100 years ago in The Record
Monday, March 3, 1919
U.S. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker assures Troy mayor Cornelius F. Burns today that “Henry Ford can make preparations for his great projects in Troy irrespective of any action which may be taken by Congress at this time.” To be accurate, Ford’s great project is a truck production facility in Green Island, but it’s expected to create jobs for hundreds of Trojans. The automaker has been waiting for Congress to pass legislation granting him rights to water power generated by the federal dam on the Hudson River near the proposed site. Congress is scheduled to adjourn tomorrow and passage of the water bill seems unlikely. The Troy Chamber of Commerce calls on President Woodrow Wilson to use his influence to get the legislation passed before he returns to Europe. The Ford plant would “serve as nothing else would to solve employment problems and inspirit [the] community during the days to come, to which problem, we understand, you are now giving great concern,” the Chamber telegram reads. Mayor Burns is in Washington to meet with the President along with other mayors and governors to discuss employment issues. Securing water power for the Ford plant remains his top priority. The mayor tells The Record’s Washington correspondent that Secretary Baker is “doing everything possi- ble to push forward the water power bill so that immediate work would be found for a large number of unemployed.”
“I am particularly anxious to see this great Ford project started in Troy,” Baker himself says, “and I want to see it inaugurated quickly.
“There is no question of the wonderful resources in hydro- electric energy that can be made available in that part of New York. It will also mean that many thousands of men will be employed and that Troy as an industrial city will jump into the first class.”
Baker assures Burns that Congress adjourning tomorrow would only delay things a short time. “Should the bill fail now it is certain that it will be adopted next June, or earlier if the President should decided to call Congress in extra session sooner than he originally intended,” the mayor says.
Aldermen Hold Annual Banquet
While Fifth Ward alderman Mrs. Patrick J. Kennedy stays home, the male members of the Troy Common Council hold their annual banquet at the Rensselaer Hotel tonight.
Sixth Ward alderman Thomas P. Harrington is late to the party. Found at home with a sprained wrist, he’s brought to the gathering in a police paddy wagon. “Scandal ran riot in the southern section of the city,” our reporter jokes.