Headlines Across America

[Interested Party]

A collection of headlines and articles from various US newspapers.

[Interested Party]

A SECOND CRASH!

(Article from the New York Times)

The Berlin Stock Exchange has been a long-standing sign of global stability and of the dominance of the distant Kaiserreich. The effects of the recent crash were accordingly widespread, with many national economies suffering the rippling effects. Here in the USA this crash, already coming to be referred to in some circles as “Black Monday”, has been viewed with particular dismay. Many were hoping that the Berlin exchange could be used to help recover from the long economic slump that the USA has been in since the 1925 Wall Street Crash.

US citizens, already feeling the effects of the crash, look to see what will the response from Washington D.C. will be. President Hoover has claimed that government intervention is unnecessary and that the economy will recover in due time. His approval ratings have plunged following that statement, reaching 44% and continuing to drop. However, other individuals in the capitol have indicated that they will be searching for political action on the matter.

According to the CEO of the Wells-Fargo bank company, which filed for bankruptcy just last week[...]

[Interested Party]

Tensions In Panama

(Article from the St. Petersburg Times)

A nervous tension fills the air in the garrison near the Panama Canal. US soldiers mutter to each other in between drills, and outsiders who aren’t in uniform are examined with suspicion. When I present the badge certifying my credentials as a journalist at the gate and say that I’ve been given permission to enter I have to wait a good twenty minutes in the jungle heat while it’s confirmed that I’m supposed to be there. They insist on two soldiers following me to make sure I don’t go anywhere I’m not supposed to.

The garrison was put into place to protect the Panama Canal, the vital man-made cut in the landscape that drastically shortens the trip between the Atlantic and the Pacific. It enables international shipping on a tremendous scale, as well as the military significance of a rapid and easily accessible path between the two oceans. Until recently, it’s been viewed as a light duty for the soldiers here. A few years on tour in a place removed from the problems that are almost omnipresent in the mainland USA. The tropical weather can be a draw as much as an irritant, and there was no particular risk of violence to the men there.

That has changed recently, however, with the outbreak of war in Panama. The east revolted and was seized by Syndicalists that forced the Panama government into exile, while the west has come under military occupation by the neighboring United Provinces. Ever since this event the garrison has been on high alert.

It’s the Syndicalists that have them the most worried, I learn. When I ask the garrison commander he’s quick to say that the possibility of a push from the east is the most immediate worry. “While the United Provinces have a more experienced military force to their name, it’s most likely that President Somoza will focus first on defending against the Socialist Republic of Central America to their north. The Syndicalists, however, have openly coveted the Canal. They are the most likely to make an aggressive attack on us.” When I asked my escorts they expressed similar thoughts: “The Syndies are greedy bastards, for all they talk a big game about helping people. If they want something then they just swipe it, and to hell with protesting how it ain’t theirs.” “They might demand you hand it over or else first, if they’re feeling charitable,” my other escort added.

Compounding this is worries about the Syndicalists calling in outside help. There are a number of worries that existing Syndicalist governments might issue the Sundicalists in Panama with a “blank check” of support. Mexico is considered a particular worry, between their open hostility to the United States and their known tendencies to interfere in the business of other nations, considering their support of rebels in Argentina. They’re already known to have sent some military assistance to the Panama Syndicalists, though it is not currently known if they will become more directly involved.

While the Syndicalists are the primary concern, that does not mean that there are not some fears about the United Provinces. The abrupt aggressive seizure of western Panama has many worried about a repeat, and many are also disgruntled with the failure to provide so much as advanced warning of the act to the US.

It was a great relief, then, when international forces began entering the Canal Zone. The bombardment of costal areas of Syndicalist-held Panama, along with the arrival of French, Indian, Canadian, Japanese, Australasian, and German forces has bolstered confidence in the garrison’s ability to hold against probable Panamanian aggression. “This international response is fitting and appropriate for the blatant threat to the security of free navigation of the seas that the Syndicalists have posed, and we appreciate that other nations have chosen to take the matter seriously.”

Whatever comes next in the ongoing Panama crisis is unknown at the moment. But there is one certainty: whatever happens, the American soldiers there aren’t giving in without a fight.