Not-so-good old days

On February 25, 1845, the Oxford Democrat ran this story:

Suicide — A gentleman by the name of James Hasty Esq. of Standish, recently committed suicide by hanging himself in his Chaise-House. He was a single man, aged about 50 or 60 years. He was in affluent circumstances, though afflicted with feat of want. It is supposed that the deed was done in a pet of mental alteration.

Having dealt straightforwardly with that tragedy, the paper's editor then slipped into one of the editorial news items that characterized journalism at that time:

At the February term of the District Court at Alfred, York County, true bills were found by the Grand Jury against R. W. Houghton, of Norway and Elisha Cole, of Hollis, for passing counterfeit money. It was decided by Judge Goodsnow, that the case did not come within the jurisdiction of that court and he ordered each of the above gentlemen to give bonds in the very small sum of $500, to appear before the Supreme Court in Alfred; and not finding bail they were committed. It seems to us that $500 bonds, in cases like these, is not sufficient.

We are aware however that either customs, or law, or both, makes this the usual sum. But considering the number, and aggravated nature of these offences, we do not think that $500 bonds are sufficient. They should be higher. The gang of counterfeiters aid their abutters in this county and around it and in Canada, they will afford to pay such bonds as these every month and then make more money than any other class of citizens to any lawful employment. We think, the bonds should be five thousand Dollars, and then if they were paid it would cost them something.

It is a truth which is rapidly gaining upon the public mind, that the business of counterfeiting, is rather encouraged, than suppressed by the law, or its mode of administration. The bonds are not high enough, and are often paid, and the culprit is let loose, to prey upon an unsuspecting community. Or what is worse by assistance of some of his companions in crime, is furnished with apparatus necessary to break jail, and in that way, Kilbreth like, escapes the penalties of Law.

It is high time for this State to wake up on this matter. We now stand charged with furnishing nearly all the counterfeiters, and jokiest of the counterfeit money, in the United states. It is a disgrace to us as a County and a State. We say let the people secure themselves with such laws, if they have not already, as will effectually and completely rid us of this blot upon our fair fame.

Of course, editorializing in a news column is today strictly prohibited, as viewers of Fox or MSNBC News is well aware.

As is our custom, we try to exactly reproduce the grammar, spelling, punctuation and style of the original. Commas might appear where least expected and remain absent where we’d expect them if the item was written nowadays. On the other hand, consistency was not considered of utmost importance, so variations of a spelling might appear within one story. In addition, some words were abbreviated differently than today. Where brief explanations of terms are considered necessary, they are presented in brackets [] within the quote. Otherwise, explanations appear at the beginning or at the conclusion, without quotes. Parenthesis () used in a quoted passage appeared in the original.