The Saint Paul globe., 1899-02-01
The Removal of O'Brien.

Various constructions will be placed
upon the action of Gov. Lind in so
peremptorily removing President
O'Brien, of the board of prison man
ayers. Mr.. O'Brien has been tdenti-
fed with the board nine years, and
the fact will not be overlooked that his
competency has not been brought into
question in the summary proceedings
that have led to his displacement.
If we correctly interpret the trend Of
events. a disturbance of the equilib-
rum of the prison board has been In
evitable since the day the board bal
1oted upon the proposition as to who
should be the chaplain of the Stillwa-
ter institution for the coming year.
Ever since the state has undertaken
the care of the unfortunates of that
institution it has been an annual Ques-
tion as to who should supervise their
spiritual welfare. In recognition. un-
doubtedly, Of the fact that the laborer
is worthy of his hire, in spiritual as
We'll as temporal matters, the state,
through its regularly ordained board
of managers has decreed that a sti-
pend of $25 per Sabbath, or there
ahouts, should be the maximum amount
to be applied to the religious consolation
of the Saltwater community. If there
has been some rivalry among the di-
wires of Saltwater as to who should
have this particular office, it must be
conceded that it was perfectly nat
ural for. after all, they are human be-
ings.
1t was equally natural and perfectly
proper that Gov. Lind should, as the
chief executive of the state and the
guardian of its moral as we'll as its
material interests, have some prefer
ence as to the new chaplain We sub
nit that no well regulated board, such
as Mr.. O'Brien has presided over.
would be likely to thwart the gov
ernor's wishes in such matter. This
being conceded, it must be admitted
that the governor did not fully exer-
else his own prerogatives. He did
not, as we understand it, clearly indi-
cate to President O'Brien his prefer
ence in this matter, and that gentle
man, not having been properly en-
lightened and acting upon his own
judgment, and that judgment favoring
the selection Of an Episcopal divine,
the governor and his candidate were
naturally in the vicinity of the three
quarter post when the ballots We're
counted. Surely that fact cannot or
ought not to weigh against Mr..
O'Brien.
1t is true that the chaplaincy does
not figure in the charges which the
governor makes against Mr.. O'Brien,
but that undoubtedly plays part
somewhere in the case. The specific
charges upon which Mr. O'Brien has
been removed involve another Dues
tion, also Of patronage, and in no way
that we can see compromise Mr..
O'Brien's standing in the community.
1t is good maxim in politics as we'll
as in other matters to do the thing
that one is determined upon and to
give no reasons for so doing. unless
they happen to be of the best. The
governor possibly overlooked this in
his desire to carry his point, and the
community will naturally be divided
upon the question whether he ad-
vanced good and substantial reasons.
for the retirement of Mr. O'Brien.
Upon their face they certainly do not
appear to be as strong as they ought
to be to carry weight.
The future must determine whether
this was a master stroke of policy. on
the part of the governor, or a political
mistake.