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Thomas Pownall

Thomas Pownall (bapt. 4 September 1722 N.S. – 25 February 1805) was a British colonial official and politician. He was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1757 to 1760, and afterwards sat in the House of Commons from 1767 to 1780. He travelled widely in the North American colonies prior to the American Revolutionary War, opposed Parliamentary attempts to tax the colonies, and was a minority advocate of colonial positions until the Revolution.

Classically educated and well-connected to the colonial administration in London, Pownall first travelled to North America in 1753. He spent two years exploring the colonies before being appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey in 1755. He became governor of Massachusetts in 1757 after helping engineer the recall of longtime Governor William Shirley. His administration was dominated by the French and Indian War (the Seven Years' War) in which Pownall was instrumental in raising Massachusetts provincial militia for the war effort. He opposed military interference in colonial administration, including attempts to quarter British troops in private homes, and had a generally positive relationship with the colonial assembly.

Returning to England in 1760, Pownall continued to be interested in colonial affairs, publishing widely read materials on conditions in the colonies, including several editions of The Administration of the Colonies. As a Member of Parliament he regularly advocated for colonial positions, without much success, but supported the war effort once the Revolutionary War began. In the early 19th century he became an early advocate of the reduction or removal of trade barriers, and the establishment of a solid relationship between Britain and the United States. Several writers have proposed that Pownall was Junius, a pseudonymous writer of letters critical of British governmental practices.

John Adams wrote, "Pownall was the most constitutional and national Governor, in my opinion, who ever represented the crown in this province."

Early life
Thomas Pownall was the eldest son of William and Sarah (Burniston) Pownall, daughter of John Burniston and his wife. His father was a country gentleman and soldier whose poor health and early death in 1735 caused the family to fall upon hard times. Baptised 4 September 1722 (New Style) in Lincoln, England, Thomas was educated at Lincoln Grammar School and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1743. His education exposed him to classic and current philosophers, and the sciences. His first publication, a treatise on the origins of government published in 1752, began as notes developed at Cambridge.

Early Career
During Thomas's years at Cambridge, his younger brother John acquired a job at the Board of Trade, which oversaw British colonial affairs, and rapidly rose in the bureaucracy. The brothers were influential supporters of each other in their efforts to advance. John secured a job for Thomas in the colonial office, where he became aware of the possibilities for advancement and influence in colonial postings. In 1753 he went to America as private secretary to Sir Danvers Osborn, just appointed governor of New York. Osborn committed suicide several days after reaching New York, leaving Pownall without a job and a sponsor. Pownall chose to remain in America, devoting himself to studying the condition of the American colonies. In the following months he travelled widely, from Maryland to Massachusetts. He was introduced into the highest circles of leadership and society in the colonies, and established relationships with a number of influential people, including Benjamin Franklin and Massachusetts Governor William Shirley.

Governor Osborn had been instructed particularly to deal with the rising discontent among the six Iroquois nations whose territory abutted New York (and is encompassed by central and western Upstate New York and part of Pennsylvania). Pownall had studied the matter, and he was consequently invited by his Pennsylvania connections to attend the 1754 Albany Congress as an observer. His observations on the nature of colonial dealings with the Indians (including political infighting for control of the Indian trade, and the corrupt and fraudulent acquisition of Indian lands) led him to draft a number of proposals related to colonial administration. He proposed the establishment of a crown-appointed superintendent of Indian affairs, specifically William Johnson, New York's commissioner for Indian affairs who was highly influential with the Iroquois nations. He also articulated visions for managing the expansion of the colonies to the west.

After the conference Pownall returned to Philadelphia. In this time he apparently deepened a close friendship with Franklin, with whom he began to invest in business ventures. Franklin, who had unsuccessfully proposed colonial union at the Albany conference, may have contributed to Pownall's writings, although the exact nature of his influence is unclear. While in Philadelphia Pownall also established a close collaboration with cartographer Lewis Evans, both of whom recognized the need for accurate maps of the inland regions of North America then being disputed with New France in the French and Indian War. The map Evans published in 1755 was dedicated to Pownall, and brought the latter wide publicity. Pownall's recommendation of William Johnson as superintendent of Indian affairs was implemented by the crown in 1755.

Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey
Pownall had been living at his own expense, in the hopes that a posting would eventually come his way. In May 1755 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, with little responsibility beyond anticipating the death of the aging governor, Jonathan Belcher, and attending military conferences concerning the ongoing war. Belcher, however, proved to be longer lived than expected (he died in 1757), and Pownall was restless. The military conferences drew him into an ongoing power struggle between Johnson and Shirley (who rose to become military commander-in-chief upon the death of General Edward Braddock in July 1755) over the management of Indian affairs. Johnson capitalized on Pownall's concern over frontier security to draw him into his camp. Pownall already harboured some dislike of Shirley over an earlier snub, and his reports to New York Governor Sir Charles Hardy, combined with damaging allegations provided by other Johnson supporters, led to Shirley's dismissal as commander-in-chief. Pownall returned to England in early 1756, where he confirmed the Johnson allegations, and was rewarded with a post as "Secretary Extraordinary" (a title of Pownall's creation) to the new commander-in-chief, Lord Loudoun.

While Pownall was in England, Shirley's reputation was further damaged by allegations (not apparently furthered by Pownall's action) that he had let military information fall into enemy hands, and the Board of Trade decided to recall him. Pownall was also offered the governorship of Pennsylvania by its proprietors; however, his demands for wide-ranging powers in the post led them to retract the offer. Pownall turned this to his own advantage, widely publicizing the fact that he had turned down the offer because of the "unreasonable, unenlightened attitude of the proprietors."

He accompanied Lord Loudoun back to America in July 1756, but again returned to England to represent Loudoun in hearings on Shirley's military leadership. Lord Loudoun also instructed Pownall on his military plans and objectives. In London he became closely involved in informing members of the new Pitt-Newcastle Ministry of the state of affairs in North America.

His performance in these matters resulted in his appointment as governor of Massachusetts in March 1757. Although he was admired for his competence in colonial affairs, he was also criticised for his vanity and temper, as well as his role in bringing about Shirley's fall.

Governor of Massachusetts Bay
Pownall arrived in Boston in early August 1757. He was well received and assumed his duties on 3 August. He was immediately thrust into a war-related crisis. A French force was reported to be moving toward Fort William Henry, in northern New York, and the military commander there had made an urgent call for militia. Pownall was energetic in organizing the militia, but the call to arms came too late, since Fort William Henry fell after a brief siege that was followed by some of the worst atrocities by Indians of the war.

In September 1757 Pownall travelled to New Jersey to attend the funeral of Governor Jonathan Belcher and stopped in New York to meet with Lord Loudoun.

The commander-in-chief was upset that the Massachusetts General Court had not fully implemented a variety of demands that he had made, and he held Pownall responsible. Pownall objected to the interference of the military in civilian affairs, the threat of which Loudoun used to implement his agenda, by maintaining that it was necessary for the governor to lead, not drive, the provincial assembly. The meeting was acrimonious, and Loudoun afterward wrote a letter to London that harshly criticised Pownall's position and called his ideas on governance "high-handed". Loudoun encountered opposition in the General Court, the provincial assembly, to a demand for British troops to be billeted with civilians in Boston, and he threatened to march additional troops into the province and take housing by force. Pownall requested for the General Court to accede in some way to Loudoun's demands and eventually signed a bill authorizing the quartering of troops in inns and other public spaces. The bill was unpopular, and Pownall was negatively cast in the local press as supportive of Loudoun and his policies. Pownall's exchanges with Loudoun, however, show that he was keenly aware of the colonists' position: "the inhabitants of this province are intitled to the natural rights of English born subjects... the enjoyment of these rights... will animate and encourage them to resist... a cruel, invading enemy." He was equally clear on the relationship between the royal governor and his assembly: "a governor must endeavour to lead those people for he cannot drive them and must lead them step by step as he can gett [sic] footing". He was so committed to his ideas that he offered to resign, but Loudoun encouraged him to remain in the post. Pownall would later author portions of the 1765 Quartering Act, a parliamentary bill whose implementation was widely resisted in the colonies.

In January 1758, Pownall wrote several letters to William Pitt the Elder to outline the difficult issues surrounding relations between the colonial government and the military and civil administrations of the British establishment. He specifically recommended for London to offer to pay more of the colonial expenses of the war; the implementation of that idea led to a significant increase in militia recruitment for the remaining years of the war, including 7,000 men from Massachusetts for the 1758 campaign. Pownall was able to move a bill through the General Court to implement reforms of the militia system. The bill did not include all of the changes that Pownall had sought to achieve a more flexible and less costly organization, and its terms also handed more power over the militia in the hands of local officials and reduced the governor's control.

Despite the reforms, recruiting for the militia proved difficult, and recruiting parties were often harassed and stoned, which led to rioting on several occasions. Pownall was, however, successful in recruiting the province's full quota of militia, and his energetic assistance in the war effort earned him approbation from Pitt; the Board of Trade; and the new commander-in-chief, James Abercrombie. Flush with success, Pownall proposed to General Jeffery Amherst the idea of establishing a fort on Penobscot Bay to contest potential French movements in the area. The area had been the site of periodic frontier raids since 1755, including a major attack on St. George in spring 1758. The idea developed into a major expedition to the area, which received not only Amherst's approval but also the assembly's. Pownall led the expedition, oversaw the construction of Fort Pownall and counted it as a major success of the year. Its success kicked off a minor land rush in the area.

