New Milford – The New Milford band has handsome new uniforms and wore them for the first time last Friday evening, when they gave a concert in front of the Carpenter House.  Landlord Carpenter served a splendid supper to the members of the band.  Also the 33rd reunion of Co. F, 141st Regiment, P. V., was held here.  There are 16 living members of the 96 who were mustered in on August 22, 1862.  One member of the company, Philander J. Bonner, of Thompson, died during the year.

Brooklyn – When a young man contemplates taking the most serious step in his life—that of getting married—it is the custom to make the night before the nuptial event a most joyous one with the assistance of his unmarried friends.  In most cases, practical jokes are played on the bridegroom-to-be on that particular night. Friends of Joseph Walsh, of Dunmore, planned such a night, but the adventure ended with the arrest of four young men from this city, near Montrose, for the larceny of Walsh’s automobile.  Walsh, with friends and neighbors of his, were celebrating the coming event on Monday night.  In some manner the quartet eluded the Dunmore man and, taking his Ford automobile, drove towards Montrose.  When near Brooklyn, a tire came off.  Next the party gave the tool box to a farmer and ended with making a present of the automobile to a farmer boy they met on the road.  A charge of disorderly conduct was placed against them by J. P. Davies, of Montrose.  They were given a hearing yesterday and Scranton parties appeared and paid their costs and took them home on the train.

Susquehanna – Susquehanna Grange, No. 74, dedicated its new hall on the 28th.  The event was a great success both socially and financially.  Dinner was served to about 200 and supper to 100.  A nice sum of money was realized from the sale, making a total profit of $105 to furnishing their hall.  A variety of articles remain to dispose of which will be sold at some future time.

Lanesboro – A barbecue will be the leading feature for the Lanesboro Fire Department’s picnic on Labor day.  A large ox will be roasted whole and served with the trimmings.  There will also be a tug-of-war, athletic contests, a parade and large delegations from around the county.

Gibson – The Universalist Fair was a grand success.  Friends and neighbors were very kind in many ways helping, sending flowers, patronizing the different booths, entertainment and dinner.  Over $100 will be cleared.  Pretty good for a small town like Gibson.

Fowler Hill – Mrs. John Wootton has gone with the Maxfield children to the Soldiers’ Orphan school, at Scotland, Pa., and will return Saturday.

Dimock – Several young people from here will attend the high school, at Montrose, this term, returning home on Friday nights of each week. [Room and board was offered to out-of-town students, who had no nearby high school and desired to further their education].

Howard Hill, Liberty Twp. – The lightning rod agents were busy in this vicinity.  No sales were made, however.  Also school at Rhiney Creek will open today, with Miss Jennie Webster as teacher. We wish her unlimited success.

Birchardville – The State road is being built through this place to the York State line.  Harry Cruse has taken the road from here to St. Josephs, and is building a good wide road.  Also Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Gary are on their way back to Walker, Iowa, after spending time with relatives here. [Dr. Gary posed as the farmer for the painting, “American Gothic,” by artist Grant Wood.]

Montrose – The management of the Fair, through the assistance of F. D. Morris, of the Rexall Drug Store, has secured Mr. L. D. Willis, one of the crack-shots of the world, to give an exhibition.  Mr. Willis is a wonderful performer with the rifle and shot gun, some of the feats being lighting a match with a shot, shooting pennies in the air, causing a shower of tomatoes from a shot from his gun, and cutting a card in two when held edgeways from a man’s hand.  A more extended notice will be given next week.

Elk Lake – Born, to merchant and Mrs. E. E. Stevens, August 22, 1915, a daughter, Marian Clare Stevens.

Forest City – Patrick McCormick died in a hospital at Allentown in his 85th year.  Deceased was born in Ireland and in infancy removed to England with his parents, and when 12 years of age came to America where the family located in Dunmore.  He was enlisted in the Union service in 1862 and remained at the front until the close of the war.  He was an early settler of Forest city and resided here for more than two decades, where he was well and favorably known.  The remains were brought to the home of his daughter Mrs. James McCabe, of Vandling, and the funeral was held from St. Agnes church, Forest City. Also Timothy Connelly, of Percy, Ill., arrived here Friday evening for a short visit.  He states that Percy is a mining town with but little business being done.  The Forest City colony there is thriving.

