Saturday, February 16, 1901. Tariff wars.

Russia retaliated on a tariff raise imposed on Russian sugar with a 30% increase on the tariff on American ferric goods.

Hmm. . . seems like I've heard this tune before. . . 

We don't think of Russia as a player in sugar today, in no small part due to the Russian Revolution.  Before that, however, Russia was a major sugar exporter, being a beneficiary of the German process for refining sugar beets.  The U.S. sugar industry is based on the same process.

The U.S. sugar industry was heavily impacted by the Spanish American War, oddly enough, as the U.S. became a major market for Cuban sugar and tobacco.  When Cuba went communist in the 1950s, Russia in turn became the market for both of those things.  Today, Cuba really doesn't have a market for either.  A logical trade policy would open trade back up with Cuba, which is far more likely to liberalize its government than attempting to starve it to death before Marco Rubio convinces Mad King Donny to invade it.

Also in Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Vladimir Lamsdorf presented a revised treaty proposal to China's Ambassador to the Russian Empire, Prince Yang-ju. Under the 12-article treaty, China would retain ownership of Manchuria, but Russian troops would be allowed to occupy the territory to guard the railways there, and China would be forbidden from granting rail or mining privileges to anyone without Russian consent. China wasn't impressed and leaked the details to the Japanese and British.

Most of  Alabama's Legislature arrived in Pensacola, Florida, at the invitation of the West Florida Annexation Association, to discuss the possibility of the annexing western Florida.

Macedonian demonstrators in Sofia demanded independence for Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 16: 1901  Governor Richards signed an act that required county commissions to raise taxes for the purpose of building a residence for the governor.  Attribution:  On This Day.

Wyoming's Sixth State Legislature concluded.

It was a Saturday.

The British journal The Sphere reported on a recent visit by Kaiser Wilhelm II, pictured here wearing a completely absurd helmet, to the UK.

In sharp contrast, The Saturday Evening POst had an illustration of George Washington, no doubt in commemoration of his birthday, on the cover. The attempt at illustrating a bit and bradoon was seriously flawed, however.

I'd be interested in what the article on millionaires not being able to stop making money held.  Millionaires at that time  would be like billionaires now.\

The progressive movement at the time was attempting to rein millionaires in.  The Great Depression, a good thirty years away, would accomplish it. . . for a time.

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Friday, February 15, 1901. Right of way.

Labels: 1890s, 1896, 1900s, 1901, British Columbia, Coal, Department of the Interior, Disaster, Music, National Park Service, The Blues, This is why we can't have nice things, William McKinley

Tuesday, February 5, 1901. What we wanted.

The United States Senate voted to declassify all United States Department of State papers relating to the peace negotiations that ended the Spanish–American War.

This revealed to the public that the only territory that the United States originally had wanted Spain to completely give up was Puerto Rico and its surrounding islands.

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Saturday, February 2, 1901. Army matters.

Labels: 1900s, 1901, Army, cavalry, Ft. D.A. Russell, It was because of the Spanish American War, Personalities, Queen Victoria, United Kingdom

Saturday, February 2, 1901. Army matters.

Queen Victoria's funeral took place at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The Kings of the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Greece, and the future kings of Denmark and Sweden were in attendance.

The post Spanish American War United States Army Reorganization Bill was signed into law by President William McKinley. As part of it:

• The United States Army Nurse Corps was established as a permanent part of the United States Army's Medical Department. Women could enlist in the Army for three year terms, but t hey could not be commissioned.
• The Dental Corps was established.

The Army needed modernization, as di the state militia system, and it was receiving it.

Benjamin O. Davis Sr., the first African-American general in the United States Army, was  commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. 9th Cavalry. 

Davis had enlisted as a private less than two years earlier and been mentored by Major Charles Young, who, at the time, was the only other black officer in the United States Army. He'd be a pivotal figure in the ultimate integration of the U.S. military, as in fact was Young.

It should be noted that this date is somewhat confusing in regard to Davis' career, as he'd been an officer in the Washington D.C. National Guard in 1898.  He'd been commissioned again during the Spanish American War in the 8th  U.S. Volunteer Infantry.  After being mustered out he'd rejoined the Army as a private, showing a remarkable drive for service in the segregated Army of the time.

Davis in 1945.

He was old for an officer during World War Two, but such a seminal figure that he was retained in service.  He lived until 1970, dying at age 93, outliving both of his wives who predeceased him.  His son by the same name became a general in the U.S. Air Force.  The senior Davis was serving at Ft. D. A. Russell at the time of the younger Davis' birth.

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Tuesday, January 29, 1901. Farewell speech of Congressman George Henry White.

Labels: 1900s, 1901, 57th Congress, North Carolina, Personalities, Racism

Wednesday, November 7, 1900. The Treaty of Washington.

Spain relinquishes to the United States all title and claim of title, which she may have had at the time of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace of Paris, to any and all islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, lying outside the lines described in Article III of that Treaty and particularly to the islands of Cagayan, Sulu and Sibutu and their dependencies, and agrees that all such islands shall be comprehended in the cession of the Archipelago as fully as if they had been expressly included within those lines.

The U.S. paid $100,000. 

The Canadian election of 1900 saw the Liberal Party increase its majority.

Last edition:

Tuesday, November 6, 1900. The election of 1900.

Labels: 1900, 1900 Election, 1900s, Colorado (Denver), Railroads, Republican Party, Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, Wyoming (Albany County), Wyoming (Tie Siding)

Saturday, October 13, 1900. Two Army physicians meet and end up saving the lives of millions.

Major General Leonard Wood, U.S. Military Governor of Cuba and a physician met with Major Walter Reed, U.S. Army surgeon, and authorized further funding of experiments to establish that yellow fever was spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. probably disputes that.  Probably Tylenol causes yellow fever.

Anyhow, while Secretary of Defense Hegseth may be upset with the Army being "woke", this wokeness lead to one of the most significant medical developments in history.

Last edition:

Friday, October 12, 1900. The USS Holland commissioned.

Labels: 1900, 1900s, 1905, boats and ships, U.S. Navy