Although Pownall's start in power was somewhat rocky, his popularity in the province grew as his term progressed. He assiduously saw to the needs of its many fishermen, successfully convinced the military authorities to eliminate burdensome red tape and courted local merchants. He invested in ventures managed by Thomas and John Hancock and was lauded by a group of Massachusetts merchants upon his departure. A bachelor, he was reported to be a ladies' man who was highly engaged in the social scene. Although he was not strongly religious, he regularly attended Anglican services but was also a frequent visitor to local Congregational services. He successfully finessed contentious issues surrounding the recruitment, deployment, and provisioning of militia by negotiating compromises between military and provincial demands. He, however, had a strained relationship with his lieutenant governor, Thomas Hutchinson. The two men never trusted each other, and Pownall regularly excluded Hutchinson from his inner council meetings but instead sent him on missions such as to deal with militia recruitment issues. One of Pownall's last acts before leaving the colony was to approve the appointment of James Otis Sr., a longtime Hutchinson adversary, as speaker of the assembly.

In the later months of 1759, Pownall wrote a letter to Pitt to request leave to return to England because "I might be of some service" there. The biographer John Schutz speculates that the underlying reason for Pownall's request was related to frustration with his exclusion from the major military actions of the later war years, which was possibly compounded br his desire to acquire a more significant post, such as a governor-generalship of the conquered New France. The historian Bernard Bailyn is of the opinion that Pownall's divisive dislike and distrust of Shirley supporters like Thomas Hutchinson and ensuing local political infighting contributed to the request, as did his difficult relationships with the military commanders.

Whatever the reason, the Board of Trade engaged in a reshuffling of colonial positions after King George II died, and Pownall was given the governorship of South Carolina and permission first to take leave in England. His departure from Boston was delayed by militia-recruiting issues and the need to deal with the aftermath of a major fire in the city, and he did not leave until June 1760.

The Administration of the Colonies
Although he held the governorship of South Carolina, he never actually went there. He characterised his term in Massachusetts as "arduous" and informed the colonial office in November 1760 that he would accept another governorship only if the recently-acceded King George III directly ordered it. Pitt appointed him to the military commissary's office in the Electorate of Hanover, where he served until the Seven Years' War ended in 1763. The position did not further his career ambitions in colonial administration, however, and led to allegations of financial irregularities of which he was cleared.

Upon his return to England he prepared for publication a treatise entitled The Administration of the Colonies. First published anonymously in 1764, Pownall revised the work and republished the work several times between 1765 and 1777. The work, a dry and complex treatise on the situation in North America that included commentary on the burgeoning tensions in the Thirteen Colonies, was intended by Pownall to explore how the colonies could properly be incorporated into a larger empire.

Pownall's work identified him as supportive of American liberty. Although he feared that Britain was losing control of its colonies, he wrote that the Americans were entitled to the same rights of representative government as their fellow subjects in England, Scotland and Wales. At the same time, he insisted that the military protection that the colonists received from Britain created equally extensive obligations to help pay for some of the cost. He was also convinced of the need for a strong central legislature capable of making common policies that would be binding for every member of the British Empire, including the fractious provinces in North America. Pownall eventually decided that the only solution lay in creating an imperial parliament with representatives from both Britain and the colonies. Although he was not the only British commentator to embrace the idea of an imperial parliament, most Americans found it anathema, so much so that the pamphleteers James Otis Jr. and John Dickinson singled out his centralized plan of legislative reform for particular criticism in Dickinson's influential Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768). and Otis's Rights of the British Colonies.

Colonial supporter
Pownall continued to communicate with political allies in Massachusetts and was on several occasions called to appear before parliamentary committees to comment on colonial affairs. He considered returning to Massachusetts if a post could be found, and he began investing in property in Nova Scotia by extending his colonial property interests beyond those he had been granted in Maine during his governorship. In 1765, he married Harriet Fawkener, widow of Everard Fawkener and daughter to Lieutenant General Charles Churchill. That gave him a connection to the aristocratic Dukes of Marlborough. Pownall raised her four children as his own.

A gracious and intelligent woman, she became a partner in advancing his political career, hosting social events and encouraging his intellectual pursuits. She may have encouraged him to stand for Parliament in 1767, when he won a seat representing Tregony.

He renewed correspondence with officials in Massachusetts in the hopes of winning appointment as an agent representing the province's interests but was unsuccessful. He regularly received visitors from the colonies, and Benjamin Franklin, his old friend from Pennsylvania, was a frequent guest. He observed with alarm the rise in tension in the colonies and the missteps of parliamentary leadership and colonial administration that exacerbated, rather than reduced, them. He used his position in Parliament to highlight the colonial objections to the Quartering Act of 1765 and other unpopular legislation. When troops were sent to Boston in 1768 after protests against the Townshend Acts had turned violent, he took to the floor of Parliament to warn that the connections between Britain and the colonies were unraveling and that the end result could be a permanent breach.

Pownall was opposed to Lord North's partial repeal in 1770 of the hated Townshend Acts in which the tax on tea was retained as a symbol of parliamentary power. In debate on the act, Pownall pointed out that retention of the tax would be a "millstone" around English necks, rather than a yoke on American ones, and that it would lead to civil war. His speech was delivered on 5 March 1770, the day of the Boston Massacre. Dispirited by his view that Parliament failed to understand the American colonial issues, he urged his colonial correspondents to continue to press constitutional issues and to avoid violence.

Colonial American issues then briefly subsided from the stage. In 1772, Pownall introduced legislation reforming food production and distribution in Great Britain. It passed the House of Commons but was amended by the Lords, which led the Commons to reject the amended bill as a violation of its prerogatives. The bill passed the next year and was called "Governor Pownall's Bill". It received much praise, including some from influential figures such as Adam Smith. Pownall was also honoured with membership in the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society.

Revolution
Following the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, Parliament passed a series of bills designed to punish Massachusetts. Pownall was unable to sway opinion toward more conciliatory measures. He was also implicated in the Hutchinson letters affair as someone who may have delivered private letters of Thomas Hutchinson to Benjamin Franklin, but Franklin never identified his source for the letters. Pownall was unable to retain his seat since in 1774, he was voted out of office. Seeking to remain active, Pownall ended up appealing to Lord North, who secured a seat for him in a by-election, representing Minehead. The apparent turn towards Toryism alarmed a number of Pownall's colonial supporters; there is also some evidence that North may have engineered Pownall's defeat to gain his support.

Pownall supported North's attempts at reconciliation in debates leading to the start the American Revolutionary War. However, once hostilities had begun in April 1775, his conciliatory views were dismissed by war-supporting Tories, who opposed them, as well as by Whigs, who saw his proposals as attempts to undercut their positions. Pownall remained nominally in support of North until 1777, when he openly made declarations in support of the peace party. The entry of France to the war on the American side returned him firmly to the pro-war Tory position. His support was, however, nuanced since he continued to argue for some sort of conciliation with the Americans and remaining resolutely patriotic with respect to the French. He was not alone among British politicians in being unable reconcile those positions and refused to stand for re-election in 1780.

During the war years, he published several revisions to The Administration of the Colonies, updating and expanding the work to reflect changing conditions. He also worked to update and revise the Evans map by soliciting data and updated maps from colonial correspondents. He withdrew to some extent in the later years after the death of his wife in 1777 but continued to appear in Parliament.

Later life
In July 1780, Pownall anonymously published an essay titled A Memorial Most Humbly Addressed to the Sovereigns of Europe. The widely published document gained Pownall attention throughout Europe; the anonymity of its author was compromised by the use of extended passages from Administration of the Colonies. The essay propounded instructions to Europe's leaders on how to deal with a newly independent United States by pointing out that America's independence and rapid population growth would have a transformative effect on world trade. He proposed that European leaders meet to establish worldwide regulations for what was essentially free trade.

Pownall continued to maintain an interest in the United States after the war ended although he never returned. He sought without success a commission in the Massachusetts militia, mostly as a formality so that he could present it during his European travels. He continued to write essays (new ones and revisions to older ones) and published an updated version of his 1755 map. In his later years, Pownall was introduced to Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan colonial general who favoured Latin American independence from Spain. According to the historian William Spence Robertson, significant arguments advanced by Miranda in his later efforts are traceable to Pownall's influence. Pownall also assisted Miranda explicitly by cultivating connections in the British government as he attempted to advance the independence agenda. Pownall's last major work was a treatise again arguing for free trade and explicitly called for British support of Latin American independence as a way to open those markets to British and American trade. Pownall died at Bath on 25 February 1805 and was interred in the church at Walcot.

Antiquary
While Thomas Pownall is well known as an American colonial governor and an English politician, he was also an important figure in the late-18th-century antiquarian and archaeological studies. In her study of Pownall, Bryony Orme remarks that he "is perhaps one of the most neglected of our early antiquaries, and undeservedly so." He inherited these interests from his father Captain William Pownall, who lived at No. 5 Pottergate in the Minster Yard, which surrounds Lincoln Cathedral. His father had corresponded with William Stukeley about ancient finds in and around Lincoln, and Thomas Pownall's brother John was also a writer on archaeological subjects. Pownall was already demonstrating his interest in archaeology before he left for America, when, in 1752, he recorded evidence for a Roman villa at Glentworth in Lincolnshire

After his return from America, he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1770, and he contributed extensively to early issues of the journal Archaeologia. Some of his writings describe discoveries around Lincoln. But more importantly he wrote more widely on New Grange in Ireland in 1773 and Braich-y-Dinas at Penmaenmawr, on the North Wales coast. He was to follow this with descriptions of Roman remains in France when he was living there, and, on moving to Bath he again provided descriptions of Roman discoveries.

