Omaha daily bee., 1888-10-18

man referred TO-, with the exception Of the
refnonstrauce named and having in mind the
assurance given me in behalf of the Knights
Of Labor 10 the effect that the bill was then
unobiectionable, | had became thorou uhly
convinced that those who had intended TO op-
pose my signing the bill had abandoned the
idea Of IL.
"An additional reason which induced me
TO approve the penitentiary contract bill was
this: III the present penitentlary contract
system was abrogated, the whole business of
purchasing the supplies required for sustain
ing and running the penitentiary must neces.
sarily be purchased by the officers of the
prison or agents of the state, or then the
board Of public lands and buildings which
board is already overwhelmed with its varied
duties and labors, which would render it im
possible for IL to look carefully after all the
details of this additional burden"
Throwing the purchase OF the vast amount
OF supplies necessary to that institution upon
individuals, there would be open wide field
for temptation and cupidity, aye, the widest
sphere for speculation, cheating and fraud,
Such has been the experience i'll other states,
where they have made the purchase for their
own prisons The convicts must labor and
IL the contract system is set aside the state
must work them it must purchase
all the machinery for that purpose, and here
Is another field open for cheating the state
III had desired TO form ring, and through
IL iHahe mOuey, WOuIu nave vetoed tne
prison bill, and then take the chances for
gain in the way have described; but I was
determined to prevent any such opportun-
ties for anyone.
"Under the present contract which was
extended, the state does not purchase a dol
lars worth for the prison The present con
tractor must supply everything for it's main
tenance. The feeding of the convicts, heat
ing and lighting, and the support and pay of
every officer and guard around the prison |
invn at fn1 hn InIa
oughly, and in my Judgment, the present one
is the least expensive ono that can be adopted.
THE PINKERToN MEN.
1.-THE charge has been made that failed to
do my duty because did not put the Pinker
ton men out of the state. The absurdity of
this charge will be apparent to every man
not demagogue, who considers this matter
in the light of reason and facts.
"The first intimatlon had of the Pinker-
ton men they were already in the state
They have been spoken of as military in
vaders, and l was called upon by a certain
editor to order the national guards and put
them out of the state. gentleman said in
public speech why don't the governor pitch
than over into the Missouri river What a
sublime spectacle that would have been the
the governor, with fork in hand, taking
these men by force down to the river and
pitching them into it, for the stream is pretty
wide and it is quite probable they would
have fallen short of the bank and landed in
the river!
"The bringing Of those men into the state
was as obnoxious to me as it was to others
and / so expressed myself to the railroad
company. l did not undertake to put them
for my doing so. l did not give any orders
to that effect for l am not in the habit of
giving an order when have no power to en-
orce it. Suppose had directed sheriff to
take those men over the river, do you sup
pose he would have executed it! He is under
heavy bonds, faithfully to perform his duty
according to law Ii a governor should order
sheriff to shoot man, | think he would be
very apt to ask the governor for his authority
for issuing such an order
1.-The constitution names the only condition
when the governor shall employ the militia
Of the state.
"Section IA, Article S, constitution of the
state of Nebraska provides as follows
The governor shall be commander in
chief Of the military and naval forces of the
state Except when they shall be called into
service Of the United States), and may call
out the same to execute the law suppress
inssurrection and rebel invasion
"Section -, chapter 81 OF the compil ed
statutes, provides as follows: "The Ne.
braska national guards, heretofore men
toned, shall be liable at all times to be
called into active service, and shall be first
called out by the cOmmander-in- chief on all
occasions for military services within the
state in time Of war, invasion, riot, rebel
lion, or reasonable apprehension thereof.
The above are the only provisions which
authorize the governor to call into active ser
vice the national guard of the state. There
was no riot, there was no rebellion, and
there was no invasien Of the state such as is
contemplated by the constitution, which
means an invasion by an armed military
force. No one has ever contended that there
was an insurrection, riot rebellion or inva-
sion. No one ever made report to me, no
one ever complained to me of the
Pinkerton men, either by letter or in person,
nor asked me to remove them; but some
complained through the newspapers
',Ou their arrival in the state some Of the
Pinkerton men, and possibly ALL were sworn
in as special policemen. This was done by
the mayor Of Plattsmouth. have been in
formed that the sheriff of Douglas county
made some of them deputy sheriffs.
"lf any citizen had reason to believe that
either OF them was exercising authority for
hidden by the statutes it was his duty at
once to enter a complaint before magis.
trate and have the case brought into court,
| where the question could be tested. 1t was
the duty OF such citizens to take this step
1t was not my duty to go into different
counties to ascertain whether any citizen
had made necessary complaint or not.
When such complaint was made it was
the duty of the county attorney TO prosecute
the case. And yet not one of these men who
were so much exercised over this matter
have entered a complaint in order to bring
the Pinkerton men to punishment, if they
were acting in violation of law But that
was not their purpose. They well knew
there was no riot, no rebellion, no insurrec-
tion no mob. They well knew that the gov
ernor had nothing to do with the limitations
Of prosecutions. They well knew that it
was the duty Of the aggrieved parties to
enter complaint, and that it was the duty
Of the prosecuting attorney, and that he was
the proper person to conduct the prosecution,
| But that course would not answer their pur-
pose of creating excitement and nhaming
| the prejudces and passions of men.
ut is my duty to take care in the Ian
guage of the constitution, that the laws be
faithfully executed l do not propose to
make myself a law-breaker."
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