Leidsch Dagblad
- City News
- Germany
- France
The Leidsch Dagblad of 6 October 1926 combined small-town notices with foreign politics. Its city column recorded certificates of merit for a local perennial nursery, a townsman passing his police diploma, a M.U.L.O. teacher posted to the Dutch East Indies, a Catholic journalist named to his party's council, and the 3 October Association planning a social evening just after the Relief festivities. From Germany it reported the names floated to succeed Severing as Prussian interior minister, insisting he left only for his health, along with rumours of a Hohenzollern settlement and a demand that Germans abroad get the vote. From France it reported Poincaré's wish to recall parliament early to debate the 1927 budget and the ratification of the debt agreements.
Translation
City News
… certificates of merit were awarded to new introductions of, and entered by, the perennial plant nursery W. van Veen of this town. – Our fellow townsman, Mr D. Verstraeten, passed the examination for the police diploma at 's-Hertogenbosch. – Mr H. H. Frehe, a teacher at the M.U.L.O. school here, has been assigned to service in the Dutch East Indies. – The R.C. Journalists' Association has appointed, among others, Mr Th. Wilmer of this town as deputy member of the Party Council of the R.C. State Party. – We understand that the board of the 3 October Association intends within a few days to hold a social evening …
Germany
… not yet known. Those named are the Social Democrat Regierungspräsident of Lüneburg, Krüper, and the Soc.-Dem. Berlin police president Grczynski. Severing is leaving solely for reasons of health. • • • There are rumours that agreement has been reached between Prussia and the Hohenzollerns on the financial settlement. • • • In connection with the amendment of the franchise for the Reichstag, the associations of "Ausland-Deutschen" have, in addresses to the government, demanded the active and passive right to vote for Germans abroad. They would their …
France
In a conversation with the chairman of the finance committee of the Chamber, Poincaré said that he intends to convene parliament by the 26th of this month or 4 November. He definitely wishes the Chamber to begin as soon as possible with the debate on the budget for 1927 and on the ratification bills for the agree- …
Context
Why Leiden had a 3 October Association
The city column's last item concerns the board of the 3-October-vereeniging, the association that organizes Leiden's annual celebration. The date refers to the end of the Spanish siege during the Eighty Years' War: the siege failed when the city was relieved in October 1574. After the dykes had been breached to flood the countryside, the rebel fleet reached the city on 3 October and fed the starving citizens herring and white bread. Leiden still holds its 3 October Festival every year, and the municipality gives its citizens free herring and white bread. The paper appeared on 6 October 1926, three days after that year's festival, so the association's plan for a social evening probably followed the main event. The excerpt itself does not describe the festivities.
What Severing had done as Prussian interior minister
Carl Severing, whose departure the German column reports, was the leading Social Democratic figure in Prussian domestic administration. He was named Prussian interior minister after the Kapp Putsch of 1920 and, over his terms in office, worked to democratize the Prussian administration and police by removing officials hostile to the Republic. He also tried to build a strong police force, convinced that using it against internal unrest would cause less violence and fewer deaths than calling in the Reichswehr. The paper states that Severing was leaving solely for reasons of health. That is the paper's own claim, and the reason is not established here. Severing's career did not end in 1926: he served as Reich interior minister from 1928 to 1930.
Who the 'Grczynski' named as successor was
The paper's 'Grczynski' is Albert Grzesinski, a Social Democrat who had been chief of the Berlin police from 1925 to 1926, exactly the 'Berlin police president' the article describes. The rumour proved correct: Grzesinski became Prussian Minister of the Interior in 1926 and held the post until 1930. The other name in the report, the Lüneburg Regierungspräsident printed as 'Krüper', was not chosen. The odd spellings in the excerpt reflect the paper's typesetting or the digitized text, not different people. As minister, Grzesinski was known for his efforts to promote democracy amid the political violence of the time, and in 1929 he banned the Red Front Fighters' League in Prussia.
Which agreements Poincaré wanted ratified
The French item breaks off at 'overeen-', the start of the word for 'agreements'. The agreements awaiting ratification in autumn 1926 were the war-debt settlements with the United States and Britain. The Mellon–Bérenger Agreement of 29 April 1926 greatly reduced France's debt to the United States, but it was deeply unpopular in France: 20,000 war veterans demonstrated in Paris against it. The French had wanted payments tied to German reparations. The agreement with Britain contained such a link, but the United States refused one. Poincaré told the finance committee he wanted a quick debate, yet ratification was delayed until July 1929. The Chamber then narrowly approved the American settlement and afterwards the Caillaux–Churchill agreement on debts to Britain. The early session the paper describes therefore did not produce ratification for almost three years.
Original
STADSNIEUWS.
aanwinsten van en ingezonden door de Vaste Plantenkweekerij W. van Veen, alhier, getuigschriften van verdienste toegekend. - Onze stadgenoot, de heer D. Verstraeten, slaagde te ' s-Hertogenbosch voor het politiediploma. - Bestemd is voor den dienst in Ned. - Indië de heer H. H. Frehe, onderwijzer bij het M. u. l. o. alhier. - De R. - K. Journalistenvereeniging heeft o. m. aangewezen als plaatsvervangend lid van den R. - K. Partijraad der R. - K. Staatspartij, de heer Th. Wilmer, alhier - Naar wij vernemen is het bestuur der 3-October-vereeniging voornemens binnen enkele dagen een gezelligen avond, te hou -
DUITSCHLAND.
nog niet bekend. Genoemd worden de sociaaldemocraat regeeringspresident voor Lüneburg, Krüper en de soc. - dem. Berlijnsche politie-president Grczynski. Severing gaat alleen heen om gezondheidsredenen. • • • Er loopen geruchten, dat tusschen Pruisen en de Hohenzollerns overeenstemming is verkregen over de financieele regeling. • • • In verband met de wijziging van het kiesrecht voor den Rijksdag hebben de vereenigingen van " Ausland-Deutschen " in adressen aan de regeering het actieve en passieve kiesrecht geëischt voor de Duitschers in het buitenland. Zij zouden hun
FRANKRIJK.
In een onderhoud met den voorzitter der financieele commissie uit de Kamer zeide Poincaré, dat hij voornemens is het parlement tegen 26 dezer of 4 November bijeen te roepen. Hij wenscht positief dat de Kamer zoo spoedig mogelijk beginnen zal met de bespreking der begrooting voor 1927 en van de ratificatie-ontwerpen der overeen -
Source: Source: Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken (leiden.courant.nu)