Family and legacy
Pownall married twice. His first wife was Harriet Churchill, widow of Sir Everard Fawkener and illegitimate daughter of Lieutenant General Charles Churchill. In 1784 Pownall married Hannah (Kennet) Astell, acquiring in the process significant estates and the trappings of landed gentry.

The towns of Pownal, Maine and Pownal, Vermont are named after Thomas Pownall. Dresden, Maine was once named Pownalborough in his honour; this recognition survives in the Pownalborough Courthouse, an historic property built there in 1761. The remains of Fort Pownall, named for him, survive in Maine's Fort Point State Park.

Junius
Between 1769 and 1772, a series of letters was published in London's Public Advertiser, written by someone using the pseudonym Junius. Many of the letters contained accusations of corruption and abuse of power on the part of British government officials, subjects Pownall also spoke and wrote about. The identity of Junius has since been the subject of contemporary and historical debate. In 1854 Frederick Griffin wrote Junius Uncovered, in which he advanced the argument that Pownall was Junius; this argument was again raised by Pownall descendant Charles A. W. Pownall in his 1908 biography of Pownall. Modern scholars dispute the notion, currently favouring Philip Francis as the writer of the letters based on several lines of evidence.

Publications by Thomas Pownall

 * A Description of the Sepulchral Monument of New Grange, near Drogheda, in the County of Meath, in Ireland. By Thomas Pownall, Esq. in a letter to the Rev. Gregory Sharpe, D.D. Master of the Middle Temple. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, 21/28 June 1770. Archaeologia Vol 2, (1773), pp. 236–276

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William Roth

William Victor Roth Jr. (July 22, 1921 – December 13, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party. He served from 1967 to 1970 as the lone U.S. Representative from Delaware and from 1971 to 2001 as a U.S. Senator from Delaware. He is the last Republican to serve as and/or be elected a U.S. Senator from Delaware.

Roth was a sponsor of legislation creating the Roth IRA, an individual retirement plan that can be set up with post-tax dollars, offering tax-free withdrawals.

Early life and family
Roth was born in Great Falls, Montana, the son of Clara (née Nelson) and William Victor Roth, who ran a brewery. His paternal grandparents were German and his maternal grandparents were Swedish. He attended public schools in Helena, Montana, graduating from Helena High School. Roth started college at Montana State University before moving on to graduate from the University of Oregon in 1943, Harvard Business School in 1947, and Harvard Law School in 1949. During World War II he served in a United States Army intelligence unit from 1943 until 1946.

After being admitted to the California Bar in 1950, he moved permanently to Delaware in 1954, and began his work as an attorney for the Hercules Corporation. He married Jane Richards in 1965 and they had two children, William III and Katharine. Jane Richards Roth was U.S. District Court judge for the District of Delaware from 1985 until 1991 and then a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. They were members of the Episcopal Church.

Roth became active in politics as a Republican, and served as secretary of the Delaware Republican Party and a vice president of the Active Young Republicans of New Castle County. In addition, Roth served as a member of Delaware's "Little Hoover Commission", which studied state government and made recommendations for modernizing and reforming it.

Professional and political career
After losing the election for Lieutenant Governor of Delaware in 1960, Roth was named chair of the Delaware Republican Party on April 10, 1961. He replaced incumbent Ellwood S. Leach. He served until May 13, 1964 when he lost his reelection bid to Clayton S. Harrison Jr. by a 32-24 vote. In 1966, he defeated incumbent U.S. Representative Harris McDowell, and went on to serve two terms in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1967, until December 31, 1970. Roth voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

He then began his five terms in the United States Senate, succeeding the retiring incumbent senator John J. Williams. He served in the U.S. Senate from January 1, 1971, having been appointed when Williams left office two days early, until January 3, 2001, having been defeated in the 2000 election by the Democratic candidate, Governor Tom Carper. Many consider Roth's defeat due to his age and health, as he collapsed twice during the campaign, once in the middle of a television interview and once during a campaign event.

Roth was known for fiscal conservatism. Critics blamed him for national deficits during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. He was a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the Senate Committee on Finance, serving as chairman from September 12, 1995 through January 3, 2001. He was best remembered as a strong advocate of tax cuts, and he co-authored the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, also known as the Kemp-Roth Tax Cut with Jack Kemp. Roth was also the legislative sponsor of the individual retirement account plan that bears his name, the Roth IRA. It is a popular individual retirement account that has existed since 1998. The Roth 401(k), which did not become available until 2006, is also named after Roth. He was also one of the few Republicans to vote for the Brady Bill and the ban on semi-automatic weapons. Roth strongly supported environmental protections. Roth was also very engaged in international affairs and policy. He served as the president of NATO's parliament, the North Atlantic Assembly, from 1996 to 1998.

In 1977, Roth was one of nine senators to vote against the Senate adopting a stringent code of ethics intended to assist with the restoration of public confidence in Congress.

On December 2, 1981, Roth was one of four senators to vote against an amendment to President Reagan's MX missiles proposal that would divert the silo system by $334 million as well as earmark further research for other methods that would allow giant missiles to be based. The vote was seen as a rebuff of the Reagan administration.

Roth voted in favor of the bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well to override President Reagan's veto). Roth voted in favor of the nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During the 1999 impeachment of Bill Clinton Roth voted to convict the President on both charges of impeachment. However Clinton was acquitted on both charges.

Roth was a witty man but not a natural campaigner. To help himself, he would ease himself into public appearances by bringing along a Saint Bernard dog. His succession of St. Bernards through his 34-year political career became a trademark of sorts.

Death
On December 12, 2003, Roth fell ill while visiting his daughter in Washington, and was admitted to George Washington University Hospital, where he died from heart failure the following day. The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Bridge carrying Delaware Route 1 was dedicated as the Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge, and a celebration was held on July 9, 2007. The bridge is a cable-stayed bridge and notable landmark in northern Delaware. Roth helped secure its funding.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: William Roth


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Democratic Alliance Party (Albania)

The Democratic Alliance Party (Partia Aleanca Demokratike) is a liberal political party in Albania. The party was formed in 1992 by Neritan Ceka and other dissidents of the Democratic Party of Albania. They opposed the leadership of the party's leader Sali Berisha.

History
PAD was founded in early 1992 by including two of the original founders Gramoz Pashko and Arben Imami. The reason for the split is still disputed by the principals involved. Although the Democratic Alliance Party had six deputies in the 23rd Legislature of Albania, the number needed to form a parliamentary group, they were denied such recognition by the leadership of parliament. The Democratic Alliance Party blamed the government for an incident that occurred in January 1994, when the leader of the Shkoder branch of the party was shot and killed after a rally.

The founders of the Democratic Alliance, formed the party on the right side of the political spectrum, where some of the former founders of the Democratic Party, its former deputies, as well as the December students. Over time, it moved from the right side towards the centre and in 2008, it presented itself as a liberal party. The Democratic Alliance Party became part of a socialist led government in 1997. In the June 2001 elections it received 2.4% of the vote and three members of parliament. The party continued in government. In the elections in July 2005 it won 3 seats in Parliament. Although they opposed Sali Berisha. In the 2009 election they Joined the Democratic Party and its alliance. Since 2009 the Democratic Alliance has been Extra-parliamentary opposition. In 2013 Party founder Neritan Ceka had been succeed by Eduart Abazi. The Democratic Alliance since 2015 had switched away from the Democratic party and rejoined the Socialist Party's Alliance.

title: Democratic Alliance Party (Albania)


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Social Democratic Party of Albania

The Social Democratic Party of Albania (Partia Socialdemokrate e Shqipërisë, PSD or PSDSH) is a minor social-democratic political party in Albania. Its founder is Skënder Gjinushi, a former Minister of Education (1987–1991) and Speaker of Parliament (1997–2001).

History
The party was formed in March 1991, and was admitted into the Socialist International at its XIX congress in 1992. The party contested the 1992 parliamentary elections, winning seven seats. It did not run in the 1996 elections, but returned to contest the elections the following year in an alliance with the Socialist Party, with the PSD winning nine seats.

In the 2001 elections the party was reduced to four seats. The 2005 elections saw the party increase its representation back to seven seats. For the 2009 elections it was part of the "Unification for Changes" alliance, but received just 1.8% of the national vote and lost all its seats. In the 2017 elections the Social Democratic Party won one seat. The 2021 elections saw the party win three seats.

title: Social Democratic Party of Albania


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John Herkimer

John Herkimer (1773 Tryon County, New York – June 8, 1848 Danube, Herkimer County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life
Herkimer was the son of George Herkimer (brother of Gen. Nicholas Herkimer and Johan Jost Herkimer).

He was a member from Montgomery County of the New York State Assembly in 1800, 1804 and 1806. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1801.

During the War of 1812, he served in the State Militia as a Major, leading a battalion in the defense of Sackets Harbor, New York.

In 1817, the Town of Danube (in which area Herkimer's home was located) was created from a part of the Town of Minden, and the area transferred from Montgomery to Herkimer County. Afterwards Herkimer was an associate judge of the Herkimer County Court for some years.

Herkimer was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 15th and the 18th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819; and from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825.

He was buried at the General Herkimer Cemetery in Danube.

title: John Herkimer


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The Mill on the Floss

The Mill on the Floss is a novel by English author George Eliot, first published in three volumes on 4 April 1860 by William Blackwood and Sons. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York.

Spanning a period of 10 to 15 years, the novel details the lives of Tom and Maggie Tulliver, siblings who grow up at Dorlcote Mill on the River Floss. The mill is at the confluence of the Floss and the smaller River Ripple, near the village of St Ogg's in Lincolnshire, England. Both the rivers and the village are fictional.

