The Midnight Ride of William Dawes
I am a wandering, bitter shade,
Never of me was a hero made;
Poets have never sung my praise,
Nobody crowned my brow with bays;
And if you ask me the fatal cause,
I answer only, “My name was Dawes”
‘Tis all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear —
My name was Dawes and his Revere.
When the lights from the old North Church flashed out,
Paul Revere was waiting about,
But I was already on my way.
The shadows of night fell cold and gray
As I rode, with never a break or a pause;
But what was the use, when my name was Dawes!
History rings with his silvery name;
Closed to me are the portals of fame.
Had he been Dawes and I Revere,
No one had heard of him, I fear.
No one has heard of me because
He was Revere and I was Dawes.
Great stuff, and so true.
Wrong! Wrongwrongwrong! A bit of historical weirdness here, fueled by the half-bottle of Cabernet I just downed no doubt.
Now kiddies, shut yer gobs, because
Gonna tell you the story of Charles G. Dawes.
(BT Drill, 2015)
OK, Charles G. Dawes. Great-great grandson of William Dawes, the first Vice President of the United States to have a number 1 hit record on the charts after he died, win the Nobel Peace Prize, and generally save German workers from starvation between the wars. Personal friend of General Pershing. Banker, financier, composer, and co-author of the Dawes Plan.
The deal was this: France had imposed draconian terms on Germany following WWI (not unlike the terms imposed by the Germans on them following the 1871 Franco-Prussian War; people forget that) which called for considerable cash payments to Belgium, France, etc. When Germany encountered the hyperinflation of the early 20's, the French said essentially, "you aren't paying us off with those inflated marks!" and seized the Ruhr, intending to exact the payments in kind: coal and iron ore. German workers there said, "No way, Jose!" (I'm paraphrasing) and struck. France replaced them with French workers.
Dawes, a big-time banker at that point, said, "OK, we'll loan Germany money with which they pay off France and the other creditors, who will, in turn, pay it back to the U.S. in the form of war debt payoffs." Win-win. Only condition - France must unoccupy the Ruhr. Which they did.
Nobel for that one, and it did save those German workers from starvation. But it also meant that the Ruhr was in German hands when Hitler came along six years later. Was it a good thing? Given what Dawes knew, yes, I think. Given what happened later, maybe even good deeds can turn sour.
But anyway, sure, we know who William Dawes was! He was the great-great-grandfather of the guy who wrote "It's All In The Game".
Few bankers have won renown as composers of music. I know that I will be the target of my punster friends. They will say that if all the notes in my bank are as bad as my musical ones, they are not worth the paper they were written on.
Yeah, historical weirdness. Glass is empty. Happy New Year, everyone!