The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-07

ands1egitimate direction of your body,
made in exercise of it's legal powers.
That is what you should do. 1t is what
you will do if you have any backbone.
1t is what you Will do if you have the
manliness to resent the severest snub
their insoIence has yet administered TO
your body. Will you do it?
THE SCHEME TO NULLIFY THE IN
YESTIGATION.
The professed willingness and even
anxiety of the management of the Still
water prison for free, full and falr
investigation of the charges against
that institution is very Thoroughly
shown I'D by the revelation of its plan
for multiplying the whole inquiry ana
making farce of it, if possible. That
this will not be carried through we
think we are able to announce, because
the committee appointed is not prepar-
ed to act as the cat spaw and Wlelder
of the whitewash brush for the men
now arraigned before the bar OF pup
lie opinion. and because the G.
proposes to let a little light IN upon
this subject. Warden Wolfer and MS
deputy displayed a most uncommon
anxiety and protested with WONDERFUL
feryor that what they wanted was an
investigation that would go to the Dol
tom of all facts. Repeating this an
nouncement for public effect, they ar
ranged carefully with the governor Tor
a line of action which, if carried out,
could reach no other end than to eX-
clude practically all the testimony OF
any value, and prevent formal al
firmation of the charges against them
from going upon the record. Let us
see how this was to be done.
When the commission was appointed
the public learned that, through the
exertions of the Saltwater people and
with the advice and assistance of Gov.
Clough. certain preliminaries had al
ready been apparently agreed upon
The most important Of these were
three in number The first, by the
suggestion of the governor himself,
was that the committee should hold
it's sessions at Saltwater, and no other
place was suggested or approved. The
second was the hiring of a lawyer to
turn this free investigation of facts
into a legal tournament, and to forbid
the free rendering of evidence by wit
nesses not supported by counsel them
selves. The third was a significant ana
even eloquent silence on the part of
the governor as to the matter of ex-
pense. The committee was left to
question not only it's power to compel
the attendance of witnesses, but had
no authority to require their presence
and to pledge the reimbursement of
such money as it was necessary for
them to pay out in railroad fare and
other expenses.
Observe, now, how shrewdly the
scenery was placed upon the stage
with a view to sitting investigation
and preventing inquiry into the facts.
The men upon whom such serious re-
Elections had been cast had perfected
a plan which would amount to no
more than sending three competent and
honorable men over to the state prison
to hear such testimony as men there,
absolutely under the command and at
the mercy of the prison management,
might offer in the presence of a lawyer
prepared to confuse and battle them,
and gifted with a good memory to re-
cord their words With great -four
ish of trumpets, they demanded an in
quiry with open doors,' as if they had
nothing to hide from all the world;
when all that this means on their part
is that a prison official or representa-
tive shall be present at every inquiry,
with his threatening eye fixed upon
every convict or guard who may dare
to give evidence on the wrong side, so
that the severity of prison discipline
and the comforts of the solitary" can
be preserved carefully for him in the
future
The scheme has been, first, to take
the hearings of the commission to Still
water, where it is known in advance
that the bulk of witnesses cannot and
will not go, and to surround this in
yestigation with the espionage of the
combination that is all-powerful there.
The scheme was to shut out the testi-
mOny of many of the most positive and
valuable witnesses on the other side,
who are ready to testify elsewhere, but
not in Saltwater. The scheme was to
further discourage these and make
sure Of their absence by declining to
give any guarantee that their expenses
would be paid. The scheme was, final
ly, to have a paid attorney and other
representatives of the prison regime on
the watch at every one of these abor-
tive hearings at Saltwater, to terrorize
witnesses and keep them silent. This
was the plan of the free full and fair
investigation, as looked at in a prison
mirror.
We have reason to believe that the
committee of honorable men who have
been appointed will not permit this de-
vice to be put into successful opera
ton. We publish this morning express
sions of opinion from other newspapers
in this state, and from witnesses whose
statements are already on record, to
show that, if the sessions of the COM
mittee are all to be held in Saltwater.