Plot
The novel begins in the late 1820s or early 1830s – several historical references place the events in the book after the Napoleonic Wars but before the Reform Act of 1832. (In chapter 3, the character Mr Riley is described as an "auctioneer and appraiser thirty years ago", placing the opening events of the novel in approximately 1829, thirty years before the novel's composition in 1859. In chapter 8, Mr Tulliver and Mr Deane discuss the Duke of Wellington and his "conduct in the Catholic Question", a conversation that could only take place after 1828, when Wellington became Prime Minister and supported a bill for Catholic Emancipation). The novel includes many autobiographical elements and reflects the disgrace that George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) experienced while in a lengthy relationship with a married man, George Henry Lewes. Maggie Tulliver is the protagonist and the story begins when she is 9 years old, 13 years into her parents' marriage. Her relationship with her older brother, Tom, and her romantic relationships with Philip Wakem (a hunchbacked, sensitive and intellectual friend) and with Stephen Guest (a vivacious young socialite in St Ogg's and assumed fiancé of Maggie's cousin Lucy Deane) constitute the most significant narrative threads.

Tom and Maggie have a close yet complex bond, which continues throughout the novel. Their relationship is coloured by Maggie's desire to recapture the unconditional love of her father before his death. Tom's pragmatic and reserved nature clashes with Maggie's idealism and fervor for intellectual gains and experience. Various family crises, including bankruptcy, Mr Tulliver's rancorous relationship with Philip Wakem's father, which results in the loss of the mill and Mr Tulliver's death, intensify Tom's and Maggie's differences and highlight their love for each other. To help his father repay his debts, Tom leaves school to devote himself to a life of business. He eventually finds a measure of success, restoring the family's former estate. Maggie languishes in the impoverished Tulliver home, her intellectual aptitude wasted in her socially isolated state. She passes through a period of tough spirituality, during which she renounces the world, motivated by her reading of Thomas à Kempis's  The Imitation of Christ.

This renunciation is tested by a renewed friendship with Philip Wakem, with whom she had developed a friendship while he and Tom were students. Against the wishes of Tom and her father - who both despise the Wakems - Maggie secretly meets Philip and they go for long walks through the woods. The relationship they forge is founded partly in Maggie's heartfelt pity for broken and neglected human beings but it also serves as an outlet for her intellectual romantic desires. Philip's and Maggie's attraction is, in any case, inconsequential because of the family antipathy. Philip manages to coax a pledge of love from Maggie. When Tom discovers the relationship between the two, he forces his sister to renounce Philip and with him her hopes of experiencing the broader, more cultured world he represents.

Several years pass, during which Mr Tulliver dies. Lucy Deane invites Maggie to come and stay with her and experience the life of cultured leisure that she enjoys. This includes long hours conversing and playing music with Lucy's suitor, Stephen Guest, a prominent St Ogg's resident. Stephen and Maggie, against their rational judgments, become attracted to each other. The complication is compounded by Philip Wakem's friendship with Lucy and Stephen; he and Maggie are reintroduced and Philip's love for her is rekindled, while Maggie, no longer isolated, enjoys the clandestine attentions of Stephen Guest, putting her past profession of love for Philip in question. Lucy intrigues to throw Philip and Maggie together on a short rowing trip down the Floss but Stephen unwittingly takes a sick Philip's place.

When Maggie and Stephen find themselves floating down the river, negligent of the distance they have covered, he proposes that they board a passing boat to the next substantial city, Mudport and get married. Maggie is too tired to argue about it. Stephen takes advantage of her weariness and hails the boat. They are taken on board and during the trip to Mudport, Maggie struggles between her love for Stephen and her duties to Philip and Lucy, which were established when she was poor, isolated and dependent on them for what good her life contained. Upon arrival in Mudport, she rejects Stephen and makes her way back to St Ogg's, where she lives for a brief period as an outcast, Stephen having fled to Holland. Although she immediately goes to Tom for forgiveness and shelter, he sends her away, telling her that she will never again be welcome under his roof. Lucy and Philip forgive her, in a moving reunion and in an eloquent letter, respectively.

Maggie's brief exile ends when the river floods. Having struggled through the waters in a boat to find Tom at the old mill, she sets out with him to rescue Lucy Deane and her family. In a brief tender moment, the brother and sister are reconciled from all past differences. When their boat capsizes, the two drown in an embrace, thus giving the book its Biblical epigraph: "In their death, they were not divided".

Characters

 * Maggie Tulliver – a dark-complexioned miller's daughter. A clever and impetuous child who feels deep passions, but forces herself to suppress them for the good of others.
 * Tom Tulliver – Maggie's brother. Originally lives in a careless fashion and neglects his studies, but begins to work seriously after his father's downfall.
 * Bessy Tulliver (née Dodson) – Maggie and Tom's mother, a simple and dim-witted woman who feels her social decline. She "obsesses about her linen cupboard, her prized silver sugar tongs and her sister's expensive new hat".
 * Edward Tulliver – Maggie and Tom's father, owner of the Mill until a lengthy lawsuit leaves him in dire financial straits. A proud and rash man who struggles to adapt to the modern commercial world. Feels deep love for Maggie especially, and for his own sister "Gritty". Characterized by his strong sense of justice and determination to secure a prosperous future for his family.
 * Philip Wakem – hunchbacked classmate of Tom and friend/suitor to Maggie
 * Stephen Guest – affluent suitor to Lucy, who also has eyes for Maggie

Minor characters

 * John Wakem – St Ogg's lawyer and father of Philip. Mr Tulliver considers all lawyers to be creations of Old Harry (the Devil) but is particularly disdainful of Wakem after losing a costly lawsuit to him.
 * Emily Wakem (née Clint) – mother of Philip, dies before the events of the book
 * Lucy Deane – Tom and Maggie's cousin, a pretty, fair-haired girl, presumed to be betrothed to Stephen Guest
 * Miss Guest and Laura Guest – sisters to Stephen, figures in local society and friends to Lucy
 * Mr Riley – auctioneer and appraiser, a friend of Mr Tulliver
 * Rev. Walter Stelling – teacher of Tom and Phillip
 * Dr Kenn – the clergyman of St Ogg's
 * Bob Jakin – a childhood friend of Tom who later helps Tom in business; both Tom and Maggie stay at his house at different times
 * Mrs Jane Glegg (née Dodson) – leader of the Dodson clan, critical and dominating aunt of Maggie and Tom who stands up for Maggie after her scandal with Stephen
 * Mrs Sophy Pullet (née Dodson) – sister of Bessy, Tom and Maggie's aunt
 * Mrs Susan Deane (née Dodson) – sister of Bessy, Tom and Maggie's aunt, mother to Lucy
 * Gritty Moss (née Tulliver) – Mr Tulliver's sister, mother of many children, including Georgy and Lizzy
 * Kezia – Tulliver family maid
 * Luke – the head miller
 * Yap – the Tullivers' dog
 * Mr Turnbull - doctor of the parish

Locations

 * Dorlcote Mill – the Tulliver family's home for a century
 * Basset – home of Moss Farm
 * Dunlow Common
 * Garum Firs – visited for a treat
 * Red Deeps
 * Midsummer – home of the academy
 * Mudport
 * St Ogg's
 * St Ursula

Themes
Like other novels by George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss articulates the tension between circumstances and the spiritual energies of individual characters struggling against those circumstances. A certain determinism is at play throughout the novel, from Mr Tulliver's inability to keep himself from "going to law", and thereby losing his patrimony and bankrupting his family, to the series of events that sets Maggie and Stephen down the river and past the point of no return. Characters such as Mr Tulliver are presented as unable to determine their own course rationally, while various external forces, be it the drift of the river or the force of a flood, are presented as determining the courses of people for them. On the other hand, Maggie's ultimate choice not to marry Stephen, and to suffer both the privation of his love and the ignominy of their botched elopement demonstrates a final triumph of free will.

Critics have asserted that Maggie's need for love and acceptance is her underlying motivation throughout The Mill on the Floss, claiming that the conflicts that arise in the novel stem from her frustrated attempts at gaining this acceptance. Alan Bellringer has claimed that "[t]he two main themes of the novel, growing up and falling in love, lend themselves to amusement, but it is stunted growth and frustrated love that are emphasized." Commentators have often focused on the constant rejection of Maggie's talents and mannerisms by her family and society. Even the cultural norms of her community deny her intellectual and spiritual growth. According to Elizabeth Ermarth, "[t]hey are norms according to which she is an inferior, dependent creature who will never go far in anything, and which consequently are a denial of her full humanity."

Adaptations
The story was adapted as a film, The Mill on the Floss, in 1937, and as a BBC series in 1978 starring Christopher Blake, Pippa Guard, Judy Cornwell, Ray Smith and Anton Lesser.

In 1994, Helen Edmundson adapted the book for the stage, in a production performed by Shared Experience.

A single-episode television adaptation of the novel was first aired on 1 January 1997. Maggie Tulliver is portrayed by Emily Watson and Mr Tulliver by Bernard Hill. The production was filmed at the historic Chatham Dockyard in Kent for exterior street scenes.

