Andrew Jackson said, “Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth, can not be produced by human institutions, but every man is equally entitled to protection by law. When the laws undertake to make the rich man richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society have a right to complain of the injustice of their government.” And it is so with matters of taxation in Maine. Among the achievements of the Grange in bringing important questions to public hearing, a just distribution of the tax levy is most prominent.

50 Years Ago, 1955

If you think Christmas shopping with an armload of paper bags is hard, wait until you try carrying the purchases without the bags.

Things haven’t got this bad in the Twin Cities yet, but many merchants are having difficulty getting the bags they need during the busy Christmas season. Those hardest hit are the merchants who don’t use specially printed bags.

Every major wholesaler of paper bags in the Twin Cities reports a “definite shortage” of paper bags of all sizes. Some expect the shortage to ease up in January while others think the paper bags will be in short supply until March or later. Some wholesalers are receiving an allotment of a fraction of their usual orders, others have been cleaned right out but hope to have some bags by January.

25 Years Ago, 1980

Iran demanded that the United States deposit billions of dollars in “gold and confiscated wealth” in an Algerian bank before Iran will free the 52 American hostages, a top Iranian official was quoted as saying. In what could unblock the long negotiations for release of the Americans, the Iranian government sent the United States its “final reply” on the terms it seeks.

In Washington, the State Department said it had received Iran’s reply but described the negotiations as “difficult” and virtually ruled out hope the hostages would be homeward bound before Christmas.