Plus ça change…

While American Democrats opposed funds for the military, reported the International Herald Tribune in its 100/75/50 Years Ago section, some 800 French workers were protesting a government shutdown while threatening hunger strikes.

Democrats Oppose Battleships

The Democrats of the House of Representatives, in caucus last night [Jan. 29, 1912], voted against making an appropriation for any new battleship. This precipitates the annual fight for naval increase.

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Strike in France

Eight hundred coal miners who have spent 42 days sitting underground in protest against a government move to close down the mines today [Jan. 30, 1962] topped off their efforts with a hunger strike. They said they had decided to starve themselves “in view of the government’s intransigence in refusing to open negotiations.” The government wants to shut down mines employing about 8,000 miners in this southwestern region because, it asserts, the coal here is of poor quality and it is losing money on the operation.