A radio dramatisation in five one-hour parts was broadcast on BBC7 in 2009.

title: The Mill on the Floss


text:
Democratic Alliance

Democratic Alliance may refer to:

Current political parties

 * Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
 * Democratic Alliance (Portugal, 2024)
 * Democratic Alliance (South Africa)
 * Democratic Alliance (Ukraine)
 * Democratic Alliance (Venezuela)
 * Democratic Alliance List, Palestine
 * Democratic Alliance Party (Haiti)
 * DEMOS (Montenegro)
 * National Democratic Alliance, India
 * Democratic Alliance of Nagaland, India
 * Singapore Democratic Alliance

Defunct political parties or coalitions

 * British Columbia Democratic Alliance
 * Democratic Alliance (Hong Kong)
 * Democratic Alliance (Bulgaria)
 * Democratic Alliance of Chile
 * Democratic Alliance (Chile, 1983)
 * Democratic Alliance for Egypt
 * Democratic Alliance (Greece)
 * Democratic Alliance (Guinea-Bissau)
 * Democratic Alliance (Italy)
 * Democratic Alliance (Palestine)
 * Democratic Alliance (Philippines)
 * Democratic Alliance (Portugal, 1979)
 * Democratic Alliance (Quebec)
 * Democratic Alliance (Sweden)
 * Democratic Republican Alliance, France
 * Democratic Progressive Alliance, India (now Secular Progressive Alliance)

title: Democratic Alliance


text: User talk:67.81.39.4

title: User talk:67.81.39.4


text:
War bond

War bonds (sometimes referred to as victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are also a means to control inflation by removing money from circulation in a stimulated wartime economy. War bonds are either retail bonds marketed directly to the public or wholesale bonds traded on a stock market. Exhortations to buy war bonds have often been accompanied by appeals to patriotism and conscience. Retail war bonds, like other retail bonds, tend to have a yield which is below that offered by the market and are often made available in a wide range of denominations to make them affordable for all citizens.

Before World War I
Governments throughout history have needed to borrow money to fight wars. Traditionally they dealt with a small group of rich financiers such as Jakob Fugger and Nathan Rothschild, but no particular distinction was made between debt incurred in war or peace. An early use of the term "war bond" was for the $ raised by the US Congress in an Act of 14 March 1812, to fund the War of 1812, but this was not aimed at the general public. Until July 2015, perhaps the oldest bonds still outstanding as a result of war were the British Consols, some of which were the result of the refinancing of incurring debts during the Napoleonic Wars, but these were redeemed following the passing of the Finance Act 2015.

Austria and Hungary
The government of Austria-Hungary knew from the early days of the First World War that it could not count on advances from its principal banking institutions to meet the growing costs of the war. Instead, it implemented a war finance policy modeled upon that of Germany: in November 1914, the first funded loan was issued. As in Germany, the Austro-Hungarian loans followed a prearranged plan and were issued at half yearly intervals every November and May. The first Austrian bonds paid 5% interest and had a five-year term. The smallest bond denomination available was 100 kronen.

Hungary issued loans separately from Austria in 1919, after the war and after it had separated from Austria, in the form of stocks that permitted the subscriber to demand repayment after a year's notice. Interest was fixed at 6%, and the smallest denomination was 50 korona. Subscriptions to the first Austrian bond issue amounted to $; those of the first Hungarian issue amounted to $.

The limited financial resources of children were tapped through campaigns in schools. The initial minimum Austrian bond denomination of 100 kronen still exceeded the means of most children, so the third bond issue, in 1915, introduced a scheme whereby children could donate a small amount and take out a bank loan to cover the rest of the 100 kronen. The initiative was immensely successful, eliciting funds and encouraging loyalty to the state and its future among Austro-Hungarian youth. Over kronen was collected in the first three "child bond" issues.

Canada
Canada's involvement in the First World War began in 1914, with Canadian war bonds called "Victory Bonds" after 1917. The first domestic war loan was raised in November 1915, but not until the fourth campaign of November 1917 was the term Victory Loan applied. The First Victory Loan was a 5.5% issue of 5, 10 and 20 year gold bonds in denominations as small as $50. It was quickly oversubscribed, collecting $ or about $50 per capita. The Second and Third Victory Loans were floated in 1918 and 1919, bringing another $. For those who could not afford to buy Victory Bonds, the government also issued War Savings Certificates. The government awarded communities who bought large amounts of bonds Victory Loan Honour Flags.

Germany
Unlike France and Britain, at the outbreak of the First World War Germany found itself largely excluded from international financial markets. This became most apparent after an attempt to float a major loan on Wall Street failed in 1914. As such, Germany was largely limited to domestic borrowing, which was induced by a series of war credit bills passing the Reichstag. This took place in many forms; however, the most publicised were the public war bond (Kriegsanleihe) drives.

Nine bond drives were conducted over the length of the war and, as in Austria-Hungary, the loans were issued at six-month intervals. The drives themselves would often last several weeks, during which there was extensive use of propaganda via all possible media. Most bonds had a rate of return of 5% and were redeemable over a ten-year period, in semi-annual payments. Like war bonds in other countries, the German war bonds drives were designed to be extravagant displays of patriotism and the bonds were sold through banks, post offices and other financial institutions.

As in other countries, the majority investors were not individuals but institutions and large corporations. Industries, university endowments, local banks and even city governments were the prime investors in the war bonds. In part because of intense public pressure and in part due to patriotic commitment the bond drives proved extremely successful, raising approximately marks in funds. Although extremely successful the war bond drives only covered two-thirds of war-related expenditures. Meanwhile, the interest payable on the bonds represented a growing expense which required further resources to pay it.

United Kingdom
In August 1914, the gold reserves of the Bank of England, and effectively of all banking institutions in Great Britain, amounted to £. The banks feared the declaration of war would trigger a run on the banks, so the Chancellor David Lloyd George extended the August bank holiday for three days to allow time for the passing of the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1914, by which Britain left the gold standard. Under this Act the Treasury issued £ (equivalent to £ in 2013) of paper banknotes, without the backing of gold, with which the banks could repay their obligations. Leading banker Walter Leaf described these Treasury notes as "essentially a War Loan free of interest, for an unlimited period, and as such was a highly profitable expedient from the point of view of the Government".

The first interest-bearing War Loan was issued in November 1914 at an interest rate of 3.5%, to be redeemed at par value in 1925–28. It raised £; £ at face value as it was issued at a 5% discount. It was revealed in 2017 that public subscriptions amounted to £91m, and the balance had been subscribed by the Bank of England, under the names of then governor, John Gordon Nairne, and his deputy Ernest Harvey. It was followed by £ of a second War Loan in June 1915, at 4.5%. £ of this was accounted for by conversion of the 3.5% issue, and a further £ by holders of 2.5% and 2.75% Consols, who were also allowed to transfer to the higher interest rate. The government also pledged that if they issued War Loans at even higher interest, holders of the 4.5% bonds might also convert to the new rate. In his memoirs Lloyd George stated his regret that his successor Reginald McKenna increased the interest rate at a time when investors had few alternatives. Not only did it directly increase the nation's annual interest payments by £ but it meant interest rates were higher throughout the economy during the post-war depression.

Compared to France, the British government relied more on short-term financing in the form of treasury bills and exchequer bonds during World War I. Treasury bills provided the bulk of British government funds in 1916, and were available for terms of 3, 6, 9 and 12 months at an interest rate of 5%. Although these were not formally designated as war bonds, advertising was explicit about their purpose. This April 1916 advertisement for 5% Exchequer bonds was typical of the time: "Lend Your Money to Your Country. The soldier does not grudge offering his life to his country. He offers it freely, for his life may be the price of Victory. But Victory cannot be won without money as well as men, and your money is needed. Unlike the soldier, the investor runs no risk. If you invest in Exchequer Bonds your money, capital and interest alike, is secured on the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, the premier security of the world."

Policy changed when Asquith's government fell in December 1916 and Bonar Law became Chancellor in the new coalition government. The third War Loan was launched in January 1917 at a 5% discount to face value and paying 5% interest (or 4% tax-free for 25 years), a rate Lloyd George described as "penal". Holders of existing War Loans, Treasury Bills and War Expenditure Certificates could convert to the 5% issue. Of the £ raised by the 5% War Loan, only £ was new money; the rest was conversions of £ of 4.5% Loan, £ of Exchequer Bonds and £ of Treasury Bills. Labour politician Tom Johnston would later write of the 1917 War Loan "No foreign conqueror could have devised a more complete robbery and enslavement of the British Nation".

On 30 June 1932 Neville Chamberlain announced that the Government would exercise its right to call in the 5% War Loan, offering a choice of taking cash or continuing the loan at 3.5%. Although they were obliged to give 90 days' notice of such a change, a 1% tax-free cash bonus was offered to holders who acted by 31 July. This conversion saved the government about £ net per year. On 3 December 2014 the UK Government announced it would redeem the outstanding war loans on 9 March 2015.

United States
In 1917 and 1918, the United States government issued Liberty Bonds to raise money for its involvement in World War 1. An aggressive campaign was created by Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo to popularize the bonds, grounded largely as patriotic appeals. The Treasury Department worked closely with the Committee on Public Information in developing Liberty Bond campaigns. The resulting propaganda messages often borrowed heavily from military colloquial speech.

The government used famous artists to make posters and used movie and stage stars to host bond rallies. Al Jolson, Ethel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Elsie Janis, Theda Bara, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin were among the celebrities who made public appearances promoting the patriotic element of purchasing Liberty Bonds. Chaplin also made a short film, The Bond, at his own expense for the drive. Even the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts sold bonds under the slogan "Every Scout to Save a Soldier". The campaign spurred community efforts across the country to sell the bonds and was a great success resulting in over-subscriptions to the second, third, and fourth bond issues. According to the Massachusetts Historical Society, "Because the first World War cost the federal government more than $ (by way of comparison, total federal expenditures in 1913 were only $), these programs became vital as a way to raise funds."