Clifford – Former County Commissioner T. W. Atkinson, of this place, is in his 85th year, but sprightly and active a man nevertheless.  “Uncle Tommy” came from England in 1849 and since that time has resided here or in the immediate vicinity.  He failed to become naturalized in time to vote for Fremont, but his first vote was cast for Lincoln, and he has voted for every Republican president since. 

Heart Lake – About 50 veterans, their wives, and a number of sons and daughters, attended the annual encampment here.  Commander M. H. VanScoten was re-elected, although against his protest, but the “boys” would not have it otherwise. David F. Gaston, a native of Alabama, gave a stirring address, giving the Southern viewpoint of the war, which was heartily enjoyed by all.  Mr. Gaston’s father and four uncles were “on the other side,” and two uncles lost their lives for the Southern cause.

Hop Bottom – The Ladies Equal Suffrage club held a bake sale in Loomis Hall on Wednesday of last week and over $7 was realized to defray expenses.  Mrs. Maxwell Chapman and Miss Walford, an English Suffragette, gave addresses in the open and drew attentive listeners. 

Middletown Center – Miss Blodwin Jones is attending school at Montrose.

News Briefs: An exchange says that a nearby editor threatened to publish the name of a certain young man who was seen hugging and kissing a girl in the park unless his subscription was paid in a week.  Fifty-nine men called and paid up nest day, while six paid a year in advance. Also the ship-building industry along the Delaware has developed so fast during the past year that Philadelphia is today the greatest ship building center in the United States and is a close rival for world honors.

Last year, I wrote a column regarding civil forfeiture proceedings – a tool that prosecutors use to take (forfeit) property used by drug dealers and other criminals.  Generally speaking, civil forfeiture is most commonly seen in the realm of drug dealers and controlled substances.  For instance, several years ago, Susquehanna County received a BMW which was forfeited and taken from a drug dealer in a multi-state methamphetamine distribution ring – the Susquehanna County Drug Task Force assisted the Drug Enforcement Agency with the investigation.  As a result of that cooperation, we received a “share” from the drug dealer’s forfeited property, i.e., the BMW.  We later sold the car and put the proceeds into an account that we use to assist in funding drug investigations.

When I wrote the column last year, the Commonwealth Court was considering a forfeiture case out of Philadelphia County.  Elizabeth Young, a 69-year old widow, owned a home in west Philadelphia valued at $54,000. Ms. Young also owned 1997 Chevrolet Venture minivan, which obviously had little monetary value.  Ms. Young was also had some health issues that caused her some physical limitations.  Unfortunately for her, Ms. Young also had a son who was a drug dealer – and he was using her home and her minivan in his drug dealing activities. The police notified Ms. Young that her son was up to no good – using her house and car for selling marijuana – and Ms. Young allegedly did not curtail or stop her adult son’s illegal behavior. When her son was arrested, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office moved to forfeit Ms. Young’s house and minivan – and the lower court granted the request. Ms. Young lost her house and car because of her son’s illegal conduct – and her failure to take any steps to disassociate her assets from the drug activities.

On appeal, the Commonwealth Court reversed the lower court’s forfeiture order.  First, the Commonwealth Court rejected the concept that the elderly mother had not done enough to stop the drug trafficking.  In particular, the Commonwealth Court opined: “Parents cannot choose their children.  It was not realistic for the trial court to hold that the only way [the mother] could show a lack of consent [to the drug dealing] was to evict her son.  This is particularly so where [the mother], who had serious physical problems, relied upon [her son’s] assistance and where there were grandchildren living there.”  In other words, the Commonwealth argued that Young’s failure to intervene and prevent her adult son from dealing drugs in her house (or minivan) supported the determination that she was allowing her property to be used for drug sales.  For the appellate court, the mere failure to throw her son out of the house – given her individual circumstances – was not enough to legal impute her consent to the use of her home (and car) to sell controlled substances.

