Hallstead – The women folks who are being terrorized by a “Jack the Hugger” are so apprehensive that they are afraid to venture forth at night, are going to make a determined effort for better police protection. A few evenings ago a lady residing on Fourth street, on the West Side, went to make a call on another friend on Dayton avenue and was walking along Lackawanna avenue near the coal chutes—one of the poorly lighted streets in town. She had reached the darkest part of the street when, without warning, a poorly dressed man swung himself down from the branches of a tree and seized her. When she screamed for help he attempted to choke her. A big watch dog, belonging to Mr. Vogel, who lives on the same street, heard her screams and started toward them, and fearing that help was at hand, the miscreant ran toward the railroad tracks and made his escape. She was pretty roughly handled, and only for the appearance of the dog might have fared worse.

Harford – The funeral of Miss Jennie Shannon, formerly of Harford, but whose death occurred in St. Louis, Mo., was held at the home of her father, Wm. Shannon, in this village, Sunday, Rev. Webster officiating. The funeral was largely attended, friends being present from Rochester, Binghamton and Harford. The casket was covered with beautiful flowers, the gifts of friends. Burial in the village cemetery beside her mother.

Glenwood – Wedding bells have been ringing. Lillian McAloon of this place and Bruce Belcher, of South Gibson, were married in Scranton recently. Congratulations.

Great Bend – The work on the good roads is progressing as rapidly as possible and if the weather conditions remain favorable, Contractor Gill hopes to have the work finished about July 1st. The road in Great Bend township will extend from Main Street, this borough, to the foot of Hasbrook Hill.

Uniondale – Our morning train south was discontinued the 15th inst. We think if the

O. & W. R. R. would put [a] morning train on, the Erie would replace train at once. See? The old reliable think the railroad will get a raise in freight rates by so doing. The snow is about gone and raised the water. They will need more money to pay dividends.

Jackson – Mrs. G. A. Bell, of New Milford, will be at the Central Hotel Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28, 29 with a full line of millinery goods.

Forest Lake – Our old friend, Jefferson Green, was in Montrose Saturday and called to renew for the Democrat, to which he has been a subscriber 54 years. Mr. Green, who has been a sufferer with rheumatism for many years, says he is feeling pretty good these spring days.

Little Meadows – A good many of our young folks attended the dance in Friendsville Easter Monday night [and] also a dance at McCahill’s, in Choconut, the past Friday night. All report a large crowd.

Hop Bottom – The last basket ball game of the season was played in Masonic hall, Saturday afternoon, between [the] Camp Fire Girls, of Factoryville, and Foster [Hop Bottom] girls. The score was 18-10 in favor of Foster.

S. Auburn – Two more of our popular young people have embarked on the sea of matrimony. Ruth Love and Arthur Grow were married in Buffalo, April 14, and have commenced housekeeping in Rochester. Mr. Grow has the position vacated by his brother, Archie Grow, who came home on account of poor health.

Forest City – Thomas H. O’Neill, one of our oldest residents, states that 57 years ago, yesterday, he started near Pleasant Mount, early in the morning to go a distance of nearly two miles and it made a day’s journey. Snow was four feet deep on the level. It snowed for three days but it did not drift. Also William Pertoski, a member of the 29th Regiment U. S. army, stationed at Fort Porter, N. Y., left yesterday to rejoin his regiment after a furlough of four days, spent with his parents here. The young man is anxious to go to the front and expects an early call to move to the Mexican border if not in action.

Susquehanna – Oscar Donaldson, teller in the City National Bank, was married Monday evening to Miss Flora Bronson, at the M. E. church in Lanesboro. They left on a wedding trip which will include New York and Washington.

Herrick Center – The closing exercises of the primary and grammar rooms of our school were held in the school auditorium, Thursday afternoon, April 9. A two-hour program of music, recitations, exercises and drills was rendered in a manner which reflected great credit on the teachers in charge. The High School will have another month and next year the whole school will have eight months. Our school is an institution of which every citizen should be proud. We have one of the best buildings in the county outside of Montrose, Susquehanna and Forest City. It contains a well-equipped library and laboratory, a large auditorium with stage and drop curtain, besides ample room in the basement for holding socials and for play room in stormy weather. We are very fortunate in retaining, for several years, a very efficient corps of teachers, under whose administration the standard of the school has steadily risen.

