Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1900-10-20


would be.
Mr. Lind attacked the Republican adj
ministration along a good many lines.
One that he laid special stress upon was
the grain inspection department.; another
was the twine department.; another was
the administration of the school funds
and the public lands, and another was the
transportation question. Upon these eAe
people actually believed that he would ac-
complish something that had never BEEN
done before by any of the Republican
governors of this state Let us see
whether or not he has fulfilled those
promises.
The Irvine Plant NIismanagement.
want to take up first the twine plant
The charges that were made against the
Republican party in Lfnd's campaign in
this county, and all over this state, were
thatthe Irvine plant had become a part of
the Irvine trust; that the managers Of
the Irvine trust had diverted it from its
original intention, and that the farmers
were unable to get tWine at cost from
that plant Now, permit me to give you
a little history of the origin of the Irvine
plant and how it came to be established
at Saltwater. It has grown from very
small thing up to a very large institution.
1t is the only manufacturing establish
ment we have of its kind in the state. In
1889 the Republican party was in power.
The contract system at Saltwater for our
prisoners had been enforced for great
many years There had been great deal
of dissatisfaction amongst the laboring
people against that system, because they
said the prison labor came in contact with
the free labor of the state. The legisla-
ture of 1887 abolished the system, but
gave US no other system in its place.
When the legislature of 1889 met we
were confronted with the situation that
the prisoners at Saltwater had practi-
cally nothing to do. In order to relieve
that situation, we cast about to find
something for those prisoners to do. There
was no Irvine plant in this state, nor any
west of Chicago at that time. Irvine was
largely used in our state. There were
millions of pounds being sold every year,
We made application in 1889 for that
plant and inside of eighteen months be-
gan to manufacture Irvine on a small
plan. It has grown from year to year
until now it has become a plant that is
capable of manufacturing nine million
pounds per year, or more than half Of all
the twine, that is used in this state. Near
ly one-half or over one-half million dol
lars is involved every year in the running
of this plant AS you all know, the prison
Irvine, for number of years, has been
sought after by the farmers of this state
hoe oh fIo
other commercial Irvine throughout the
country, and the great dissatisfaction that
was created two years ago-and Governor
Lind and other Democratic stump speak
ers took advantage Of that situation
was not because the Irvine was too high,
but because everybody couldn't get it.
There was only so much Irvine, and, by
the way, at that time we only manufac-
tured about four million pounds of Irvine
year The, Irvine plant has been in
creased twice since then Two years ago
we increased it one-third, from six million
pounds to nine million pounds, and to-day
it is capable of manufacturing nine mill
ion pounds 1t is true that the plant, un-
der the new management, has not been
able to do that, but that is the capacity
of the plant. Now the dissatisfaction
that was Gfeatedsfour years ago with that
plant was, as I say, not that the plant
was not run we'll and doing WELL but be-
cause there was not enough Irvine to go
around, and the few who sent in their or
ders early were regarded by their neigh
bors as favorites, and a great deal of
clamor went up throughout the staee,
that there must he something wrong with
that institution. Governor Lind promiIed
the people, if he was elected governor Of
this state, that he would see to it that the
Irvine so manufactured should be given
to the farmers at cost. Let us now see
what has taken place. Wolfer had been
in charge of the Irvine plant for nearly ten
years. He was the most efficient man
that have ever seen in that or any; other
state Institution, and I am sorry to say
that he is not there to-day. The reason
why he is not there to-day, 1T is perhaps
unnecessary to inquire into. Tt is net,
however, creditable to the present admin
istration. When he was discharged or re-
signed little over a year ago, Governor
Lind appointed a new man in his place
Mr. Reeves from Minneapolis now has
charge of that institution. They com
mencedlto manufacture Irvine. They sent
their agents down through the Southern
states and to Central America to make
large purchases Of raw material. But they
purchased nothing but sisal and manu-
featured the Irvine from that material
alone. Every pound that has been bought
by this administration of Governor Lind S
has been nothing but sisal. They bought
all their Irvine or nearly all the raw ma
terial at a time when material was very
high. want to be perfectly fair, 50 that
no statement of mine can be construed
as making out a good case for our side
when, in reality, the other side should
have some of the credit. They sent in
experienced men into the market to buy
this Irvine and they bought more at the
time than any prudent business man
would have done if he had been handling
his own capital. Trey bought a large
amount more than they were able to use
at those high prices and to-day they have
nearly million and a half pounds Of raw
material and manufactured Irvine that
was not disposed Of during the season
Now, the price of this fiber has gone
down from two and a half to three and
a half cents per pound. With the pres