A POLITICAL SCHOOL

Normal School, Cortland, N. Y.

The Cortland Democrat, Friday, March 13, 1896.

A POLITICAL SCHOOL.

   The state legislature is being sadly imposed upon. The trustees of the Normal school in this place are asking the state nearly every year for appropriations on the ground that it is an institution of learning, when in fact it is fast becoming an institution for the dissemination of republican politics of the rankest and meanest sort. It is high time that this institution should be classed for what it really is instead of what it is not. If it is to be a school where the principles of republican politics shall be taught the people ought to know it. Democrats will hardly be willing to send their sons to an institution of that sort, and then be taxed to pay for having them taught pernicious political doctrines. The people of all parties are paying liberally, yea, most generously to support the Normal schools of the state, but they will not be willing to pay to support schools that are being run in the interest of any political party.

   For the past year or more some of the professors of the Normal have acted the part of pernicious republican politicians and by so doing are causing an immense amount of just criticism. The school is being injured by their course and we do not believe the trustees countenance their action in any respect. The rankest of these political professors own no property here and pay no taxes and yet they assume to rule the town by virtue of their positions. If the trustees do their duty, they will grant these professors an indefinite leave of absence, so that they may be able to give their whole time to the dissemination of republican politics. A political priest is not a creature to be admired, but he is sometimes tolerated for a time in a community, because the people are not obliged to suffer under him for a great length of time.

THEY PROTEST.

Not Satisfied With The Result—The Normal Professors as Politicians.

   The board of trustees of the village met Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, in the office of village clerk Hatch, for the purpose of canvassing the vote of Tuesday’s charter election. As soon as the board was called to order, Prof. D. L. Bardwell of the Normal school arose and stated that he appeared in behalf of certain citizens of the third ward who desired to raise a question with regard to the returns in that ward. He said the law required that the name, street and number of every voter should be taken down by the poll clerk at the time he cast his vote. He also claimed that the Second ward had always cast a larger vote than the Third ward, but it was not so this year. There was a possibility that some of the voters whose street and number were not taken down were illegal voters in that ward and therefore the returns might be illegal.

   John Courtney, Jr., replied that the board could only canvass the returns as they appeared on the face and that they were simply acting in a ministerial capacity and could not alter the returns in any particular. He cited decisions of the court of appeals to sustain his position. The question raised by Prof. Bardwell was a judicial one and must be settled by the courts if at all. If the returns were defective on their face they could be returned to the inspectors for correction, but this board could only count and certify to the result as it appeared on the face of the returns. If a poll clerk had neglected to discharge his duty properly he could be punished but it would not affect the vote.

   E. C Alger, Esq., appeared soon afterwards and filed practically the same objections as did Prof. Bardwell.

   A short time afterwards Mr. Alger again appeared before the board on behalf of Prof. D. L. Bardwell’s committee and presented a lengthy protest to the board against declaring anyone elected at Tuesday’s election and asking for a new election. The protest contained eleven specifications and covered several pages charging illegality and fraud in the election.

   The board summoned Judge Knox before them and the questions raised were submitted to him. He decided that the board could only canvass the votes according to the face of the returns, but if there were any manifest mistakes they could return them to the inspectors for correction but that the board of trustees were only acting as a board of canvassers and could not change a vote.

   The hoard then proceeded to canvass the vote and the following were declared elected:

   For President—Henry F. Benton, Rep.

   For Trustees—

   Second Ward—E. J. Warfield, Rep.

   Fourth Ward—J. H. Wallace, Dem.

   For Police Justice—Enos E. Mellon, Ind. Rep.

   For Assessor—Burdette Howard, Dem.

   For Collector—Harrison H. Pudney, Dem.

   For Treasurer—Geo. V. Clark, Ind. Rep.

   For Inspectors of Election—

   First Ward—Fred McDowell, Oliver F. Allen, Laurence Mills.

   Second Ward—Day Baker, Joseph Ingalls, Arthur B. Nelson.

   Third Ward—Theo. Stevenson, Fred Kingsbury, John Lanan.

   Fourth Ward—Michael Burns, A. E. Hitchcock, Thos. H. Dowd.

Three Supervisors in Cuyler.

   Cuyler continues to hold the belt as being the greatest town meeting town in the state. The recent contest, in some respects, distanced all that had gone before. The disregard of law was so marked on the part of some of the leading politicians that constable Snell was compelled to resort to force, resulting in a bloody nose for one of the distinguished offenders.

   The number of ballots did not agree with the tally sheet, and several of them were spoiled by being improperly marked or written upon. Some of these ballots were counted in arriving at the result, and B. F. Lee declared elected supervisor by 2 majority. He immediately qualified.

   Probably the matter would have ended there but for the threatened prosecution of officer Snell for assault. Thinking that if the law was to be invoked in the matter at all it might as well look into the whole business, D. E. Benjamin, the opposing candidate, has also qualified as supervisor. The outcome cannot be prognosticated with any certainty.

   In the meantime supervisor W. G. Cardner, whose good service merited a unanimous nomination, retains the books and funds, ready to hand them over when he knows where they should go.—DeRuyter Gleaner.

COUNTY JUDGES.

Shall Their Salaries Be Raised—Are They not High Enough Now?

   On the 5th of last month Mr. Nixon of Chautauqua county introduced a bill in the assembly to regulate the salaries of county judges and surrogates in this state. In this bill section 222 of article twelve of Chap. 686 of the laws of 1892 is to be amended so as to read as follows:

   Section 222. The annual salaries of county judges and surrogates in the several counties, from and after the expiration of the respective terms of the present incumbents, are hereby fixed and established at the sums respectively set opposite the names of each county In the following schedules, to-wit:

   Then follows the name of every county in the state with the amount of salary each county is to pay these officials. It is a noticeable fact that the only counties in the state where the salaries are sought to be changed are the counties of Broome, Chemung and Cortland and these are all raised.