Moreover, the Commonwealth Court likewise expressed some reservation regarding a potential Eighth Amendment violation.  In addition to protecting against “cruel and unusual punishment,” the Eighth Amendment also prohibits the imposing of “excessive fines,” which has been interpreted to limit the ability to forfeit property where the forfeiture would be grossly disproportionate to the crime committed.  The Court considered the nature of the criminal offense, the illegal sale of small amounts of marijuana on three occasions, against the loss of the mother’s personal residence.  In this regard, the Court expressed some grave reservation relating to the loss of an elderly mother’s personal residence based upon three small-level marijuana sales by her wayward son – the record disclosed three sales totaling only $90.  The idea that this 69-year old woman, in poor health, should lose her home that she had lived in since the 1970s based upon three small drug transactions by her adult son was clearly a hard pill to swallow.

The Commonwealth Court never made a final decision – it simply noted the errors that the trial court had made – and it directed that the case be sent back for further consideration.  Of course, the Commonwealth Court’s opinion contained very strong and “suggestive” language as to what the lower court should do with the case on the remand.  Before it gets to that point, however, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case – and whatever the result, it promises to be an important decision in the realm of drug forfeiture law.

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.

“The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.”  ~Ralph W. Sockman

As school starts, and cooler weather has decided to approach a lot faster than we’d like to admit, there is no time like the present to increase the amount of quality time spent reading bedtime stories with your little ones.

Approximately one year ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement saying that all pediatric primary care should include literacy promotion, starting at birth. Perhaps your pediatrician has already started the practice of advising parents about how important it is to read to even the youngest of children. There has been extensive research on the links between growing up with books, mastering reading aloud, and ultimately, language development and success in school. Any Parent/Grandparent knows that only good can come from reading to a young child. Two new recent studies have delved deeper into the unexpected complex interactions that can happen when you snuggle a small child into your lap and open a picture book.

Without going into a whole lot of medical mumbo-jumbo, studies of brain activity in 3 to 5 yr. old children have been conclusive --suffice it to say that there are significant differences in brain activation depending on how much the children have been read to within the home. Increasing the amount of books that are read at home results not only in a significantly greater brain activation, but helps with visual stimulation, and multisensory integration (Combining sight, sound, etc.) This only progresses as the child grows older.

When Children hear stories, whether they can see illustrations or not, their imagination is increased as well and they are able to equate their experiences to those within the pages of the book and will help them develop skills in making images and stories out of words in the future. For example, the reader says “The brown dog jumped over the fence”—the child knows the color brown, loves dogs and knows they have a fence in front of their house, therefore getting a visual image within their mind of what is going on in the story and why. As they get older it will also help them in the transition to books without illustrations and ultimately become better readers because they have helped to develop the part of the brain that helps them “See” what is going on within a story.

Reading to your favorite youngster also widens their vocabulary and helps the child create sentences and to discover rhymes. In the months ahead, make time for this essential mix of security, comfort, and ritual—and by all means, make a note in your busy schedule to visit your local Library Location and see what new and exciting titles are just waiting on the shelves for the young and young at heart to check out and enjoy together. It doesn’t get any better than that.

An exciting raffle is presently going on at the Susquehanna Library Location. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of our Friends at Kensington Publishing in New York, one lucky person will win a waterproof beach bag stuffed to the zipper with eighteen newly released cozy mysteries and more. Authors include Maya Corrigan, Rose Pressey, Karen Rose Smith, Carol J. Perry, Sherry Harris, Annelise Ryan, Mollie Cox Bryan(Scrapbooking/Cumberland Creek Mysteries), Alyssa Maxwell, Lynn Cahoon, Anna Loan-Wilsey, for the dog-lover in all of us, Laurien Berenson, and some of my favorite writers; Mary Marks (Quilting Mysteries), Leslie Meier (The Lucy Stone Mysteries), and Isis Crawford (Mysteries featuring the dynamic Sisterly duo of Bernie and Libby Simmons). Perhaps you’ve heard of some of them, but I can guarantee that you’ll be looking for more of their works in the future. Some Authors are presently on your local Library Locations shelves, some are not, but I bet that can be rectified with a request. Raffle Tickets are Availabe. The winner will be chosen on September 11th. You can’t win if you don’t play, so stop by the Susquehanna Library Location today!

