The second conference of the Young Plan
committee on reparations (or “Second Reparations Conference”) opens. The committee was established in 1929 when it
became apparent that Germany could not meet its war debt payments under
then-existing terms. In its first
meeting, the committee drafted the plan, which has since been circulated among
the participating nations (including the U.S., Germany, Great Britain and
France). The Young Plan is expected to be
adopted at this meeting.
Prime Minister Henri
Jaspar of Belgium, who is presiding at the conference, urges the delegates to
work expeditiously, as many of them also want to attend the London Naval
conference, scheduled to start in about two weeks.
Brussels:
The train carrying Princess Marie Jose to
Rome for her wedding to Italy’s Crown Prince Umberto leaves Belgium. Due to bomb plots, the train will take a
secret, flexible and circuitous route.
Amsterdam:
The Amsterdam Bureau of the International
Federation of Trade Unions releases a statement saying that the fascist
government of Benito Mussolini has resulted in real wage decline of 20 to 40%
in Italy since he came to power in 1922.
Dr. Paul Moldenhauer is appointed Minister of Finance to replace Dr. Rudolf Hilferding. Moldenhauer was previously Minister of Economics. Robert Schmidt will replace him in that post.
Molenhauer’s appointment pleases industrialists and bankers. He is a member of the people’s party (as is Foreign Minister Julius Curtius), a party friendly to business interests, and is expected to make changes to his predecessor’s policies that these interests will find more favorable. This also restores the people’s party to four seats in Chancellor Hermann Mueller’s cabinet.
Meanwhile, Alfred Hugenberg, nationalist political leader who lost the Liberty Law vote, reportedly is planning to appeal the law’s defeat to the German courts and to ask President Paul von Hindenburg to proclaim the measure law. He claims that only a majority of those who actually voted on Sunday was required for the Liberty Law to pass – not a majority of registered voters. It’s a grasp at straws. Neither the court nor Hindenburg is expected to give his argument any merit.
Brussels:
A young man, variously said to be an anarchist
or a communist, is arrested on charges of plotting to bomb a train carrying the
king and queen of Belgium. The royals’
daughter, Princess Marie Jose, plans to marry Crown Prince Umberto of Italy in
January. The bomb plot was in protest of
Italy’s fascist government. A newspaper
article in Brussels says the Belgian Prime Minister, Justice Ministerand
Defense Minister had all recently received threats as well that they would be killed unless they
stopped the wedding.
Manchuria:
Japanese reports say that ethnic Mongolians
in the Barga district of western Manchuria are considering forming a new nation
-- with Soviet Russian encouragement and under Russian influence – from territory
that Russia invaded last month.
Wall Street crashes again – Panic selling prevails: nearly 13
million shares move. it's the Heaviest trading day and biggest drop in U.S. stock market
history -- Down nearly 11% at one point, the market recovers to end the day only minus 2%. But thousands
of accounts are wiped out nonetheless. The day's volume, 12.9 million shares, dwarfs the previous volume record by 50%. "The remarkable era of avid public speculation in stocks which has swept over the country during the last five years came to a climax Thursday in the most terrifying stampede of selling ever experienced on the New York Stock Exchange and other leading security markets." (Associated Press)
The collapse begins shortly after the opening
bell and continues through much of the day, as the sell-off that shook the market late yesterday continues. The ticker falls several hours behind, and for a while it appears the exchange might have to close. At one point, the roar from the trading floor grows so loud it can be heard for several blocks down Wall and Broad streets in every direction, and crowds gather to see what the commotion is about. Thousands of people mill around outside the exchange, some of them investors who have lost everything. Five Wall Street bankers, including Thomas Lamont, head of Morgan Bank,
and Richard Whitney, Vice President of the NYSE, are credited with the late rally that turns the rampage. They hold a hurried meeting at the J.P. Morgan offices, then place large purchase
orders above market value to stem the tide. Lamont tells reporters, "We consider the situation on the floor of the stock exchange this morning a technical one rather than a fundamental one, and that it will result in betterment. I still see nothing to worry about." Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon holds an urgent meeting with the Federal Reserve Bank Board, but basically concludes the same thing as Lamont: the fundamental business environment in the United States is sound, and there is no need for federal intervention. The Reserve Board declines to change discount rates or take any other action.
The London and Paris markets also drop, but
Berlin’s stock market rises.
Prince Umberto II, heir to the
throne of Italy, survives an assassination attempt while he is laying a wreath on Belgium's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It happens on the same day as the announcement of his
betrothal to Princess Marie Jose of Belgium. As Umberto is about to lay the wreath during a morning ceremony, a man runs out of the crowd and fires a single shot that goes wild. Some witnsses say he is crying out, “Down with
Mussolini!” Before he can get off another shot, police and bystanders subdue him. Umberto, staying surprisingly calm, continues with the ceremony and finishes it. Later, in police custody, the would-be assassin claims he missed on purpose, only intending to fire into the air in protest. He gives his name as Fernando di Rosa, an Italian national and law student at the University of Paris.
