hitler, stating:

The army's strength was so exhausted after its ten days of battle that it was not now capable of offering any effective opposition to the enemy's next break-through attempt ... With our great shortage of vehicles an orderly withdrawal of the non-motorised forces appeared impossible ... In these circumstances we had to reckon, at the least, with the gradual destruction of the army.

Hitler replied:

It is with trusting confidence in your leadership and the courage of the German-Italian troops under your command that the German people and I are following the heroic struggle in Egypt. In the situation which you find yourself there can be no other thought but to stand fast, yield not a yard of ground and throw every gun and every man into the battle. Considerable air force reinforcements are being sent to C.-in-C South. The Duce and the Comando Supremo are also making the utmost efforts to send you the means to continue the fight. Your enemy, despite his superiority, must also be at the end of his strength. It would not be the first time in history that a strong will has triumphed over the bigger battalions. As to your troops, you can show them no other road than that to victory or death. Adolf Hitler.

The Australians captured Kokoda.

The BBC began French language broadcasts to Quebec.

Sunday, October 29, 1942. The Alaska Highway Opens.

British clergymen and political figures met to denounce German persecution of the Jews.

Today In Wyoming's History: October 29:  1942  The Alaska Canada Highway (ALCAN) opened as a military highway.

What does this have to do with Wyoming?  Well, arguably not much.  But the story is relevant, as depicted here, for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, it was the first really all year around, all weather, rural highway in the United States. The trucks depicted here are travelling in conditions that would be familiar to most Wyoming drivers, but which most people avoided travelling in for the most part, for long distances anyhow, prior to World War Two.

Pat of the reason that, after the war, they would travel in conditions like this has to do with a technology depicted here which wasn't common at all prior tot he war. . . the all wheel drive.  In this case, the vehicles are 6x6 2 1/2 ton military trucks, but it was the 4x4 military truck that would really cause a revolution in post war rural travel, when it put on civilian colors.

Monday, October 23, 1922. Bonar Law becomes Prime Minister.

Bonar Law of the Conservative Party became the British Prime Minister.

Law had been born in New Brunswick, which was at the time a separate British colony and not part of Canada.  His father was a Presbyterian minister from Scotland, and the family returned to Scotland when Law still young after the death of his mother. He left school at the age of 16 and went to work in the office side of the iron industry, which was not unusual at the time.  He was a wealthy man by age 30.

He'd be Prime Minister for less than a year, resigning in May 1923, as he became increasingly ill from throat cancer.

Wednesday, October 14, 1942. Sinking of the Caribou.

The SS Caribou was sunk by a German submarine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, leading to the loss of 137 lives.  It was one of the most significant shipping losses in Canadian waters during World War Two. 

Today in World War II History—October 14, 1942: Hitler orders halt in east except in Stalingrad and the Caucasus to prepare for winter defense. Australians and Japanese battle for Templeton’s Crossing.

So notes Sarah Sundin.

Also noted, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was formed on this day. The UPA was thought of by its organizers, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalist, as a national Ukrainian Army. 

Originally, it was loosely aligned with the Germans, and the OUN offered its services, before it was formed, to the Germans and it was formed as a reaction to Soviet partisans in Ukraine.  In February 1943, however, it also went to war with the Germans.  Ultimately it would fight the Soviets, the Germans, and the Poles, the latter of which it committed terrible atrocities against.

UPA Poster

The UPA is emblematic of the ambiguous nature of the wars within the Second World War that were fought in the east.  By this point, the Ukrainians had fought the Russians in the Russian Civil War, and the Poles at approximately the same time. They'd established an independent state with more territory than Ukraine currently has, only to lose it in Soviet incorporation.  The Soviets had subjected the Ukrainians to mass starvation intentionally. When the Germans arrived, many Ukrainians greeted them with the traditional gift of bread and salt.  At this point in the war, it wasn't yet clear to Ukrainian nationalist that the Germans had no intention of further enslaving Ukraine, but it soon would be.

The thought that an insurgent army of this type could prevail against the Germans and the Soviets was naive.  That the UPA also thought that it had to reengage in a sometimes genocidal war with the Poles was inexcusable.