Canada
Canada's involvement in the Second World War began when Canada declared war on Nazi Germany on September 10, 1939, one week after the United Kingdom. Approximately half of the Canadian war cost was covered by War Savings Certificates and war bonds known as "Victory Bonds" as in World War I. War Savings Certificates began selling in May 1940 and were sold door-to-door by volunteers as well as at banks, post offices, trust companies and other authorised dealers. They matured after seven years and paid $5 for every $4 invested but individuals could not own more than $600 each in certificates. Although the effort raised $ in funds and was successful in financially involving millions of Canadians in the war effort, it only provided the Government of Canada with a fraction of what was needed.

The sale of Victory Bonds proved far more successful financially. There were ten wartime and one postwar Victory Bond drives. Unlike the War Savings Certificates, there was no purchase limit to Victory Bonds. The bonds were issued with maturities of between six and fourteen years with interest rates ranging from 1.5% for short-term bonds and 3% for long-term bonds and were issued in denominations of between $50 and $100,000. Canadians bought $ worth of Victory Bonds or some $550 per capita with businesses accounting for half of all Victory Bond sales. The first Victory Bond issue in February 1940 met its goal of $ in less than 48 hours, the second issue in September 1940 reaching its goal of $ almost as quickly.

When it became apparent that the war would last a number of years the war bond and certificate programs were organised more formally under the National War Finance Committee in December 1941, directed initially by the president of the Bank of Montreal and subsequently by the Governor of the Bank of Canada. Under the more honed direction the committee developed strategies, propaganda and the wide recruitment of volunteers for bonds drives. Bond drives took place every six months during which no other organization was permitted to solicit the public for money. The government spent over $ on marketing which employed posters, direct mailing, movie trailers (including some by Walt Disney in cooperation with the newly established National Film Board of Canada's animation department that the former partner helped establish), radio commercials and full page advertisements in most major daily newspapers and weekly magazines. Realistic staged military invasions, such as the If Day scenario in Winnipeg, Manitoba, were even employed to raise awareness and shock citizens into purchasing bonds.

Germany
The Nazi regime never attempted to convince the general populace to buy long-term war bonds as had been done during the First World War. The Reich government did not want to present any perceived form of public referendum on the war, which would be the indirect result if a bond drive did poorly. Rather, the regime financed its war efforts by borrowing directly from financial institutions, using short-term war bonds as collateral. German bankers, with no demonstration of resistance, agreed to taking state bonds into their portfolios. Financial institutions transferred their money to the Finance Department in exchange for promissory notes. Through this strategy, 40 million bank and investment accounts were quietly converted into war bonds, providing the Reich government with a continuous supply of money. Likewise, German bank commissioners compelled occupied Czechoslovakia to buy up German war bonds. By the end of the war, German war bonds accounted for 70% of investments held by Czechoslovakian banks.

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the National Savings Movement was instrumental in raising funds for the war effort during both world wars. During World War II a War Savings Campaign was set up by the War Office to support the war effort. Local savings weeks were held which were promoted with posters with titles such as "Lend to Defend the Right to Be Free", "Save Your Way to Victory" and "War Savings Are Warships".

United States
By the summer of 1940, the victories of Nazi Germany against Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Luxembourg brought urgency to the government, which was discreetly preparing for possible United States involvement in World War II. Of principal concern were issues surrounding war financing. Many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's advisers favored a system of tax increases and enforced savings program as advocated by British economist John Maynard Keynes. In theory, this would permit increased spending while decreasing the risk of inflation. However, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. preferred a voluntary loan system and began planning a national defense bond program in the fall of 1940. The intent was to unite the attractiveness of the baby bonds that had been implemented in the interwar period with the patriotic element of the Liberty Bonds from the First World War.

Henry Morgenthau Jr. sought the aid of Peter Odegard, a political scientist specialised in propaganda, in drawing up the goals for the bond program. On the advice of Odegard the Treasury began marketing the previously successful baby bonds as "defense bonds". Three new series of bond notes, Series E, F and G, would be introduced, of which Series E would be targeted at individuals as "defense bonds". Like the baby bonds, they were sold for as little as $18.75 and matured in ten years, at which time the United States government paid the bondholder $25. Large denominations of between $50 and $1000 were also made available, all of which, unlike the Liberty Bonds of the First World War, were non-negotiable bonds. For those who found it difficult to purchase an entire bond at once, 10-cent savings stamps could be purchased and collected in Treasury-approved stamp albums until the recipient had accumulated enough stamps for a bond purchase. The name of the bonds was eventually changed to War Bonds after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which resulted in the United States entering the war.

The War Finance Committee was placed in charge of supervising the sale of all bonds, and the War Advertising Council promoted voluntary compliance with bond buying. Popular contemporary art was used to help promote the bonds such as Any Bonds Today?, a 1942 Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon. More than a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. The government appealed to the public through popular culture. Norman Rockwell's painting series, the Four Freedoms, toured in a war bond effort that raised $. Bond rallies were held throughout the country with famous celebrities, usually Hollywood film stars, to enhance the bond advertising effectiveness. Many motion pictures during the time, especially war dramas (a form of propaganda itself), included a graphic shown during the closing credits advising patrons to "Buy War Bonds and Stamps", which were sometimes sold in the lobby of the theater. The Music Publishers Protective Association encouraged its members to include patriotic messages on the front of their sheet music like "Buy U.S. Bonds and Stamps". Over the course of the war 85 million Americans purchased bonds totalling approximately $.

Named after the 1942 Hollywood Victory Caravan, a 1945 Paramount-produced film promoted bond sales after the end of World War II. The short subject included Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Alan Ladd, William Demarest, Franlin Pangborn, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, and others.

Aside from movies and music, there were countless other programs held throughout the states to encourage the purchasing of war bonds. One such promotion that was held, at the least, in Nebraska and Montana, allowed for citizens to "get Hitler's goat," a play on the phrase "to get someone's goat" meaning to make someone angry or annoyed. The goat would be held up for "auction" with the money going directly towards war bonds. According to one source, the auctioning of "Hitler's goat" in Nebraska in 1942 raised $90,000 in War Bond sales.

The National Service Board for Religious Objectors offered civilian bonds in the United States during World War II, primarily to members of the historic peace churches as an alternative for those who could not conscientiously buy something meant to support the war. These were U.S. Government Bonds not labelled as defense bonds. In all, 33,006 subscriptions were sold for a total value of $, mostly to Mennonites, Brethren, and Quakers.

Research has shown that parties to a conflict at the beginning of warfare can obtain cheap financing. As the conflict develops, bond yields increase but only to a certain level. Once a certain threshold is exceeded, there is no increase in the yield. The phenomenon was explained by the clientele effect, i.e., the differentiation of groups that purchase financial instruments. The first issuances of war bonds are mainly covered by investors seeking profit and the so-called "patriotic demand". As the conflict develops, the risk increases, and only patriotic demand persists.

South Africa
In the late 1970's and 1980's South Africa issued Defence Bonus Bonds in order to fund the border wars in Angola and Namibia and to fund the Defence Industry that was necessary due to sanctions.

Ukraine
On 1 March 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government announced it would issue war bonds to pay its armed forces. Between March and May 2022, around $270 million equivalent of bonds were sold, maturing in one year and yielding 11 percent. The bonds were sold in small units of 1,000 hryvnias, with over 70,000 buyers.

Canada
On 28 October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canada announced that they will sell government-backed, 5-year bonds to raise money for Ukraine.

title: War bond


text:
Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy (21 March 1936 – 23 July 2012) was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up. She wrote more than 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collections of short stories. At her death she was one of thirty writers to win the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her "lasting contribution to children's literature".

Mahy won the annual Carnegie Medal twice. It recognises the year's best children's book by a British subject, and she won for both The Haunting (1982) and The Changeover (1984). (As of 2012 just seven writers have won two Carnegies, none three.) She was also a highly commended runner up for Memory (1987).

Among her children's books, A Lion in the Meadow and The Seven Chinese Brothers and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate are considered national classics. Her novels have been translated into Te Reo Māori, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Catalan and Afrikaans. In addition, some stories have been translated into Russian, Chinese and Icelandic.

The Margaret Mahy Playground in the Christchurch Central City is named in her honour.

Early life
Mahy was born in 1936, the eldest of five children. She was raised in her birthplace of Whakatāne. Her father, Francis George Mahy, was a bridge builder and often told his children adventure stories which later influenced Mahy's writing. Mahy's mother Helen Penlington was a teacher. She was regarded as a 'slow learner', and particularly hated mathematics. Her first published story was "Harry is Bad", written at age seven (published in the children's page of the Bay of Plenty Beacon). Later she showed it to children when she visited schools, to let them know that they could write stories at any age.

She went to the local high school, where she was acknowledged as a talented swimmer.

Education
Mahy completed her B.A. at Auckland University College (1952–1954) and Canterbury University College, graduating in 1955. In 1956 she trained at the New Zealand Library School, Wellington as a librarian.

Personal life
From around 1965, Mahy lived at Governors Bay on the Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, in the South Island of New Zealand. She was a solo mother and raised two daughters there. At age 62, Mahy had her right shoulder tattooed with the picture of a skull with a rose in its teeth. She was writing about a person being tattooed and considered the tattoo research to enable her to describe the experience convincingly.

In 2007, Mahy adopted a cavoodle puppy she named Honey, because of her colour. Mahy died at the Nurse Maude Hospice in St Albans, Christchurch on 23 July 2012, aged 76. She had been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous jaw tumour in April 2012 and had been moved to a hospice about nine days before her death.