Speaking of raffles, many folks purchased chances, hoping to win the lovely “Blueberry Patch” quilt, which was machine pieced by the “Stitch in Time” Quilt Club and machine quilted by Molly Lyon of “Distinctive Quilting. The lucky winner is Teddy Cameron and we wish her many warm, snuggly nights with her quilt and hope she will visit the Blueberry Festival again next year.

“A cross-eyed teacher can keep twice the number of children in order than any other, because the pupils do not know who she's looking at. “ ~Four Hundred Laughs: Or, Fun Without Vulgarity, compiled and edited by John R. Kemble, 1902

Backpacks –New Teacher—A Blank Tablet

Have a Wonderful School Year!!

While America slept her form of government underwent a massive--sometimes fast, sometimes gradual--deformation. The government we live under today would be unrecognizable by the Framers of her Constitution. What began as a Constitutional Republic consisting of Sovereign States is day by day morphing into a national socialist democracy guided by central planners obsessed with power and control.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, a constitutional republic has foundational principles which are inviolate no matter the fleeting fashion or fancy of the electoral majority. Our constitutional republic is unique in that it clearly limits the powers of the federal and state governments, and reserves those powers not specifically appointed, to “the people.” Our constitution provided guarantees in the Bill of Rights to ensure the newly created federal government did not evolve into tyranny. Separation of powers within the legislative branch, as well as among the three branches of government, was designed to further guard against encroachments upon liberty. All of these safeguards were thoughtfully integrated into the foundational document because of the Framers’ understanding of man’s nature--his propensity to dominate others to their detriment and to his own advantage.

The citizens of the Sovereign States jealously guarded their individual cultures and customs, but realized that innumerable benefits would accrue to them through provision for a common defense, unimpeded trade, and a common monetary system. So with those, among other objectives in mind, the Framers designed the U.S. Constitution to promote the contractual society. Constitutional provisions include: states forbidden to impair contract obligations; no express power granted to the Federal government to deal with contracts; and real and personal property--the fruits of contracts--were specifically protected.

There can be no doubt that these and other provisions which protect a “contractual society” do so by protecting the medium of exchange, i.e., fiduciary media. The “coinage clause” found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gave to Congress (the Legislative Branch) the power “to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and to fix the standard of weights and measures.” To make a long story short, “The Federalist” commentary and the logic of construction indicate that the power to coin money and regulate its value was limited to guaranteeing of the weight and fineness of coins in circulation. The minting of coins at a government mint was considered to be an anti-fraud measure likely to promote safer contractual exchange.

The new Federal government exercised its authority under this provision to pass “The Mintage Act of 1792,” which established the “dollar” unit as containing 371.25 grains pure silver or 416 grains of standard (.89224) silver; with the pure gold dollar weight equivalent fixed at 24.75 grains. The Mintage Act of 1792 was subsequently amended, notably in 1837, 1873, and 1878. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 declared the gold dollar consisting of 25.8 grains of .900 fineness to be “the standard unit of value.”

So just how many gold and silver coins were you paid last week? I’ll venture to guess that you received exactly the same number as I, none! How is it that neither gold nor silver coins circulate any more, and what are the implications of this sad state? “The Creature from Jekyll Island,” by G. Edward Griffin provides the answers in a superb who-done-it style. Anyone and everyone who handles paper (fiat) money, and has an interest in the restoration of honest money and constitutional republicanism, should have first-hand knowledge of this book.