Old Corrals and Sagebrush

Old Corrals and SagebrushOld Corrals and Sagebrush

Monday, October 12, 1942. The Home Front

Franklin Roosevelt, on this day in 1942, addressed the nation in a fireside chat.

My fellow Americans:

As you know, I have recently come back from a trip of inspection of camps and training stations and war factories.

The main thing that I observed on this trip is not exactly news. It is the plain fact that the American people are united as never before in their determination to do a job and to do it well.

This whole nation of one hundred and thirty million free men, women and children is becoming one great fighting force. Some of us are soldiers or sailors, some of us are civilians. Some of us are fighting the war in airplanes five miles above the continent of Europe or the islands of the Pacific -- and some of us are fighting it in mines deep doom in the earth of Pennsylvania or Montana. A few of us are decorated with medals for heroic achievement, but all of us can have that deep and permanent inner satisfaction that comes from doing the best we know how -- each of us playing an honorable part in the great struggle to save our democratic civilization.

Whatever our individual circumstances or opportunities -we are all in it, and our spirit is good, and we Americans and our allies are going to win -- and do not let anyone tell you anything different.

That is the main thing that I saw on my trip around the country -- unbeatable spirit. If the leaders of Germany and Japan could have come along with me, and had seen what I saw, they would agree with my conclusions. Unfortunately, they were unable to make the trip with me. And that is one reason why we are carrying our war effort overseas -- to them.

With every passing week the war increases in scope and intensity. That is true in Europe, in Africa, in Asia, and on all the seas.

The strength of the United Nations is on the upgrade in this war. The Axis leaders, on the other hand, know by now that they have already reached their full strength, and that their steadily mounting losses in men and material cannot be fully replaced. Germany and Japan are already realizing what the inevitable result will be when the total strength of the United Nations hits them -- at additional places on the earth's surface.

One of the principal weapons of our enemies in the past has been their use of what is called "The War of Nerves." They have spread falsehood and terror; they have started Fifth Columns everywhere; they have duped the innocent; they have fomented suspicion and hate between neighbors; they have aided and abetted those people in other nations -- (even) including our own -- whose words and deeds are advertised from Berlin and from Tokyo as proof of our disunity.

The greatest defense against all such propaganda, of course, is the common sense of the common people -- and that defense is prevailing.

The "War of Nerves" against the United Nations is now turning into a boomerang. For the first time, the Nazi propaganda machine is on the defensive. They begin to apologize to their own people for the repulse of their vast forces at Stalingrad, and for the enormous casualties they are suffering. They are compelled to beg their overworked people to rally their weakened production. They even publicly admit, for the first time, that Germany can be fed only at the cost of stealing food from the rest of Europe.

They are proclaiming that a second front is impossible; but, at the same time, they are desperately rushing troops in all directions, and stringing barbed wire all the way from the coasts of Finland and Norway to the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, they are driven to increase the fury of their atrocities.

The United Nations have decided to establish the identity of those Nazi leaders who are responsible for the innumerable acts of savagery. As each of these criminal deeds is committed, it is being carefully investigated; and the evidence is being relentlessly piled up for the future purposes of justice.

We have made it entirely clear that the United Nations seek no mass reprisals against the populations of Germany or Italy or Japan. But the ring leaders and their brutal henchmen must be named, and apprehended, and tried in accordance with the judicial processes of criminal law.

There are now millions of Americans in army camps, in naval stations, in factories and in shipyards.

Who are these millions upon whom the life of our country depends? What are they thinking? What are their doubts? (and) What are their hopes? And how is the work progressing?

The Commander-in-Chief cannot learn all of the answers to these questions in Washington. And that is why I made the trip I did.

It is very easy to say, as some have said, that when the President travels through the country he should go with a blare of trumpets, with crowds on the sidewalks, with batteries of reporters and photographers -- talking and posing with all of the politicians of the land.

But having had some experience in this war and in the last war, I can tell you very simply that the kind of trip I took permitted me to concentrate on the work I had to do without expending time, meeting all the demands of publicity. And -- I might add -- it was a particular pleasure to make a tour of the country without having to give a single thought to politics.

I expect to make other trips for similar purposes, and I shall make them in the same way.

In the last war, I had seen great factories; but until I saw some of the new present-day plants, I had not thoroughly visualized our American war effort. Of course, I saw only a small portion of all our plants, but that portion was a good cross-section, and it was deeply impressive.