Clifford – O. T. Rounds, a superintendent of state highways, states his approval of Gov. Glynn’s edict to build state roads of brick. The theory is that although costing more at the start they will save in upkeep. Mr. Rounds believes they must have a concrete base to give the best service, however, and cites Carbondale’s experience with brick pavements where the concrete base was lacking. The street soon had a wavy appearance and was very unsatisfactory, having to be relaid. It pays to build them well.

Montrose – The small building owned by Lake, Roe & Co., used for housing their scales at the L. & M. Stock Yards, burned to the ground Tuesday night around nine o’clock. A car of stock had been loaded that afternoon, the men leaving at about five o’clock. The cause of the fire is not known. When discovered by neighbors the entire building was enveloped in flames and the roof nearly at the point of falling in.

News Brief: News was received on Wednesday that Harold Stark, an officer in the U. S. navy, has been ordered to Mexican waters on the battleship Massachusetts, leaving Hampton Roads, Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Stark is a son of Mrs. B. F. Stark, of Wilkes-Barre, and has relatives and friends in this vicinity. (Harold R. Stark was chief of Naval Operations (1939-1942) during WW 11. He was the son of Benjamin F. Stark, Wilkes-Barre, and Mary F. Warner Stark, formerly of Montrose).

I had an amazing history professor when I was in college – he was a gifted storyteller that weaved a tale that was mesmerizing and informative. He would simply walk into the classroom at the beginning of class and ask where he left off – then the story resumed. He knew small facts and trivia that helped to make his presentation come to life. As a student, you felt like you were not only learning history, but also getting to know the people who made it and why they did what they did. I took all the classes he taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels – he was primarily an expert in early American history through the period known as the Age of Jackson – and I even took him for a tutorial (a one on one class) dealing with President Jackson.

I remember one of his lectures about election days in early America – where candidates would come to polling places with wagons filled with liquor and food. The candidates would then use their “goods” to campaign for votes – and the polling place turned into a social party. I was thinking about that lecture recently when I received a letter from a reader seeking my reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision regarding individual campaign contributions – McCutcheon v. F.E.C.

We have come a long way in American politics. Today, people are contributing significant wealth in support of (or in opposition to) specific candidates – and people fear that the politicians are “selling” themselves to the highest bidder or that elections are now “bought” with money. The reader lamented that it “seems now like the candidates with the biggest donors win elections.” I am not sure whether this is true – it might simply be that the donors tend to flock to the most popular candidate – and for that reason the winner usually has more money and more donors than the loser.

The reader went further to question the “fairness” of a system that would allow wealthy donors to have such influence - and buy such influence with the politician. The reader expressed concern that the money would be used to “unfairly influence our vote through the use of political attack ads which toe a fine line between truth and fiction.” The reader wondered at the constitutionality of such influence peddling and politic prostituting.

As I read the letter, I was also reminded of Reagan’s famous quote about politics being the second oldest profession, but that he had learned that it “bears a striking resemblance to the first.” Given the years of failed attempts at regulations and restrictions on elections and political contributions, we have not come all that far from those early days when politicians were buying votes with bread and beer. After all, every regulation promises one thing – the immediate scheming by those restricted to get around it – either through legal or illegal means. What has campaign finance reform really accomplished – it has created PACs, bundling, interest groups, and other legal schemes concocted to comply with the letter of the law while eviscerating its spirit. Have we really accomplished much of anything by criminalizing political speech over the past several decades? Does the public now have greater confidence in the unadulterated purity of the electoral process in America?

In the end, transparency seems to be the most important part of any political speech – or political contributions. If George Soros or the Koch Brothers want to bet on a particular horse in a political race, then the public should know who they are backing and to what extent. If the public is aware of the significant political contributions made to a particular candidate by a wealthy donor, then the public can weigh whether or not that particular candidate has “sold” his integrity to the highest bidder. If the public decides to vote for the candidate despite the contributions, then that is how a democracy functions. If some voters never bother to educate themselves, then restrictions on campaign donations does not really cure that particular problem.

As to the constitutionality question raised by the reader, there is no easy way to answer it in a short column. To understand that majority opinion in the recent Supreme Court decision, it would probably be better to ask this question: In a free society that protects political speech under the First Amendment, what gives the government the right to restrict that cherished liberty? This is not to say that it cannot be restricted – and even after the recent Supreme Court decision – there remain substantial restrictions on political speech. Any such restrictions require compelling justification to support government repression of speech. Whenever you get into weighing government justifications for restricting fundamental rights, people are going to disagree – and generally they disagree strongly.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.