BOUND VOLUMES

November 5, 2020

200 YEARS AGO

Comments upon remarks made in response to an address by the Hon. Daniel Webster: “In the course of his remarks, Mr. W. stated, that since the commencement of the government, there had been paid into the Treasury through the Custom House, 350,000,000, while only $35,000,000 had been received from other sources, and that with much discontent. It was not the ship owner or ship builder merely, who had affected so much, but Commerce, by acting upon and enriching the Agriculture of the country, by calling into activity, all the capital, and exciting all the activity and enterprise of the country, had given to the whole people an ability to contribute to the revenue; and it had also afforded an easy and convenient mode for its collection.”

November 6, 1820

175 YEARS AGO

Breach of Promise: The case of Sarah Steele against Mr. Francis, for a breach of the marriage promise has concluded. The jury gave the disappointed fair one $1,000 damages. The promise was claimed in consequence of an intimate acquaintance of many years – Mr. Francis visiting the young lady very frequently, and being received by her and her friends as a suitor, while others considered him only as an old and valued friend. A letter was read on behalf the plaintiff in which Mr. F. speaks directly of marriage, asserting that he “could never know content until they were one,” and expressions of a like nature. The defendant called many witnesses to prove that the lady herself had denied that he was paying attention to her, or that she thought of marrying him. But, in opposition to this was proof of an intercourse and marked attentions for seven or eight years, giving her friends the right to infer that marriage was contemplated.

November 8, 1845

150 YEARS AGO

Bayonets and Ballots – An Unfortunate Precedent: In regard to the presence of United States troops in the City of New York on Election Day, the Journal of Commerce states: “If the election on November 8 passes off quietly, as we are confident it will, the Federal authorities will probably claim that the good order was entirely owing to the presence of their troops. If any disturbance takes place and is suppressed by the Federal arms, then we shall be treated to the argument that the riot would have been much more serious but for the decisive action of the soldiery. In either case, the precedent will be established for the pretended necessity of having a military guard over every Congressional election in this city. For generations to come, the metropolis may be subjected to this quasi-martial law; and the rule may be adopted in all cities of over 20,000 inhabitants throughout the whole country until the Congressional elections pass as fully under the control of the bayonet as the French elections ever were. In this ultimately, there must be danger. Administrations, whether Republican or Democratic, cannot always be trusted to be peaceable and moderate, or commanding generals to be cool and humane. The precedent of martial interference with elections and with civil affairs generally is one that progresses from bad to worse – not in the opposite direction.”

November 10, 1870

125 YEARS AGO

Local – Will the newspapers of the next generation be decorated with the pictures of charming women who (for a consideration) testify to the wonderful curative qualities of all sorts of patent medicines? (Ed. Note: Improvements in the 1890s in newspaper printing technology facilitated the inclusion of female images as spokespersons in advertising, a practice once deemed unseemly to an earlier Victorian-era society)
Any poor person, man or woman, now out of employment, may briefly make known the fact in The Freeman’s Journal, without cost.

November 7, 1895

100 YEARS AGO

Editorial: The Next President of the United States will be Warren G. Harding and our Vice-President will be Calvin Coolidge. The election returns received up to the time the Journal goes to press indicate that Harding’s majority in the Electoral College may be classed as a landslide. The result is without doubt due to the unrest that exists throughout the country as an aftermath of the war. The desire for “a change” would have been the same no matter who might be the candidate, or what the issues. The fact that Eugene V. Debs, now serving a prison term for treason, received three million votes on the Socialist ticket furnishes food for second thoughts. The great issue of the campaign – whether or not we shall enter the League of Nations, remains as much a question as it ever did. The Republican Party will have a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The President is entitled to the loyal support of every true American in the great work of after-war reconstruction.

November 3, 1920

50 YEARS AGO

Local: The Tenth Annual Veteran’s Day Parade in Cooperstown will be held on Sunday, November 8.
The December issue of Esquire magazine singles out Cooperstown as a community “where the kids look like the ones Norman Rockwell used to paint, and the scenery at the end of town appears to have been created by some kind of omnipotent being.” Most notable about Cooperstown, according to Esquire, is the absence of noise, bus exhaust, dirt, rudeness, $400 apartments, $4 plastic business lunches, crime waves, people jams, and other incontrovertible evidence of the end of the world.”

November 4, 1970

25 YEARS AGO

Editorial Excerpts: It seems to be a problem in many small villages across the state – youngsters hanging out on Main Street with nothing to do. In Cooperstown they hang out in Pioneer Park and according to merchants cause trouble. The Parent/Youth group that has been meeting at the Clark Sports Center is trying, however, to come up with solutions including a future teen center where youngsters can go and be with friends, play games and stay off the streets. Hanging out in the park, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer is not becoming an adult. It is illegal behavior and more a sign of immaturity than growing up.

November 6, 1995

10 YEARS AGO

In the wee hours of Wednesday, Nov. 3, both the New York Times and Associated Press were reporting that the county’s two Democratic congressman, freshman Scott Murphy in the 20th and two-term incumbent Mike Arcuri in the 24th, will be coming home.
If the projections hold, Republican Chris Gibson, the retired Army colonel from Kinderhook, will have defeated Murphy, an entrepreneur from Glens Falls. And Richard Hanna, the construction company owner who lived in Cooperstown for a period before returning to Barneveld, will have replaced Arcuri, the former Oneida County district attorney from Utica.

November 4, 2010