New Ulm review., 1900-10-10
Takes a Shot at Dunn.

| B. f. Nelson. member of the state
prison board, makes the following reply
to Auditor Dunn's charges against the
management of the prison binding twine
plant which very efectually shows tn at
Mr.. Dunn deliberately falsiied the fig
ures in his speech recently made at Mi
laca. Mr.. Nelson says:
II understand that State Auditor Dunn
recently made the statement in public
speech that the conduct of the affairs of
the prison had been ''unbusinesslike, -
because at the end of the fiscal year
! there was a surplus OF raw material on
| hand worth somewhat less than the then
value of the same material in the New
York market. No person in the state
outside of the prison Office, has the op-,
portunity for absolute information on
any question of prison expenditure that
Mr.. Dunn has. Every dollar paid out
at tins institution passes through his
hand, and the voucher for every dollar
of expenditure remains in his possession.
'"The figures gwen in his speech re-
gardlng the comparative expenditures
for the years ending July 81, 1899, and
| July 81, are not only misleading as be
! intended them to be, but absolutely un-
true. He says that the expenditures of
the twine plant for the year ending July
81, 1900, were $e58 900, while, as mat
ter of fact, they were $627,000; that the
expenditures for the year ending July
81, 1899, were $4,000, when as a
matter of fact they were 100000.
He ignores the price of thu raw material,
which cost for the year, 1900 $559,000
| as against $314,O0O for the year 1899.
''The actual excess, ,hen, of the expep-
ditures on account of manufacturing for
the year 1900, over the year 1899, was
the difference between $68, 900 and $780,
900, or $4,000, in which the cost of
manufacturing about 100000 pounds of
twine was included, together with $19,-
500 expended for oil, tools and repairs
and sacks, in excess of the expenditures
for those items in the year 1899.
The last legislature provided for so
per cent increase in the capacity of the
twine plant, but so great were the diff
cultles in obtaining machinery that not
unul Feb. ~, 1900, although machinists
and prisoners worked nights and Sun
day, was the new plant, with a monthly
capacity of a million pounds, in opera
ton. Up to this time, owing to neces-
sary cbanges::in the old plant, the pro
duction had been greatly curtailed SO
that the 1st of March found the manage.
ment with 2,200,OOO pounds only Of
twine on hand, as against 100000
pounds at the same date the previous
year. The annual consumption Of Irvine
in the state of Minnesota is about II, $
100000 pounds, and it was the plan Of
the board, by running the completed
plant to its full capacity and overtime
during the longer days, to be able to
supply about one-half Of this require
ment. .=# s.z 4.
...About the let Of June the crop situ-
alton become SO serious that production
was curtailed until the amount produced
for June and July was !, 100, 900 pounds.
has than the estimate, for all Of which
there would have been ready sale under
normal conditions, Is the original orders
TOR July shipments alone, before any
cancellations were received, amounting
sto 1880. .OOO pounds. while the orders