The United States has been at war for only ten months, and is engaged in the enormous task of multiplying its armed forces many times. We are by no means at full production level yet. But I could not help asking myself on the trip, where would we be today if the Government of the United States had not begun to build many of its factories for this huge increase more than two years ago, more than a year before war was forced upon us at Pearl Harbor?

We have also had to face the problem of shipping. Ships in every part of the world continue to be sunk by enemy action. But the total tonnage of ships coming out of American, Canadian and British shipyards, day by day, has increased so fast that we are getting ahead of our enemies in the bitter battle of transportation.

In expanding our shipping, we have had to enlist many thousands of men for our Merchant Marine. These men are serving magnificently. They are risking their lives every hour so that guns and tanks and planes and ammunition and food may be carried to the heroic defenders of Stalingrad and to all the United Nations' forces all over the world.

A few days ago I awarded the first Maritime Distinguished Service Medal to a young man -- Edward F. Cheney of Yeadon, Pennsylvania -- who had shown great gallantry in rescuing his comrades from the oily waters of the sea after their ship had been torpedoed. There will be many more such acts of bravery.

In one sense my recent trip was a hurried one, out through the Middle West, to the Northwest, down the length of the Pacific Coast and back through the Southwest and the South. In another sense, however, it was a leisurely trip, because I had the opportunity to talk to the people who are actually doing the work -- management and labor alike -- on their own home grounds. And it gave me a fine chance to do some thinking about the major problems of our war effort on the basis of first things first.

As I told the three press association representatives who accompanied me, I was impressed by the large proportion of women employed -- doing skilled manual (work) labor running machines. As time goes on, and many more of our men enter the armed forces, this proportion of women will increase. Within less than a year from now, I think, there will probably be as many women as men working in our war production plants.

I had some enlightening experiences relating to the old saying of us men that curiosity -- inquisitiveness -- is stronger among woman. I noticed (that), frequently, that when we drove unannounced down the middle aisle of a great plant full of workers and machines, the first people to look up from their work were the men -- and not the women. It was chiefly the men who were arguing as to whether that fellow in the straw hat was really the President or not.

So having seen the quality of the work and of the workers on our production lines -- and coupling these firsthand observations with the reports of actual performance of our weapons on the fighting fronts -- I can say to you that we are getting ahead of our enemies in the battle of production.

And of great importance to our future production was the effective and rapid manner in which the Congress met the serious problem of the rising cost of living. It was a splendid example of the operation of democratic processes in wartime.

The machinery to carry out this act of the Congress was put into effect within twelve hours after the bill was signed. The legislation will help the cost-of-living problems of every worker in every factory and on every farm in the land.

In order to keep stepping up our production, we have had to add millions of workers to the total labor force of the Nation. And as new factories came into operation, we must find additional millions of workers.

This presents a formidable problem in the mobilization of manpower.

It is not that we do not have enough people in this country to do the job. The problem is to have the right numbers of the right people in the right places at the right time.

We are learning to ration materials, and we must now learn to ration manpower.

The major objectives of a sound manpower policy are:

First, to select and train men of the highest fighting efficiency needed for our armed forces in the achievement of victory over our enemies in combat.

Second, to man our war industries and farms with the workers needed to produce the arms and munitions and food required by ourselves and by our fighting allies to win this war.

In order to do this, we shall be compelled to stop workers from moving from one war job to another as a matter of personal preference; to stop employers from stealing labor from each other; to use older men, and handicapped people, and more women, and even grown boys and girls, wherever possible and reasonable, to replace men of military age and fitness; to train new personnel for essential war work; and to stop the wastage of labor in all non-essential activities.

There are many other things that we can do, and do immediately, to help meet (the) this manpower problem.

The school authorities in all the states should work out plans to enable our high school students to take some time from their school year, (and) to use their summer vacations, to help farmers raise and harvest their crops, or to work somewhere in the war industries. This does not mean closing schools and stopping education. It does mean giving older students a better opportunity to contribute their bit to the war effort. Such work will do no harm to the students.

People should do their work as near their homes as possible. We cannot afford to transport a single worker into an area where there is already a worker available to do the job.

