The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-04-28
TAI KED DAY AND NIGHT
NOTHING DEFINITE DONE AT
EITHER SESSION.
ANOTHER MEETING TO Be HELD TO-DAY
Committee win Report inF Favor Of Buying State
Farms. Talk of Reducing Salaries,
but no Reduction. Opposition to
Certain Officers.

The penitentiary direcrors-both old
and new boards--were in session practi-
cally all day yesterday-and last night
until a late hour.
Yesterdays session was held in the
Administration building at the peniten-
tiary Last nights meeting was an exc
cutive session. and was held from to
IL o'clock ut the Carrollton Hotel.
At Yesterdays meeting little actual
business of Importance was transacted.
The new board. pursuant to the call,
met at II o'clock. The next two hours.
or more were spent ''monkeying with
the members of the old board or rather
with tire of them-Sigmon, Hughes and
Denmark.
Two of the old board-Cotten and
Clark-hal already joined the new board.
and two others-Dockery and Peace
are still out of the fold. Gotten. who
was the Democratic member of the old
board. joined the new board ut its hrst
meeting Clark joined it yesterday
morning.
But Sigmon. Hughes and Denmark
wanted to dicker and make terms. They
desired to file notice. and have 1T appear
on record. that by coming into the meet
ing they waived no right to contest mt
any time in future the validity of the
new boards election.
To this of course the board would
not agree. Then said the Fusion
triumvrate. I'VE will not play i'll yonr
back yard But they didn't say it in
tone that would lead one to believe
they meant exactly what they said. so
negotiations were not broken off at this
point, and at | o'clock they surrendered
Internationally and came in.
This left only Dockery and Peace out
side of the fold. Dockery sat on the
steps of the main penitentiary building.
cooling his heels and declaring he'd not
go in until he knew what Bill Days
policy will be-" Peace was not present.
But the absence of these two lumina-
ries did not seem to seriously interfere
with the proceedings of the board They
went blithely along discussing the issu-
ance of more bonds. to buy farms. and
what farms to buy and what to do with
those on which they had lease but
didn't want-just as il all the Peace in
the Philippines and all the Dockerys in
Rockingham We're present.
The executive committee, in whose
hands the issue of these bonds and the
purchase of these farms are committed
by special act of the Legislature. wanted
TO know the sense of the board in re-
gard to the matter:
l. Whether or not the State shall
purchase farms.
, And if so, what farms?
>. What shall be done with the farms
that are now leased, but will not be
purchased.
Mr.. Travis. chairman of the executive
committee, thought if the State was
going TO buy it had better do so at once
and stop the rent it is now paying.
Mr. LeGrand thought it good policy
to buy the Caledonia farms, as to the
others he was not so sure.
Mr. Weddington called attention to the
fact that the number of convicts was
yearly getting less. and it might not
be many years before employment more
profitable than farming could be found
for them, and the State stop farming al
togethgr.
Captain Day said he had considered
this, and even if the State stopped farm
ing tomorrow it would be a good invest
ment to, buy these farms; that the OPP
ton on them could be sold any day for
$1,000.
The end of the discussion was that.
on motion of Mr.. Gotten, Il committee
was appointed to investigate the matter
of purchasing the farms and report TO
the board This committee consists of
Messrs. Gotten, Perry LeGrand, Young,
Travis, Newland, Osborn and Day.
\ committee was also appointed, on
motion of Mr. Sigmon. to examine and
fix the value of the machinery in the
shirt factory. and report to the board
with view to its acceptance of the