Land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten

"Senator Baxter of Minnesota today asked for improved efficiency in granting permits for power plants. 'We are having an increasing trade debt with the CSA due to rising oil and natural gas prices. with more power plants we can increase our use of hydrogen powered cars by increasing hydrogen production from water. The US has fairly limited supplies of coal but fairly plentiful supplies of uranium and thorium. "

WATR News Chicago July 23, 1982 TV broadcast

The 1912 election alarmed Republicans as it was the first time since Lincoln's election that a non-Republican was elected two presidencies in a row.This, of course, caused jubilation in the Farm and Labor Party. Farm and Labor even won a seat in the House of Representatives in Arizona for the first time. However, Albert Laurence became the first president following Lincoln that wasn't re-elected.

His problems started right away. Millions of US returned home and had difficulty finding jobs when they mustered out. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of war orders were canceled, resulting in the firing of hundreds of thousands of men. US church charities were stretched to the limit because of the need to help so many families. Some US railroads went under with all the underutilized track. Railroad engine manufacturers soon followed suit. Farmland prices fell through the floor declining 25% during his term. Farm machinery and fertilizer companies went under as well.

On the bright side the reparations from France and Spain provided a nice trade surplus for the US. However certain industries like steel and chemicals were badly hurt as "free" steel and chemicals came from France as reparations. It also caused the CSA steel industry to start to decline as there was no longer a need for it. The new slaves from Texas kept it competitive for a while as slaves kept decreasing in price. The abolition of slavery in Texas, Davis, and Jefferson caused a lot of the reparation money to be invested their as US business started buying up banks, oil wells, ranches and plantations as they would no longer break US law doing so.

However the US airplane and automobile industries started taking off. The US Army continued developing trucks gradually becoming the most mobile army in the World. The US Army also experimented in developing reconnaissance and fighter aircraft at this time. It also started selling most of its pre-war navy to Italy and Russia as it laid down enough ships during the war that it had a fair sized navy with just wartime production after finishing those on the slips. The desire to finish the ships kept these men employed for some time which helped mitigate the downturn.

The aircraft industry was not hurt much by the depression. Even in a downturn the US was wealthy enough to have many rich, young men who wanted the newest toys. Range and speed were greatly increased at this time but still remained nothing but a glamor item for rich men at this period.

Automobiles started to make their way to the lower upper class and the upper middle class at this time. Lincoln Autos was one of the few businesses that increased production throughout the depression. Cars kept getting larger, cheaper, faster and more rugged during this period. It really started to boom after the depression and may have been one of the reasons it ended.


None of this however helped President Laurence as the economy was still in the doldrums at the end of his term. There are many people who argue if the economy picked up six months before it did he would have been re-elected
.

The Laurence Presidency and the Depression of 1913 AK Peterson Alan Books St. Louis 1944.
 
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There has been a big protest over the big surge of illegal immigrants from the CSA due to the decreased oil prices, The protesters call for stronger border patrols as they are worried about the immigrants taking jobs away from Americans during the recent economic downturn.

WFDI Salt Lake Oct 5th, 1986 TV broadcast


John Baker was elected in 1916, a Republican from Rhode Island. The economy went into a full fledged boom during his presidency led by the auto industry. Automobiles started to really take off during this time period. President Baker passed the National Roads Act in 1917 which started tying the various state roads and highways together. The rail industry made a big recovery as rails were being built in Texas to haul oil from Texas to the refineries in Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Oil Company massively expanded during this period making it the third largest company in the US behind US Steel and American Flour.

The Russian invention of the radio was further developed in both the US and UK. The National Radio Company was formed in St Louis in 1916 by LK Hewing and was the first major radio manufacturer in the country.Within a dozen years it became the number one producer of radios in the world. The American Radio Broadcasting Company was started in New York that year. It spread quickly throughout the East Coast and Midwest and then the West Coast. Electrical production also soared during this period due to the popularity of the radio and various appliances such as the electric stove, the washing machine and the refrigerator.

Talking pictures were invented at this time and some of the old stars faded as they couldn't adapt to the new technology. However new stars were born and movies were more popular than ever. Phoenix's population boomed and property prices soared. Negroes and Mexicans started leaving the city due to rising property prices.

Tragedy struck in 1918 as President Baker was the first president of the US assassinated. He was assassinated by John William Smith a rancher from Montana who was upset over losing his ranch, blaming it on low tariffs on Texas beef. He was denounced by the Cattle Ranchers of America who called for his execution. The tariff was immediately lowered further which surprised on one.

AK Ewing proved to be more capable than expected. A Minnesota man put on the ticket solely for ticket balance he proved to be equal to the task. He gave a big contract to Lincoln Motors to produce trucks for the Army. This helped further development in the automobile and made the US Army the most mobile in the world.

He also renegotiated French loans , spreading out their payments to make it easier for the slumping French economy to pay. This reduced tensions with France during his tenure in office. He started getting worried about Russia/'s domestic difficulties. The Tsarist government started to become unstable at this point which worried capitals all over the world.

The late teens in the US RK Starling Canton Books London 1945
 
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