In some communities, employers dislike to employ women. In others they are reluctant to hire Negroes. In still others, older men are not wanted. We can no longer afford to indulge such prejudices or practices.

Every citizen wants to know what essential war work he can do the best. He can get the answer by applying to the nearest United States Employment Service office. There are four thousand five hundred of these offices throughout the Nation. They (are) form the corner grocery stores of our manpower system. This network of employment offices is prepared to advise every citizen where his skills and labors are needed most, and to refer him to an employer who can utilize them to best advantage in the war effort.

Perhaps the most difficult phase of the manpower problem is the scarcity of farm labor in many places. I have seen evidences of the fact, however, that the people are trying to meet it as well as possible.

In one community that I visited a perishable crop was harvested by turning out the whole of the high school for three or four days.

And in another community of fruit growers the usual Japanese labor was not available; but when the fruit ripened, the banker, the butcher, the lawyer, the garage man, the druggist, the local editor, and in fact every able-bodied man and woman in the town, left their occupations, (and) went out gathering(ed) the fruit, and sent it to market.

Every farmer in the land must realize fully that his production is part of war production, and that he is regarded by the Nation as essential to victory. The American people expect him to keep his production up, and even to increase it. We will use every effort to help him to get labor; but, at the same time, he and the people of his community must use ingenuity and cooperative effort to produce crops, and livestock and dairy products.

It may be that all of our volunteer effort -- however well intentioned and well administered -- will not suffice wholly to solve (the) this problem. In that case, we shall have to adopt new legislation. And if this is necessary, I do not believe that the American people will shrink from it.

In a sense, every American, because of the privilege of his citizenship, is a part of the Selective Service.

The Nation owes a debt of gratitude to the Selective Service Boards. The successful operation of the Selective Service System and the way it has been accepted by the great mass of our citizens give us confidence that if necessary, the same principle could be used to solve any manpower problem.

And I want to say also a word of praise and thanks (for) to the more than ten million people, all over the country, who have volunteered for the work of civilian defense -- and who are working hard at it. They are displaying unselfish devotion in the patient performance of their often tiresome and always anonymous tasks. In doing this important neighborly work they are helping to fortify our national unity and our real understanding of the fact that we are all involved in this war.

Naturally, on my trip I was most interested in watching the training of our fighting forces.

All of our combat units that go overseas must consist of young, strong men who have had thorough training. (A) An Army division that has an average age of twenty-three or twenty-four is a better fighting unit than one which has an average age of thirty-three or thirty-four. The more of such troops we have in the field, the sooner the war will be won, and the smaller will be the cost in casualties.

Therefore, I believe that it will be necessary to lower the present minimum age limit for Selective Service from twenty years down to eighteen. We have learned how inevitable that is -- and how important to the speeding up of victory.

I can very thoroughly understand the feelings of all parents whose sons have entered our armed forces. I have an appreciation of that feeling and so has my wife.

I want every father and every mother who has a son in the service to know --again, from what I have seen with my own eyes -- that the men in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps are receiving today the best possible training, equipment and medical care. And we will never fail to provide for the spiritual needs of our officers and men under the Chaplains of our armed services.

Good training will save many, many lives in battle. The highest rate of casualties is always suffered by units comprised of inadequately trained men.

We can be sure that the combat units of our Army and Navy are well manned, (and) well equipped, (and) well trained. Their effectiveness in action will depend upon the quality of their leadership, and upon the wisdom of the strategic plans on which all military operations are based.

I can say one thing about (our) these plans of ours: They are not being decided by the typewriter strategists who expound their views in the press or on the radio.

One of the greatest of American soldiers, Robert E. Lee, once remarked on the tragic fact that in the war of his day all of the best generals were apparently working on newspapers instead of in the Army. And that seems to be true in all wars.

The trouble with the typewriter strategists is that while they may be full of bright ideas, they are not in possession of much information about the facts or problems of military operations.

We, therefore, will continue to leave the plans for this war to the military leaders.

The military and naval plans of the United States are made by the Joint Staff of the Army and Navy which is constantly in session in Washington. The Chiefs of this Staff are Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, Admiral King and General Arnold. They meet and confer regularly with representatives of the British Joint Staff, and with representatives of Russia, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway, the British Dominions and other nations working in the common cause.

