St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-23

company; John V. Phalen, of the Brooch
man company. all of Chicago; G. W. Lopen,
of the Victoria Cordage company. and
Charles j. Jacobs, of Cincinnati; James
Thompson of Valley Falls; the Brockman
company; W. Allen, representing the A. II.
Hart Cordage company, and E. A. Hartshnor,
of the Cable Flax mills, New York.
The Trust, Itself.
Who are these gentlemen There is
nc doubt whatever they are, every one
of them, we'll able to talk about the cost
necessary to equip and run twine fac
tory, but are they the people upon whom
the prison managers of Minnesota
should have solely relied in the investi-
CATION they were ordered by the legisla-
ture to make, having Tor its end the es-
tablishment of twine factory at the
state prison? Would detective
officer go to an accused per-
son and ask for information
respecting the crime he was suspected
OF having committed? If he did he
would assuredly be thought fit for luna
tic asylum. While not in any wise hint
ing that the Investigating commission
have graduated for Rochester, truth de-
mands the statement that their action
was somewhat analogous to the detect
i've relying upon the accused person
for sole information of any crime. just
fancy! Two omen-repreSentative men
going to members of twine trust and
asking them for information to enable
them to start an OppoSition-for that is
the real sum and substance OF the
whole thing. 1t was against the inter-
eSts of the men interviewed to furnish
information which would have been IA
vOrable to the interviewers and led
them to report favorable to the intro
duction of a twine factory in the state
prison. The very fact of such factory
being started in Minnesota, il success
ful-as there is no reason to believe it
should not be-would mean the starting
of similar factories in other states.
Such thing would be disastrous to the
tWine trust and rui1ation of their
enormous profits. Is it any wonder,
then, that an adverse report was made?
The GLOBE refers to the action OF the
prison board merely to show the laXlty
with which this matter has been inves-
tigated. Cheap tWine would be an
enormous boon to the farmers OF the
state. and there is no reason why they
should not have it. 1t is possible if the
tWine can be manufactured in this
state. The manufacture of the twine
in the state prison would not interfere
with local labor; it would assist the
state in caring for the conVicts, the
Back of the Twine Trust
would be broken, and farmers would be
put in a way to meet the heavy mort
cages which are staring them in other
directions. The prison board was in
trusted to inaugurate the desirable re-
form. How they signally failed in their
first attempt is clearly demonstrated by
the decision to re-inveStigate the mat
ter.
Twelve months have been lost in in
augurating tWlne factory in Mime
sofa by the blunderlng incapacity which
has been shown to grasp the necessary
details for the establishment of such an
enterprise. But for the determined
efforts of the farmers, who readily saw
through the tlimsy preteXts thrown
up by the prison managers,
nothing more would have been
heard of this question. They
forced the hands of the executive, and,
in ordering a reinvestigation, Gov.
Merriam has administered decided re-
buke to the prison managers. Gov.
Merriam's inactivity, until he was
forced by the Farmers alliance, does
not rebound greatly to the so-called
business administration which we are
now said to be enjoying.