Her final book Tale of a Tail, published posthumously in 2014, was commissioned by Polish photographer Tomasz Gudzowaty.

Career
She worked as a librarian in Petone, the School Library Service in Christchurch, and in 1976 was appointed Children's Librarian at Canterbury Public Library. During this time many of her stories were published in the New Zealand School Journal and her first book saw her become known internationally. A Lion in the Meadow was a School Journal story from 1965. It was published in 1969 by J.M. Dent in the U.K. and Franklin Watts in the U.S., as a large-format picture book illustrated by Jenny Williams. Also in 1969, William Heinemann Ltd and Watts published another large-format picture book, The Dragon of an Ordinary Family with illustrations by Helen Oxenbury, who won the Greenaway Medal from the British librarians recognising the year's best illustrated children's book. There were three others in that same year.

Mahy wrote several fantasy novels, including The Haunting and The Changeover.

Mahy became a full-time writer in 1980. She went on to win numerous book awards and honours for her contributions to New Zealand and to children's literature. One was an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Canterbury. In 1985 she established the Margaret Mahy Fees Scholarship at the University of Canterbury.

The Margaret Mahy Medal Award was established by the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation in 1991 to provide recognition of excellence in children's literature, publishing and literacy in New Zealand.

On 6 February 1993, Mahy was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand, for her contributions to children's literature. In March 2009 she was commemorated as one of the Twelve Local Heroes and a bronze bust of her was unveiled outside the Christchurch Arts Centre.

In 2010 her book Kaitangata Twitch was adapted for television and aired on Māori Television. Directed by Yvonne Mackay and produced by The Production Shed.TV, the series includes a cameo appearance by Margaret Mahy in a library scene.

Awards

The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Mahy received the writing award in 2006. Jury president Jeffrey Garrett wrote in the press release:

"In awarding the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Writing to Margaret Mahy, the jury has recognized one of the world's most original re-inventors of language. Mahy's language is rich in poetic imagery, magic, and supernatural elements. Her oeuvre provides a vast, numinous, but intensely personal metaphorical arena for the expression and experience of childhood and adolescence. Equally important, however, are her rhymes and poems for children. Mahy's works are known to children and young adults all over the world."

Mahy won the Carnegie Medal in 1982 for The Haunting. In 1984 she won the medal again for The Changeover. In 2005 she won the Phoenix Prize for The Catalogue of the Universe.

The Margaret Mahy Award, named for Mahy, is presented annually to "a person who has made a significant contribution to the broad field of children's literature and literacy". Mahy was the first recipient of the award in 1991. Lectures by the winners are published, the standard of which was set by Mahy's inaugural lecture, Surprising Moments.

In 2013, the top prize for young adult fiction at the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards was renamed the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award. Also in 2013, a playground based on her work was commissioned to be built in Christchurch's East Frame.

Some other awards:
 * Italian Premier Grafico Award, The Wind Between the Stars, 1976
 * Dutch Silver Pencil Award, The Boy Who Was Followed Home, 1977
 * New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, Best Young Adult Novel, 2003, Alchemy
 * Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement (2005)
 * Phoenix Award, 2005, The Catalogue of the Universe (1985)
 * Phoenix Award runner-up (Honor Book), 2006, The Tricksters
 * Sir Julius Vogel Award, 2006, for services to New Zealand science fiction and fantasy
 * Phoenix Award, 2007, Memory
 * New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, Children's Book of the Year, 2011, The Moon and Farmer McPhee—picture book written by Mahy and illustrated by David Elliot

The Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association designates the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity. Mahy is one of three authors to win it twice (1985 to 2012).

Works

Mahy wrote more than 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collections of short stories published between 1969 and 2014.

title: Margaret Mahy


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Ruritan

Ruritan National is a service club located in small towns and rural areas in the United States. It aims to achieve "Fellowship, Goodwill and Community Service". The local clubs are autonomous from the national organization. Many Ruritan clubs sponsor local clubs or chapters of 4-H, the National FFA Organization, or a Boy Scouts of America troop.

Unlike most community service organizations, Ruritan rarely has national programs. Rather, each club surveys the needs of its own community and then works to meet some of those needs. Many clubs provide and supervise community recreational centers, sponsor little league and other athletic programs, build community parks and sports pitches, sponsor anti-litter campaigns, help the sick and needy and provide a wide range of other activities to help improve their communities.

History
The first Ruritan Club was chartered May 21, 1928, in Holland, Virginia, now part of Suffolk, Virginia. Since that first club, Ruritan has grown throughout the United States of America, and in doing so, has become "America's Leading Community Service Organization," with over 23,000 members in nearly 1000 clubs.

Organization
The Ruritan organization is made of Ruritan Clubs. Club officers consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past President, and 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-Year Directors. Clubs are organized into zones, overseen by a zone governor and zones are organized into districts.

title: Ruritan


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Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance is an award presented by the Recording Academy to honor quality alternative music performances in any given year. The award was presented for the first time on 5 February 2023 at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, is a companion category to the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and the first new category in the alternative genre field since the field's creation in 1991.

The Academy stated that the award goes to "a track or single performance that recognizes the best recordings in an alternative performance by a solo artist, collaborating artists, established duo, or established group."

Background
In 1991, and from 1994 to 1999, the award for Best Alternative Music Album was known as Best Alternative Music Performance. In this time, it was won by Sinéad O'Connor, U2, Green Day, Nirvana, Beck, Radiohead and Beastie Boys.

The category was one of five new categories announced in June 2022 alongside Best Americana Performance, Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, Best Spoken Word Poetry Album and Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.

Winners and nominees
undefined Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.


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Democratic Party of Albania

The Democratic Party of Albania (Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, PD or PDSH) is a conservative  political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013.

The Democratic Party of Albania was founded in 1990 as a strongly anti-communist party with the majority of its followers being from politically persecuted dissidents of the Communist dictatorial regime of Enver Hoxha. In international relations, it is an associate member of the European People's Party and a full member of International Democrat Union.

Foundation
The Democratic Party was founded on 12 December 1990 with major involvement from Avdyl Matoshi, Azem Hajdari, Sali Berisha and Gramoz Pashko, and Arben Imami, Edmond Budina, Eduart Selami, Genc Ruli, Merita Zaloshnja, Aleksandër Meksi involved only in the early stages of the formation of the party. It is the first opposition party in Albania after more than 45 years of a communist leadership. The party was created as an anti-communist movement.

1991: First pluralist elections
The First Pluralist would be the first elections since 1923 to allow more than one Party. The Ruling Labour Party of Albania during the 1991 Elections had the biggest advantage during the election. Including the influence over the media. There was no opportunity for the Democratic party and other Anti-Communist parties in the election to influence the rural country side. The Democratic Party platform had promised the transformation of living standards through membership in the European Community, strong connection with the United States and other Western nations, Gastarbeiter in German factories abroad, and immediate steps towards a free-market economy. Which resulted in the Democratic Party coming in second place in results. The Democratic party would ultimately win in the next Election.

1992: Second pluralist parliamentary presidential elections
The Democratic Party of Albania won the parliamentary elections of 22 March 1992, the second free and fair elections after many decades of mandatory and single communist party candidate elections. Sali Berisha its leader was elected as the second President of Albania, which at the time had executive powers, and Aleksandër Meksi as Prime Minister. Sali Berisha with significant contribution in the formation of the party, and Aleksandër Meksi with minor contribution. The second pluralist government of Albania governed by the Democratic Party and its leader was tasked with executing reforms to turn the country from a communist style everything in the hands of the government rule into a democratic country based in free markets, property rights, individual rights, and without interference of the government in the private lives of its citizens.

1996 Presidential elections
Four years after the second free and fair elections, new free and fair election in respect to the new Constitution of Albania adopted in 1991, conform other democratic western and European countries were due. The elections were held on 26 May 1996. The main and well known political leaders of the party that governed the Republic of Albania for more than 45 years, under a ruthless regime, were no longer a major participant in the election. However, the party itself and its new and less known leaders at the time of the former Labor Party, the main political party during the communist regime was reformed, changed its platform conform to other parties that held the same believes, mainly left-wing philosophies, conform democratic standards, and its name to the Socialist Party of Albania. It was the only serious opponent and challenger to the Democratic Party of Albania in the 26 May 1996 presidential elections. During these elections the international election observers were limited in numbers. The Democratic Party of Albania and its allies were able to win more than 71 seats in the parliament, on the Presidential Election of 26 May 1996, enough to form the majority and stay in government. Sali Berisha and Aleksandër Meksi respectively remained President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, until new parliamentary election were called due to the Ponzi-Schemes crisis, held on 29 June 1997.

1997 parliamentary elections
The Ponzi-Schemes lead to civil unrest that culminated in early spring of 1997. The crisis was deeply severe. The government led by the Democratic Party of Albania and its leader due to civil unrest was not able to function properly in many parts of the country, especially in the south of Albania. The fact that these Ponzi-Schemes were endorsed by the government (led by the Democratic Party of Albania) or suggested people to invest in these schemes and the majority of the people who invested in these Ponzi-Schemes blamed the Democratic Party's government for the failure of the Ponzi-Schemes. As a result of this crisis and internal civil unrest new parliamentary election were called on 29 June 1997 to sooth the situation. As a result of these elections the Democratic Party of Albania lost its elections to its opposition party, Socialist Party of Albania.

