The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-08-21
THE THYME QUESTION AGAIN.

THE TWINE QUESTION AGAIN..
The little Republican country pa
Ders seldom come within the purview
of our vision. Life is too short and
time too precious to waste either in
the perusal of the dishonest trash
which constitutes the chief burden Of
their unreasonable songs. But friends
occasionally send us marked copies Of
these little inefficiencies, and we per-
ceive that the minute souls OF them
are dreadfully distressed over the
fact that The REPRESENTATIVE sold
this summer vast amount Of bind
ing Irvine at and cents pound for
which otherwise its patrons would
have had to pay 6, 7, 8 Or 10 cents a
pound. We have saved the readers Of
this paper about $4,000 directly; and,
indirectly, by lessening the exactions
of the dealers in Irvine, we have prob
ably saved the farmers of this entire
region 100000. Aud this is regarded,
by the hireling howlers and prevarica-
tors and misleaders of those who sup
port them, as horrible offence; prob
ably for the reason that during their
whole worthless lives they have never
saved the people six pence; but have
stuck them for everything in sight,
and defended every rascality which
robbed them.
But it is little amusing to witness
all this historical Republican devo-
tion to the Saltwater prison Irvine
factory in view of the fact that the
whole scheme was forced down the
Threats of the Repu blican me mbers
of the Legislature by the Alliance,
aided by some honest Democrats.
Turn for instance, to the Journal OF
the Senate for the session of 1891, page
l5S, and we find the following record:
"Mr. Crandall. Republican, Steele
county, offered the following resolu-
ton:
Whereas it is currently reported
that the inspectors of the State Pris-
on at Saltwater have expended over
$4,000 in the purchase Of material
and machinery for the purpose of ex-
perimenting in the manufacture Of
binding Irvine, and tbs believed that
considerable additional expenditure
is contemplated; and
"Whereas. his Senate vieacs aUith pro
found distrust all such speculative and e1-
ceedingty hazardous expenditures of the
| money tUrung by t0rdtion from the scanty
earnings of the people; therefore
Resolved, That the said inspectors
no rnnnnctn6 fO low hp no 70
at the earliest day possible, a state
ment of the reasons which prompted
them to engage in such an undertake
ing; the names of the parties urging
such action, and full statement of
the money so expended, and of their
Intentions relative to future eXpendi-
lures in this line; as we'll as of their IN
diUiduat opinions, and reasons therefor, re-
l0tiCe to the ,cisdon of such expenditures,
and the probability of their being
able to successfully and profitably
manufacture good Irvine in the pris-
on, so as to supply the farmers of the
state in competition with the other
manufacturers"
This resolution was part of con.
certed assault upon the Irvine fac
tory which had been established by
the previous Legislature. The State
Prison Board. the same leeches who
are now in Office, were hostile to the
project then as they are now; and it
was proposed to give them chance to
air their reasons why it must prove a
failure. They had. as Hamlin V.
Poore showed the other day. done all
they could to prevent the 1nanufac-
ture OF. Irvine in the prison, declaring
that it would cost a million dollars to
buy the machinery; and then when
forced into the business by the ALI
ance, they bought machinery that
would make Irvine that could not
compete with the output of the Irvine
trust.
Then followed another resolution.
"Res olved, That the Secretary of
the Senate inform the Prison Inspec-
tors of this action of the Senate "
This was to give them an excuse to
stop at once all manufacture OF
Irvine.
Senator Craig. (Dem, of Waseca
county, moved that the resolution be
referred to the committee on State
Prison. That was equivalent to kill
ing it, for that committee had an AL
lance Senator, L. G. Wood, for chair
man, and was favorable to the manu-.
facture of Irvine by the, convicts .\The
motion prevailed, yeas % nays 10. The
| yeas consisted of II Alliance Senators,
10 Democrats, l Independent and !
Republicans. or the nineteen mega.
tive votes, (votes in favor of the reso-
lution), seventeen we're Republicans,
one an Alliance man and one Demo
GRAFT.
Fortunately this was the year the
Alliance held the balance of power, in
both Houses, or the Irvine manufac.
ture would have been killed then.
And now the little whipper-snap-
pers of the Republican country press
are bowling their Threats sore in de.
fence of an institution their party
| tried to smash in 1891!
The Alliance secured the establish.
ment of the Irvine plant in 1889, in or.
der to obtain lower prices for Irvine.
They did not suppose the state would
ask them to pay and cents pound
for Irvine others would sell for and
s. It was to be benefit to the farm
err, not robbery.
I With labor, shops, power, light, heat
and machinery all furnished free OF
COST the State Prison plant should
defy all competition. When it does
not Something is wrong. And when