The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-11
SUPERINTENDENT OF ST. CLOUD
REFORMATORY SAFE FOR A
MONTH AT LEAST
THE BOARD WAS DIVIDED
ONE DEMOCRAT AND TWO REPUB-
LICANs WANT A CHANGE, TWO
DEMOCRATS DO NOT
GOV. LIND MAKES STATEMENT

considers 1t the Duty of the
Board of Managers of Any Instt-
ton to Make a Change When the
Interests Demand It-HouIton Not
| Present at Meeting.
| The. attempt to oust w. H. Houlton
from the position of superintendent of
the state reformatory was defeated at a
session of the board of managers Of the
institution held at the Merchants hotel
last evening. The resolution having for
| its object a change in the management
Of the reformatory was offered by ]. J.
McCafferty. and in effect 1t stated that it
was the sense of the board that
change be made In the superintendency
| of the institution.
Messrs. McCafferty, Griswold and
| Turnblad voted for the resolution, and
| Messrs. Keith, Merriman and Stewart
voted against its adoption. The result is
| that Supt Houlton will remain in charge
| Of the institution at least until the next
regular meeting Of the board in June and
possibly for a longer time
Gov. Lind was present at the meeting
and took part in an informal discussion
| as to the plans for the proposed admin
| istration building which occupied the
! attention Of the board for something like
| an hour. Until this matter had been
| disposed of the board held an open ses-
| sion and then President Keith suggested
| that as the governor had statement to
make to the board it would be proper
| to go into executive session. This. was
agreed to by the board, and after the
doors had been closed Gov Lind made
| statement relating to the management Of
| the reformatory under the present Of
| ficials Just what the governor said
| to the board was not given out. The
| governor did not think it would be prop
| er for him to make public the statement
| he made and the members of theboard
were Of the opinion that it would be a
| breach of confidence to do so, especially
as the session was an executive one.
/ WHEN CHANGES SHOULD OCCUR.
| From what could be corkscrewed out of
/ the members of the board 1t was learned
that the governor had taken the ground
that it was the duty of any beard of
managers of any state Institution to
make a change when the interests of the
institution demanded it. The governor
is reported as having stated that the
statements In the newspapers that poll
tics had anything to do with his position
| in the matter was false. After making
a short talk along these lines the gov
ernor withdrew and the board then dis
cussed the resolution offered by Mr..
McCafferty and afterwards voted as
above stated.
~ II,
coredd that there was split as to the
politics Of the members on the question
| Of making a change in superintendent.
| The law under which the board of man.
ayers Is appointed provides that not
| more than three members shall be from
| the same political party. The Republi-
can members of the board are G.. w.
| Stewart, of st. Cloud; n. s. Griswold,
| Of Chatfield, and 8. ]. Turnblad, of Min
| neapolis. The Democrats on the board
| are President Keith, of Princeton; o. c.
| Merriam, of Minneapolis, and y. J. Mo
| Cafferty, of st. Paul.
| The vote shows that one Democrat and
| two Republicans voted for the resolu-
| ton, which would make change in the
| office of superintendent, and two Demo-
| Gratis and one Republican opposed such
1 action.
| s. j. Turnblad, of Minneapolis, who was
| recently appointed to the board by Gov.
| Lind to fill the vacancy caused by the
expiration of the term of G. S. Crandall,
| Of Owatonna, favored change in the
| management of the institution.
| Gov. Lind, seen after the meeting ad-
| journed, said he had simply stated to the
| board collectively what he had informed
/ four Of the members individually as to
| his position in the matter. He had not
mentioned the name of any one to sue
| ceed the present superintendent, and
| while he had been present at the meeting
| the name of Mr.. Houlton was not men
toned, nor was the gentleman present.
HOULTON AND FRIENDS.
Supt. Houlton, seen after the board had
| adjourned, was having q conference with
| Mr.. Stewart and Mr.. Merriman. He
| stated that he had not been present at
| the meeting of the board, and had not
| been fully advised as to all that took
| place. AS to the charges made rejecting
| on his honesty during his term of office
| he understood that the statement had
| been made that these were all to be
dropped, and he further stated that there
| was nothing in the charges which could
| not be fully explained.
| Mr.. Stewart said the matter stood Just
| where 1t did before the meeting. The
| superintendent was elected for no spe-
cific term, and was at the pleasure of the
board, except that he could be removed
| AOT cause Ou CLdISCS DSlLS In6Q0 III WIFI
ing. No such charges had been made
! and he did not think there would be any
Mr.. Griswold, who supported the reso-
| luton looking to a change in the super
| intendency Of the institution, expressed
the opinion that there was nothing In the
report that the governor was actuated
| by political bias in suggesting q change
Supt Houlton, according to Mr.. Girls
| wold, was Republican, and when the
| proposition was discussed some days ago
Gov. Lind had mentioned the name of
#. A. Whittier as a possible candidate
This, to Mr.. Griswolds 8 mind, proved con-
| clusively that there was and could be
nothing to the charge that the change
was urged for political reasons, as Mr.
1 Whittier was known to be a Republican.
ROUTINE BUSINESS.
| Previous to the executive session the
| board discussed the erection of the ad-
| ministration building and considered the
| plans submitted by J. w. Stevens. At
| the suggestion of Gov. Lind several ma
| terial changes will be made IN the plans
| of the building and at the June meeting
| of the board Architect Stevens will sub
| NIT modified plans.
| The administration building Is to be
90 by so feet, four stories high, and when
| completed will be valued at $4,000, al
| though the cost will not exceed $4,000,
| owing to all the stone and, in fact, all
the work OF the exterior and interior be-