The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-09
THE GOyERNOR,s RETREAT.

Gov. CIOugh informs the public that
he is entirely Indifferent to the place
or places where the prison investigat-
inc commission shall hold it's sittings.
1t may meet in st. Paul, Minneapolis,
Duluth or any other place in the state
he graciously allows. The direction to
the commission when he gave the mem
bers their instructions to meet in Still
water. unaccompanied with any rea-
sons. was so superfuous that suspicion
was excusably excited as to the posi-
BILE motive behind it, and gave warrant
for a belief that the object was to
thwart the purpose of the inyestlga-
ton The structures of the G o e
were fully warranted, and the gov
ernor practically admits their sound
ness by changing the location OF the
commission from one particular point
to any which may be needed to ad-
vance the purpose for which it sits.
The reasons now assigned for the
original restriction Of the place OF slt-
ting to the neighborhood of the prison
do not, however, hang together he
saws he mentioned saltwater because
he wished the investigation to be eco
nomicallv conducted, because many
of the witnesses were there" and be
cause the expenses in connection with
it would be reduced to minimum IL
held there" The expenses of the COM
mission. which would include their
travelling charges, would certainly not
be reduced by taking them from st.
Paul or Minneapolis to saltwater our
ing the sittings, and, as far as the pup
lie fisc is concerned, theirs are the only
charges it will have to bear. 1t would
of course. diminish the expenses OIL
the warden and his deputy and their
attorney could the investigation be held
there, and increase them If held else
where. That is all the expense we can
see that would be reduced to a mini
mum" by having the commission sit
near the penitentiary.
This view is further confirmed by the
SUBSEQUENT statement: You can say
that the governor has no fund from
which he can draw to pay witnesses
for appearing before the board. NO
one has supposed he had. The only
fund he has is the contingent fund, and
that will have to bear the charges of
the board. If" he continues, some
of these fellows are looking for Win
ter's Job, they will be disappointed"
There is an acerbity, a disturbance OF
temper in this remark that goes far
to warrant the construction put by the
GIob e upon his purpose in conf1ning
the location of the boards sittings to
saltwater 1t is an entirely gratultous
remark, for none of the witnesses was
expecting "a winters job" or that
the state would provide one or pay its
wages. If it is intended as an admo-
milton to the witnesses, or any of them,
that they had better stay at home un-
less they are willing to serve for moth
ing. it will be quite as unavailing as
whatever may have been the motive
was the restricting of the sitting of the
board to Saltwater.
The G. 10 b has merely performed
it's duty in exposing the brutality Of
the prison officers; done what any pa
per should do when the information
came to it, and of which the public
officials of the state charged with the
execution of the laws and the supervf-
sion of our penal institutions should
be glad to be told and prompt in their
cooperation. It is not a question Of
politics, but Of morals and humanity.
If, however, the governor chooses to
assume hostile attitude and to warn
off witnesses with this intimation that
they can have no winters job the
Globe will have to go further and
perform his duty in addition to it's
own.