As to why we are no longer paid in “money of account,” i.e., gold and silver coins, major events in 1913, 1933, and 1968 are points of reference. By the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 Congress relinquished--in an unconstitutional act--its constitutional power and duty “to coin money and regulate the value thereof.” To the newly created Federal Reserve System, a private and non-taxable banking cartel it granted the right to print “money stock”--Federal Reserve Notes. The cartel performs this function under a quasi-governmental institution guise, though making a guaranteed profit by lending newly printed Federal Reserve Notes at interest back to the Federal Government‘s Treasury. To ensure the Federal Government could pay the interest to the Federal Reserve state legislatures had already been persuaded to pass the 16th amendment, which of course authorized “The Congress . . . to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to census or enumeration.” The curse of the Federal Reserve arrived with the IRS in tow. And in 1914 the Federal Reserve began issuing Federal Reserve Notes to circulate side-by-side with gold and silver coins and gold and silver certificates redeemable in gold and silver.

By 1933 Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) had been circulating for 20 years and were generally accepted as money. In April 1933 newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued his infamous Executive Order 6102, making it illegal by edict to possess more than $100 in gold coin or Gold Certificates. Gold was essentially demonetized domestically. What’s interesting is that 1928 FRNs (issued before FDR’s edict) include the following wording, “REDEEMABLE IN GOLD ON DEMAND AT THE UNITED STATES TREASURY OR IN GOLD OR LAWFUL MONEY AT ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.” On Series 1934 FRNs the wording was changed to read, “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, AND IS REDEEMABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY AT THE UNITED STATES TREASURY, OR AT ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.”

Obviously, the Series 1934 FRN is legal tender, but NOT “lawful money” itself. Since gold had already been withdrawn from circulation, the only conclusion as to what then constituted “lawful money” is that silver coins were used for redemption. In 1934 a silver dollar coin contained .773 ounces of silver. Subsidiary silver coinage, i.e., dimes, quarters, and half dollars added together to make $1 only amounted to .715 ounces of silver. The last day Silver Certificates were redeemable in silver was Monday, June 24, 1968. By the early 1970s, silver had virtually disappeared from circulation as a medium of exchange.

Starting with Series 1963, the promise of redemption vanished from the face of each FRN. The now shortened inscription reads, THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.” We continue to accept FRNs out of misplaced confidence in FRNs. It is interesting, is it not, that all coins and Federal Reserve Notes are legal tender and money, but present United States statutes do not intelligibly define the noun “dollar.”

As best I can make out from my study of the matter a “dollar” is a FLEXIBLE unit of indefinable debt. The major effect of this confusion is that no person can make any contractual agreement with certainty as to the fair exchange of goods and services contemplated. You see, the natural effect of using gold and silver coins of defined weights and fineness necessarily places limits on the amount of money in circulation; paper money imposes no such restriction. Because there are no limits on the production of such money, those in a position to inflate the money supply do so to their own advantage. They and their inner circle have primary access to the newly-created money, the key factor in its value (before the marketplace comprehends the extent of money-stock increase). When the money supply is thus diluted, the purchasing power of each “dollar” shrinks in inverse proportion to the number of “dollars” printed. Every contractual agreement is thereby distorted, while the individual property rights of those engaged in otherwise voluntary transactions are diminished. Essentially our Federal government in cahoots with the banking cartel (Federal Reserve) is running a sophisticated “coin-clipping” operation to the detriment of the 99%.

To bring this discussion back to the opening paragraphs, debasement of the money supply necessarily and always destroys constitutional liberty unless the process is reversed and honest money restored. You see, the natural limits of the republic’s precious metal supply serves as a natural brake on government’s growth and intervention into the lives of its citizens. In 1900 the Federal Government had very little to do with most people; it was truly a limited government. It delivered the mail, provided for national defense, regulated the railroads, and took care of veterans and their widows. Under a government of such limited scope most people relied on family, neighbors, and their local government. Today the Federal Government is ubiquitous in every facet of life.