Since this unity of operations was put into effect last January, there has been a very substantial agreement between these planners, all of whom are trained in the profession of arms -- air, sea and land -- from their early years. As Commander-in-Chief I have at all times also been in substantial agreement.

As I have said before, many major decisions of strategy have been made. One of them -- on which we have all agreed -- relates to the necessity of diverting enemy forces from Russia and China to other theaters of war by new offensives against Germany and Japan. An announcement of how these offensives are to be launched, and when, and where, cannot be broadcast over the radio at this time.

We are celebrat(e)ing today the exploit of a bold and adventurous Italian --Christopher Columbus -- who with the aid of Spain opened up a new world where freedom and tolerance and respect for human rights and dignity provided an asylum for the oppressed of the old world.

Today, the sons of the New World are fighting in lands far distant from their own America. They are fighting to save for all mankind, including ourselves, the principles which have flourished in this new world of freedom.

We are mindful of the countless millions of people whose future liberty and whose very lives depend upon permanent victory for the United Nations.

There are a few people in this country who, when the collapse of the Axis begins, will tell our people that we are safe once more; that we can tell the rest of the world to "stew in its own juice"; that never again will we help to pull "the other fellow's chestnuts from the fire"; that the future of civilization can jolly well take care of itself insofar as we are concerned.

But it is useless to win battles if the cause for which we fight these battles is lost. It is useless to win a war unless it stays won.

We, therefore, fight for the restoration and perpetuation of faith and hope and peace throughout the world.

The objective of today is clear and realistic. It is to destroy completely the military power of Germany, Italy and Japan to such good purpose that their threat against us and all the other United Nations cannot be revived a generation hence.

We are united in seeking the kind of victory that will guarantee that our grandchildren can grow and, under Gods may live their lives, free from the constant threat of invasion, destruction, slavery and violent death.

As Sarah Sundin reports, the US took an odd approach on this day on one of its "enemy alien" classifications:

Today in World War II History—October 12, 1942: Restrictions are lifted against Italian nationals living as long-term residents in US—no longer classified as enemy aliens and not required to carry ID cards.

Why this applied to Italian's of long U.S. residence, but not the Japanese, is hard to fathom.

The Battle of Cape Esperance, discussed yesterday, concluded in an American victory.  Japanese admiral Aritomo Goto, age 54, was a fatal Japanese casualty of the battle.  The Battle of Bowmanville, the Canadian POW uprising, also concluded.

Saturday, October 10, 1942. POW Revolt and Hot Dogs.

The Saturday Evening Post featured a cover illustration of an American GI showing an English girl a hot dog.

Hot dogs, while certainly of German origin, as an oddly American item show up in the British television series Foyle's War.  Apparently they are truly American, as they were a trope during the war at the time, it seems.

A POW revolt occurred at Bowmanville, Ontario, when German POWs (mostly officers) were ordered gathered to be manacled in response to German's doing the same to Canadian POWs captured at Dieppe, which itself was due to a German misunderstanding regarding the treatment of their POWs.

Nobody was killed in the uprising, but there were a number of serious injuries.

Friday, October 9, 1942. Australian legislative Independence.

The Australian parliament adopted the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act.  The act, which had been passed by the British Parliament in 1931, granted the dominions nearly full legislative authority.  Australia back dates acceptance to a 1939 date so as to predate the war.

Marines crossed the Matanikau River, putting Henderson Field out of artillery range.The above and other events are discussed for this date on Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—October 9, 1942: First WAVES enlisted schools open. On Guadalcanal, Marines cross Matanikau River, pushing Japanese out of artillery range of Henderson Field.

Albert Peter Low, Canadian geologist and explorer, died at age 81.

A.P. Low and party on a hauling picnic up Lake Winokapau, Churchill River, Labrador, 1894.

Wednesday, September 30, 1942 U.S. rations footgear, Canada conscripts at age 19.

Today in World War II History—September 30, 1942: US begins rationing men’s rubber boots and work shoes. Canada begins draft for men 19 and older (men 21-24 are already subject to draft).

So notes Sarah Sundin on her blog.  

Conscription was controversial in general in Canada. At this point in the war, conscripts could not be sent overseas unless they volunteered to do so, although a high percentage did volunteer.

