It
was a false report, but it spread with incredible speed throughout the
country. Celebrations which included virtually every American, made the
country a gala place for twenty-four hours. The American people with
characteristic good nature laughed at the hoax next day and settled down
in patience to await the inevitable declaration of an armistice.
The true report arrived about three o'clock, Eastern time, in the
morning of November 11th. Shrieks of whistles, the booming of cannon,
and the clangor of bells, awoke millions of sleeping persons, many of
whom trooped into the streets to mingle their rejoicings with those of
their neighbors. For a day there was high carnival in town and country
throughout the land, then the nation settled down to face the imminent
problems of reconstruction.
One of these had to do with the immediate reduction of governmental
expenditures during the approaching year. President Wilson had appealed
to the voters to elect a Democratic Congress as an evidence of approval
for his administration. The reply was a Republican House of
Representatives and a Republican Senate.
The Congress that had been in continuous session since America entered
the war, ended its labors in mid-November.
For length, bulk of appropriations for the war and the number and
importance of legislative measures passed, the session was
unprecedented.
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