The Federal Reserve Act and Income Tax made United States entry into World War I feasible; without it we could not have afforded to finance loans to both sides and intervened on the side of the Allies. Without American intervention its likely Europe’s war would have ended months, if not years earlier, with both sides having to compromise to come to a fair peace. Some might think that speculative, but it is a thoughtful view advanced by many more knowledgeable than I. Had a fair settlement come out of WWI there may have been no WWII.

Paper money fuels the modern welfare/warfare state. The effects of paper money are to inspire those in positions of power to devise schemes that funnel “dollars” to their favored constituencies. The War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, Federal intervention and subsidies on behalf of housing, education, roads, EPA projects, defense boondoggles, foreign aid, and programs virtually innumerable have arisen out of the unlimited printing regime that has held our government captive. I assert that these programs are created and supported by limitless money printing--not under capitalism, for capitalism presumes an honest money system--but under that of a national socialist democracy.

Democracy is by definition a majoritarian system. A democracy can be simply boiled down to a majority of two neighbors voting to raising the taxes of their third neighbor; or some majority of voters electing candidates who promise to raise the taxes on (take “dollars” from) some disfavored group to funnel them to the victorious majority through a government program. Honest money is commodity money, gold and silver coin of defined weight and fineness. Limitation of the precious metals makes for limitation upon government and the authorities who would abuse unlimited power.

But unlimited paper money creates even worse abuses than insane government programs. Fiat money, whether printed or digitized, is always injected into the nation’s economy. Where is it injected? Why into the banks, of course! Think of J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. Those five banks control over half of the nation’s deposits. The money injected into these banks by the Federal Reserve is at zero percent interest. They in turn loan the money back to the Federal Government at interest or just gamble with it in the casino we have come to know as the stock market. Not only that, the banks use the money themselves or loan it to the largest of companies to buy out smaller businesses who cannot obtain largess available to the “big boys.” It’s a leveraged buy-out going on throughout America. While President Obama decries the income disparity between the richest and the poorest, Federal Government policies and cheap money (cheap to the favored class) continue to impoverish everyday Americans.

I use the term “national socialist democracy” because it denotes characteristics of three systems widely misunderstood. Democracy as already discussed uses the mechanism of majoritarianism to gain, consolidate, and maintain power, as well as all the elitist advantages power can offer. “Socialism” is the soft term for “equality of poverty” by dividing society along class lines. “National socialism” characterizes the fascistic quality of dividing society vertically along lines of extrinsic characteristics including race and gender, ethnicity, and language. Operationally America is already immersed in socialism and national socialism fueled by unlimited fiat money commanding collective corruption.

There’s more, much, much more which could be said on this topic, but understand this paper is poverty; every paper money system ends the same way--in utter and total collapse. What brings on collapse is typically hyper-inflation or a short deflation followed by hyper-inflation. Those economic distortions are invariably brought on by government policies which have distorted real price discovery through the supply-and-demand mechanism of free-market capitalism. The end-result is always the same: suffering, famine, unemployment, expropriation of private property, debasement of morals, and empowerment of tyranny. Our Founders and the Framers of our Constitution wisely chose for us true capitalism and constitutional republicanism with a level of sagacity unmatched today. Abolish the Federal Reserve System and IRS, restore commodity money, and confine the Federal government to performance of its constitutionally-mandated duties; these are necessary steps for the restoration of Virtue and Liberty in America.

A number of economists and other experts do not accept that our economy is “alright;” they warn that the situation is very serious, even grave. The global economic system is already tottering on the brink of collapse; there are wars and rumors of wars. Are you prepared to weather what may overtake us while America slept?

Credit is due to those on whose shoulders I stand when writing this commentary: G. Edward Griffin, Ron Paul; Edwin Vieira, Jr.; Merrill M.E. Jenkins Sr. M.R.; John A. Sparks; Ralph T. Foster; Ludwig von Mises; Daniel James Sanchez; and Detlev S. Schlichter. I could not have written this commentary without the genius of their previous scholarship to shape my thoughts.