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Newspaper
Freeport Journal
Location
Freeport, Illinois, United States of America
Date
Mar 09, 1881
Page
2
On Friday evening March 11 1881 at 430 pm the Freeport Republican Club will convene at R H Wiles office with B T Buckley as president.
President Garfield in his inaugural speech praises the republic’s war record and asserts the permanent settlement of the slavery question. He champions national unity, education, and the rise of citizenship for freedmen while predicting four years of goodwill and prosperity under his leadership.
The calendar of the last Congress resembled an empty nests full of shells with no use. There were 1,500 bills in unfinished business at its expiration, many personal claims and lacking public merit. The country loses nothing by the failure of this class of legislation.
At a special session President Garfield urged senators to serve until successors qualified, which would be several days away. The sole business was a request by national banks to redeposit bonds withdrawn and reclaim legal tenders for retirement of circulation, but no decision was reached.
The editorial profession is represented by two members in the new Cabinet Blaine and James. Five are lawyers Windom Tunt Kirkwood Lincoln and MacVeagh, but only the two latter were practicing at appointment. Ex teachers are Garfield Blaine Windom and Kirkwood. Three of seven never attended college except as visitors Windom Kirkwood and James.
The special Baltimore and Potomac Railroad train carrying ex-President Wayes and party struck two locomotives on a curve near Severn Station fifteen miles from Baltimore. All three engines ran at forty miles per hour and caused a severe wreck. Two Pullman coaches telescoped and several cars derailed. May J Wayne Young of Shamokin Pa and John Oliver baggage master were killed. sixteen injured. Wayes party thrown from seats but uninjured.
President Suyes nominees not acted on by the Senate include Stanley Matthews for Associate Justice and Edward C. Billings for Circuit Court judge. The unacted list spans United States Attorneys Marshals Consuls Surveyors General Collectors and internal revenue officers plus Navy and Army promotions as Hayes fell.
Hon J C Bancroft Davis of New York ex US Minister to Berlin and current member of the US Court of Claims has been appointed Assistant Secretary of State under Mr Blaine and accepted the post He previously held the same position under Hamilton Fish during Grant s administration
A severe earthquake struck Ischia in the Mediterranean. In one village three hundred houses were leveled and thirteen in another. Over 200 people were killed and many injured. Dead bodies were recovered in one town where streets fissured up to twenty inches wide.
The House considered an apportionment bill with options 322 319 315 and 307. The caucus chosen 319 was adopted 136 to 129 with one Republican voting no. The final passage stood 145 to 113, shifting seats: North loses 3 and gains 16, while the South gains 13.
President Garfield Saturday afternoon sent to the Senate the list of his Cabinet appointments including Secretary of State James G Blaine Secretary of the Treasury William Windom Secretary of War Robert T Lincoln Secretary of Navy William M Hunt Secretary of Interior Samuel J Nick wood Postmaster General J L James Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh. The appointments were confirmed without opposition on Monday.
The Charleston jury did not convict a Southern gentleman charged with murder despite the judge’s solemn instruction. Several jurors refused to condemn him, leaving no verdict. The trial’s moral impact is seen as positive, signaling opposition to the barbarous habit of dueling within the Secessionist era.
Randall retires from the Speaker’s chair after a long tenure with warm thanks to House members. He recalls Democratic control in 1874 and 2024 adjournment, praising economic recovery, debt refund efforts, and restored prosperity while urging members to return home safely.
It is certain that many changes will be made by the Cabinet in the higher offices of their departments, and there is trembling in consequence.
The address is brief yet solid and strong with a clear review of 100 years of progress since the Articles of Confederation. It emphasizes national supremacy of laws, declares a frontward turn, and commends Lincoln era emancipation policy while noting Garfield’s potential to enact wise policy and gain public trust.
The article cites Senator West of Missouri arguing that no Democratic state has a prohibitory liquor law and that Democrats repeal such statutes. it notes Gov. Seymour’s veto as key to defeating New York’s first prohibitory law and claims opposition to sumptuary laws has strengthened Democratic gains, including Maine in 1879.
Washington dispatch recalls 1881 reception of James A. Garfield with calm amid violence in contrast to 1861 when Lincoln faced a hostile mob. The narrative describes crowds at Harrisburg and Baltimore, mistaken identities, and the peril surrounding Lincoln’s transport to Washington, contrasting with today’s orderly homage.
A long anxious journey ends as General Garfield arrives with family for his presidential inauguration. Crowds fill Washington streets amid festive decorations and parades while Congress ends its session with mixed legacy. The nation projects confidence in the new administration and a brighter future.
A Philadelphia Record commentary argues for John I Mitchell of Tioga County as a practical, steady choice to end the Harrisburg deadlock and serve in the U.S. Senate, while dispatches from Monmouth to La Crosse detail a sweeping winter storm paralyzing rail lines, delaying mail and commerce across multiple states.
A Baltimore collision at Severn Station on the Baltimore and Potomac road between the northbound fast train from Washington and a southbound empty-railcar train killed J Young of Shamokin and an engine baggage master John Oliver. Ex president Hayes and family survived. Hayes assisted the wounded. Engineer Unglaub was badly injured but alive with care from bystanders including Mrs Hayes. A special train carried Hayes and party to Baltimore by 5 p.m.
A traveler met a pioneer carving a fallen trunk as Dakota divides and Pembina forms. After fruitless questions, the pioneer finally quips that the climate is harsh, saying the land has nine months of winter and three months of fall, leaving little else to advise.
United States CT court suit by Cranston Center Fire Cartridge Co seeks damages and a ruling on a method of fixing printing in a metallic cartridge shell. The patent, long dormant after a ten year pause, alleges the government produced 70,000,000 cartridges in violation of the patent, with damages claimed near $500,000.
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