   The taxpayers of Cortland county are not particularly interested in the amount of salary the people of Broome and Chemung counties propose to pay their county judges but they are interested in the amount Mr. Nixon of Chautauqua proposes by his bill to have us pay the county judge of this county. When the salary of the county judge and surrogate of this county was raised from $1,000 to $2,500, the taxpayers of this county were very much surprised and annoyed. If Mr. Nixon’s bill is passed the salary of the county judge and surrogate of this county will be raised from $2,500 to $3,500 per year. Of course the raise will not take effect until after Judge Eggleston's term expires, but do the taxpayers think it ought to be raised under any circumstances? It is simply an outrage for Mr. Nixon to undertake to smuggle such a bill through when the people of this county are opposed to it.

   The only way to prevent the passage of the bill is for some one to circulate a petition asking the legislature not to change the salary in this county and no time should be lost. There is a very large darkey in this woodpile and he should be driven from cover. Chenango county with a population almost twice as large as Cortland, pays only $3,000.

FROM EVERYWHERE.

    Mrs. Daniel White of Gilbertsville is dead at the age of 101 years and five months.

   E. Prentiss Bailey, editor of the Utica Observer, has been appointed postmaster at Utica.

   A bill has been introduced at Albany, that all persons arrested twice for intoxication, shall be sent to the Keeley cure.

   Charles Hiscock, the new superintendent of the Onondaga Salt Springs, is turning out nearly all the Democrats holding places under him.

   Martin V. Strait, who killed his wife and a Mrs. Whitford at Elmira, has been granted a new trial. This means another big expense for taxpayers.

   Charles Calkins has bought the Peter Becker farm of 126 acres in the town of Spafford for $4,000. The same farm sold eighteen years ago for $9,000.

   The Lehigh Valley railroad is equipping its stations with a complete surgical outfit so that in case of accident on the road the injured can be treated without long delay. The equipment to enclosed in a small tin case about six inches long, eight wide and five deep. In the box are the following: "Two large rubber bands, six assorted muslin bandages, five yards sublimate gauze, twelve pieces of absorbent lint, one ounce of styptic cotton, one-fourth pound absorbent cotton, one bottle sublimate tablets, two ounces of bicarbonate of soda, four surgical needles, a pair of scissors, a pair of forceps, a bottle of carbolized silk, two ounces of green soap, a roll of adhesive plaster, a pyramid of pins and six safety pins.—Ithaca Journal.

HERE AND THERE.

   The young ladies of Homer give a leap year party in that place to-night.

   There will be a Good Time party held in Dryden in the Opera House this evening.

   The Loyal Circle of King's Daughters will meet with Mrs. A. M. Johnson, 54 North Main-st., Friday, March 13, 1896, at 2:30 P. M.

   The annual supply bill introduced in the assembly last Tuesday contained an item of $5,000 for improvements at the Normal school in this place.

   The annual banquet of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick will be held at the Cortland House in this village next Monday evening, March 16.

   There was lots of fun in the play entitled "A Green Goods Man," which was presented in the opera house last Saturday evening to a good audience.

   The well known and deservedly popular drama, entitled "Michael Strogoff," will be presented in the opera house in this village to-night. It is seldom that such an excellent drama comes to Cortland.

   The general term of the Supreme Court has just held that a loss by fire to property left unoccupied for a period of ten days, without the permission of the insurance companies, cannot be recovered from the company.

   The Watson company of this village placed a fine Red Scotch granite monument in the cemetery at Genoa, N. Y., on Tuesday of this week. It took six two-horse teams to deliver the work at that place.—Homer Republican.

   Prof. Geo. L. Burr of Cornell University, formerly of Cortland, has been invited by the Venezuelan boundary commission to assist the commission in its work as an historical expert. He has accepted and is now with the commission in Washington.

   Mr. S. H. Strowbridge, a member of the C. A. A., left Cortland for Oneida on Tuesday, where he will engage in the coal trade. About thirty members of the association gave him a banquet at the Brunswick on Monday evening. "Ham" is an old newspaper man and the DEMOCRAT wishes him all sorts of good luck. [Mr. Strowbridge was the last editor of the Cortland News and he apprenticed at the Cortland Democrat—CC editor.]

   Last Monday Charles E. Millen met with a painful accident while at work in the sizing department of the Cortland Harness and Carriage Goods Co. He was at work at a sizing machine and the machine becoming clogged, he undertook to clear the same by running a stick through it. The stick was thrown back and struck him on the face, breaking his jaw and cutting his face. He was taken to his home. No. 8 Cleveland-st. and his injuries cared for by a physician.

   The store of Chapman & Foley of this village was closed by the sheriff on Saturday afternoon last, on a judgment confessed to Mrs. Esther A. Hunt and Mrs. Carrie L. Chapman for nearly $3,500. The judgment is recovered on a note given by Chapman & Foley to the plaintiffs Oct. 15, 1894, in payment for the stock of merchandise bought of plaintiffs. The sale of the stock is advertised for next Wednesday.—Marathon Independent.

   For some time past an ordinary cigar box with the cover fastened down and a small hole in the top has found a home on a table in Firemen's hall. A legend on the top said to everybody "Drop in a nickel for the Cortland City hospital." The box was quite well patronized and became heavier day by day, but on Monday morning the box was missed. Some rascal had carried it off and the frequenters of the place were loud in their denunciations of the act. It turned out that Justice Bull had locked the box in his safe every night and left a duplicate box full of iron washers in its place over night. The thief took the duplicate and will have enough iron washers to last him a lifetime.