A little more than a year after the Socialist Party of Albania took control of the government on 12 September 1998 Azem Hajdari one of the founding members of the Democratic Party of Albania and a very important political figure within the party was assassinated. His assassination lead to further unrest in Albania. The Democratic Party of Albania was in opposition and its leader, the former President of Albania (with executive powers), who was in the leadership of the party during this time, Sali Berisha, accused the government of the Socialist Party of Albania as the perpetrator of the assassination of Azem Hajdari.

2001 parliamentary elections
On 24 June 2001 the next parliamentary elections on the due date as provided by the constitution were held. These elections were also lost by the Democratic Party of Albania although not as deeply as the previous elections. The Democratic Party alleged irregularities and did not accept the result of the elections. ODHIR and OSCE which were involved in monitoring the elections and as an independent party declared on their final report that the elections were marked by irregularities and that repeated voting in some electoral zones increased the violations and irregularities of the election. To what extent these irregularities and violations helped the Socialist Party of Albania win in such a wide range was not determined or conclusive in the election report.

2005 parliamentary elections
In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Party won 56 of the 140 seats and its allies won 18 under the call Time to Change (Koha per Ndryshim). Two other parties also joined the new coalition (PAA of the left wing & PBDNJ of the Greek minority, with 4 and 2 seats, respectively). This meant that with a combined total of 79 seats, the Democratic Party and its allies were able to form a government with Sali Berisha becoming Prime Minister. One of his priorities was Albanian integration to NATO, an objective he accomplished in 2009 when Albania and Croatia were accepted as members. The biggest tragedy after the 1997 Albanian civil unrest happened in Saturday 15 March 2008 which is known as 2008 Gërdec explosions. Officially, Albanian authorities confirmed 26 deaths in the explosions. Officials report the number of injured people at over 300. According to figures published by the Prime Minister's Office, 2,306 buildings were damaged or destroyed in the explosions. Of these, 318 houses were destroyed completely, 200 buildings were seriously damaged, and 188 buildings were less seriously damaged.

2009 parliamentary elections
On 28 June 2009 the next elections that were due on the date provided were held. The elections were won by the Democratic Party with its electoral alliance. Alliance of Change (Aleance e Ndryshimit). The alliance consisted of mostly Right Wing parties. Shortly before the election the Ethnic Greek unity party had switched to join the Center Left alliance of Edi Rama Unification for Change (Bashkimi për Ndryshim). Due to the PDIU, a party representing the interest of Cham Albanians whose properties in Greece were seized after the Second world war. Nevertheless the Democratic party with its alliance had won 70 out of the 140 seats. It was unclear whether the Democratic party and its alliance had won 70 or 71. On 4 July 2009, Ilir Meta leader of LSI announced he had accepted a deal to form a working majority coalition. Making PD and its alliance have 74 out of 140.

2013 parliamentary elections
After the defeat in the 2013 parliamentary election, Berisha announced his resignation as party leader. A one-member-one-vote election was held for the first time on 23 July 2013, in which Lulzim Basha defeated his opponent Sokol Olldashi and was elected Chairman of the Democratic Party.

On 30 September 2014, a national congress of the Democratic Party was held to elect a new leadership and to announce a tough reform of the party.

On the 26th anniversary of the Democratic Party, party leader Basha announced his program for the further modernization and democratisation of the party ahead of the 2017 parliamentary elections.

After previously promising that 35% of the parliamentary candidates would consist of members from the youth movement of the Party, Basha now announced a limitations of all mandates of the party leaders to a two-year term, and the full democratisation of the internal election process.

2017 parliamentary elections
On 18 February 2017 members of the Democratic Party and other opposition parties, under the leadership of Basha pitched a giant tent outside the Prime Minister's office in Tirana after thousands of protesters rallied to demand free elections and a technocrat government. The opposition protest further escalated into a larger political conflict. The Democratic Party and its allies refused to register to take part in the 25 June general election, until the government will accept their conditions to secure a free and democratic election.

2021 parliamentary elections
On 16 February 2019 the Albanian opposition led by Lulzim Basha protested for three years under his leadership, with the goals of removing Edi Rama from power. The opposition coalition consists of the Democratic Party (PD), the Socialist Movement for Integration, the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity, the Republican Party and other minor opposition parties. After the first protests opposition MPs decided to resign in mass from parliament, more than 40 seats were vacated. Due to the protests the opposition parties decided to boycott the local elections that were previously set to be held on 30 June 2019. Lulzim Basha formed an alliance with minority parties, forming the Democratic Party Alliance for Change (Partia Demokratike - Aleanca për Ndryshim). However this was not enough to deliver the Democratic Party a victory, it did however increase its seats in Parliament and the 2021 Albanian parliamentary election would be the third loss in a row for the Democratic Party. Following the election aftermath Sali Berisha had been declared Persona Non Grata by the United States. Which resulted in Lulzim Basha expelling Berisha from the parliamentary group and begun causing party internal fighting between members of Basha's faction and Berisha's faction. On 11 December at Arena Kombëtare, the Berisha faction held a national council to remove Basha and his members from the party leadership. More than 4,446 voted for the removal of Lulzim Basha from party leader of the Democratic Party. However, Basha did not recognize the results and the party internal feuds continued. On 6 March 2022 Partial Local elections for Specifically, Shkodër, Durrës, Dibër, Vorë, Rrogozhinë, and Lushnjë. Many supporters had left to support Sali Berisha's coalition "House of Freedom" during the party internal feuds. Which resulted in The Democratic party being placed third and second. While Sali Berisha and his coalition coming first place in Shkodër. Following the defeats in the partial local elections, Lulzim Basha stepped down which resulted in Sali Berisha and Enkelejd Alibeaj having disputes over leadership of the party. Although not just Alibeaj and Berisha, members of Berisha's factions as well began to have disputes between each other, specifically between Belind Këlliçi and Evi Kokalari. Këlliçi had accused Kokalari that she had been attacking him and claimed that "Kokalari took time to hit me with some of the accusations and slanders used by the Socialists against me." As a result Këlliçi had taken Kokalari to trial and responded to the accusations that Evi Kokalari has made against him with a defamation lawsuit, where he demands 1 million Lek in compensation. On 7 July 2022 a big protest was held in Tirana in front of the Prime Minster's Office, Sali Berisha as de facto Chairman of the party had called it weeks before. The protest was called under the motto and slogan "Albania in Danger" (Shqipëria në rrezik). Sali Berisha stated that the future of Albania and the Albanians was at risk and the stake of the fatherland was in their hands. On 17 May 2023 Enkelejd Alibeaj resigned from every post of the Democratic Party of Albania. Gazment Bardhi would succeed Alibeaj which would continue the party split. On 24 May 2023 Lulzim Basha would make an appearance claiming he was the leader of the Democrats again succeeding Bardhi who served as interim.

Headquarters
The party's headquarters are located in Tirana, capital city of Albania, not too far away from the Albanian Parliament (approximately 50 meters away). The newspaper Rilindja Demokratike, the Democratic Party's main news organ, is located at the same headquarters building.

Ideology
The Democratic party of Albania is considered to be a centre-right party that holds conservative  and conservative liberal views. However, the party also has members that hold national conservative views. The Democrats support NATO and are pro-European, and support accession of Albania to the European Union.

Party split (2021–2024)
Originally Gazment Bardhi was on the side of Lulzim Basha as leader of the Democrats. However, on 4 September 2023 he ordered all Albanian democrat politicians and even opposition members who were elected on the Democratic Party list to meet him on 5 September 2023, just one day before Lulzim Basha expelled 500 members for going against his leadership. 40 of the 59 elected showing up in person and 3 showing up to the meeting online. While one was pro for the unification was not able to be neither online or in person. Bardhi argued that this unification is needed. Stating that the party has seen too many failures now. Both Berisha and Bardhi agreed to settle their differences and united their groups. However, Lulzim Basha was against this unified opposition.

Appeal in the General Judicial Court (2024)
The Court of Appeal decided not to accept Enkelejd Alibeaj's complaint about the seal and leadership of the Democratic Party, thus affirming the official Democratic Party's emblem and logo as belonging to Sali Berisha. By rejecting Alibeaj's appeal, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the First Instance, presided over by Judge Agron Zhukri, which recognized the decisions made during the Assembly held on December 11, as convened by the Re-establishment faction.

This decision establishes that the chairman of the official Democratic Party is former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who is currently under the security measure of "House Arrest" following investigations initiated by SPAK.

The Appellate panel's decision was rendered by Judges Alma Ahmeti, Iliba Bezati, and Elona Toro, and is final. At the onset of the session, the Re-establishment faction submitted a preliminary request to dismiss Alibeaj's appeal, arguing that they were not a legitimate party.

The legal representative, Ivi Kaso, urged the enforcement of the "Zhukri" decision and the acknowledgment of the resolutions passed during the National Assembly of December 11, 2021, a position upheld by the court. Kaso stated, "The right of annulment belongs only to the party that initiated the legal proceedings."

Reacting to the media at the conclusion of the Appeal session, Flamur Noka expressed that truth prevailed and urged all Democrats to unite within the Democratic Party. "Today is a momentous day for all Democrats. Despite facing injustice, honorable judges have emerged to uphold the truth that had been obscured for three years. The truth is that Democrats determine all matters concerning the Democratic Party through their own will. Our message is clear: Democrats stand united and are pleased with the decision."

"However, today marks a setback for the ruling regime, as united Democrats now have a singular mission: to dismantle this narco-regime and restore hope to Albanians. The era of a divided opposition has ended, giving way to a united front. Today, Albania has a resolute Democratic Party and a unified opposition that will amplify the voice of the people," concluded Noka.

title: Democratic Party of Albania