Sundin also noted that high scoring German fighter pilot, Hans-Joachim Marseille, was killed bailing out of his Me109 on this day.  His engine had caught on fire, and he hit the horizontal stabilizer upon bailing out. Most of Marseille's victories had been over North Africa.  

Marseilles was a high scoring, but largely unstudied, German pilot.  He was noted for being unorthodox in his flying and his personality.

Canada closed Hastings Park Assembly Center, a temporary staging center for the internment of Japanese Canadians, as it was no longer needed, internment now being in full swing.

Hitler delivered a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast in which he promised that the Jews would be exterminated, rather than the "Aryan peoples".  Nobody was, of course, attempting to exterminate the Aryan peoples, to the extent that such a category even exists.  The speech was long and mocking, and oddly made reference to specific figures, like Gen. MacArthur.

The Germans were, at this point, in trouble, and at the higher reaches of their government, they knew it.  Hitler had been sacking generals on the Eastern Front, the Afrika Korps was back on the defensive, and the British were raiding by air nightly.  New weapons were being put into Allied production, which Hitler derisively mentioned, but which indicates that the knowledge that the Germans were losing the technology and production war was starting to set in.

On the same day, Germany and Turkey signed a trade agreement.

Monday, September 25, 1922. Harington bluffs.

British General Sir Charles Harington, who had to deal the prior year with 50,000 Greek troops being deployed to Thrace, now had to deal with Turkish troops who were threatening the neutral zone.  In the first crisis, the Turks offered 20,000 troops to help, which were declined, and in the second, the Greeks offered 20,000 troops, but declined. 

Today, a century ago, Harington issued an ultimatum to the Turks to withdraw from the neutral zone.

General Harington, with Selahattin Adil Paşa, before his final departure from Istanbul, Dolmabahçe wharf

The British were in a bad way, in reality, as their government was not ready to fight without the Dominions, and Canada had refused.

The New York Giants won the National League pennant with a 5 to 4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals

Scenes from around Boulder Canyon taken on this day, as geologist from the USGS made an epic trip.

Caldville Ruins below the Boulder damsite.  Note the geologist wearing a "wife beater" t-shirt, and hatless.  Very unusual photo for the era.

Saturday, September 19, 1942. British women on fire watch, Canadians restricted on gasoline purchases.

Today in World War II History—September 19, 1942: Britain expands Compulsory Fire Watch duty to women ages 20-45 with exemptions for pregnant women and mothers of children under 14.

So reports Sarah Sundin, who also reported that Canada initiated gasoline rationing, with the allowed amount being 2.5 gallons per week.

Monday, September 18, 1922. Canada throws the anchor out on Anatolian Intervention

Japanese Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi and his wife on this day in 1922.

The Turkish Army, or rather the army of the revolutionary Young Turks, which had replaced the Turkish parliament and brought about what would effectively be the modern era in Turkey, captured Artake and Pergaea, ending, completely defeating the Greeks.  On the same day, the Canadian government informed the British government that Parliament (the British one) would have to act before Canada would send troops to the Dardanelles.

Canada knew that Parliament would be reluctant to do this, and the Canadians were reluctant to form military units for an Anatolian expedition.  

Who could blame them?

Hungary was admitted into the League of Nations.

Just this week, FWIW, Turkey was declared by the EU to be essentially a post, or quasi, democratic state.  By its own admission, it's an Illiberal Democracy, but it nonetheless took offense.

The former Kasier Wilhelm II announced his engagement to Hermine Reuss of Greiz. His first wife, the Kaiserin August Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein had died in April 1921.  Hermine was a widow.

In spite of the fact that the German monarchy did not exist, the announcement was unpopular with German monarchists as well as with Wilhelm's sons, who deemed it too soon to the Kasierin's death.

She'd outlive the former Kaiser by six years and see the emergence of post-war Germany, passing in 1947.  Following her second husband's death in 1941, she moved to Nazi Germany and lived on his retained estate in Silesia.  She fled the advancing Red Army in 1945 and was arrested by the Soviet thereafter.  She died at age 59 in a small apartment she had secured in Frankfurt.

The Yankee's won the pennant, defeating the St. Louis Brown's

Navajo men at Lee's Ferry on this date in 1922.