The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-14
IANlE IN PRISON INIE
EDITOR JOHNSON, OF ST. PETER,
PULLS EDITOR CoWLES
OUT OF 1T
SUBSTITUTES FACTS FOR FANCY
The Busy Little Republican Editor
Tied Himself Up In His Ef-
fort to Help His
Party.

weakness of the political wall In the st.
Peter Journal about the price, quality.
demand. ETC.. for prison Irvine. The
Herald. after reproducing its contem-
poraryis article, says:
Mr.. CeWles, editor of the st. Peter
journal, has been appointed one Of the
press agents Of the Republican commit
tee, to aid J. 8. Vandiver and II the
allows Is q fair specimen Of the work
he is to furnish. we can expect a cam
paign Of Misrepresentation which has
absolutely no regard for facts. In view
Of the fact that prison Irvine" is a ques-
ton Of some interest to the farmers Of
this vicinity and lest they be deceived
by the article we trust we may be par
doned for exposing the Journals column
of fa1sehood.
We do not believe the first statement
as to the farmers doing much wondering
and squealing. The writer has talked
Of the harvest and crops with almost ev-
cry farmer in this vicinity. and have
never heard one OF them complain as to
the prices on Irvine made at Saltwater
Secondly, the statement that Gov.
Lind has used his personal Efforts to Sc
cure the passage Of the bill making the
wardeR's salary $1,000 year Is ridicu-
lousy false-he not only was not respon-
sible for the passage Of such a bill, but
no such bill ever passed the legislature,
and no warden. including Mr.. Wolfer and
the present warden ever received more
than $500 year salary. Mr.. Cowles
should have known this. but the fact
that he doesn't does not seem to have
made any difference.
Third. the governor never appointed
one of his political supporters" to I'LL the
position. for the governor has no more
voice in the selection of q prison warden
than the Journal has (and that isn't
much. The board of managers make the
selection and In the selection of Mr.
Reeve the governor did not present a
single name for their consideration.
Fourth. as to the quality of the Irvine,
1t is only necessary to say that the Irvine
Is all made by prison convicts. and ig
made this year ard the past six by the
same inmates and same foreman, who
has had charge since the factory started.
These convicts are there by sentence Of
the court. and not by political patronage
or political preferment, or by choice, and
the greatest part of the prison popuIa-
ton were appointed under previous ad
ministrations, and their labor there haa
no political significance.
AS to the facts in the case, the high
prices and the alleged shortage we wish
ed TO De IN full possession Of the truth
and wrote the warden for information
1t Is not a political office, and he eoccu-
pies the same position there that the su-
pertntendent of the state hospital does
here. He saysi
Different balls Of Irvine vary in length
IN any factory. but the prison Irvine
averages as long, If not longer, per pounl,
than that OF any Irvine manufactured In
the United States. A ball of Deering
tWine, sisal, recently purchased meas
ured, not single pound, but the entire
ball, $50 feet to the pound; q ball of sisal
from I. M. Roberts, Minneapolis, meas
ured ABB feet per pound, and q ball of
Standard, from the same house, bearing
the Bradley tag, measured 1893 feet to the
pound. The foreman Of the prison Irvine
factory is the same who has held that DO
sition since the factory started, and the
foreman OF the balling department. a
nephew of a Republican member of the
board of managers, has been here for the
past two years. No ball of prison Irvine
has been made this year which contained
only 40 feet to the pound" and we chaI-
lenge a proof
"As to cost The price is fixed by
board Of manag gers Feb. at 10 cents per
pound for sisal. prior to which dates.
namely On Nov. Is. Mr.. Wolfer had pur-
chased 1000 bales, or about 500, 900 pounds
of Sfsal at cents per pound In New York
freight to Saltwater about a third of a
cent per pound, to be added The price of
raw material varied from that date I'D
to March "a, when the last purchase OF
spot sisa1 for this seasons run of Irvine
was made, also at cents f. o. b. New
York On the basis Of the cost Of raw
material on hand when the price was fix
ed, there had never been time in the
history Of the prison Irvine plant when
the price of Irvine, at the commencement
OF the season was SO near the cost of the
manufactured article as it was this year.
The estimated output of the factory was
sold before the end of March, and the
board OF managers did exactly what any
prudent business man would have done
under the circumstances, namely: They
contracted before that time for the raw
material necessary to make what Irvine
had been sold The price as fixed was
from 11s to cents lower than that of any
other manufacturer or dealer and the
fact that the entire output was disposed
OF in about thirty days Is proof conclu-
sfVe that the prison price was a very
great 1nducement to purchasers Every
farmer who took the pains to inquire
knows that at that time his local dealer
told him that 10 cents was from l and
az to cents below the price of other
tw1ne. Since that time overpreducton
and partial failure Sf the crops has re-
suited In a vast quantity of Irvine being
thrown on the market at a reduced price.
but Is that any reason why a voluntary
purchaser OF Irvine in February should
expect the state of Minnesota to el1aran-
tee him against a decline which changed
conditions had brought about in the fol-
lowing July or August Suppose the editor
of the Journal had bought a pair of prfs-
on made shoes in February, and, owing to
the decline In leather, some dealer In st
Peter had offered him the same article
qlVe months later at a less price Would
he expect fha state WinnasOfo To u
good the difference?
How absurd this talk about what has
been done under a Republican admin
istratton." The board Of managers, not
the government or the warden determines
absolutely the business policy Of the pris-
on, and for the fiscal year ending aug.
l, 1893 the board Of managers had, for the
first time in its hosiery, a Democratic
majority. The published statement for
that year will show that, taking into &C
count the ratio Of cost to selling price 1t
was by far the most successful year the
Irvine plant has ever had. And how,
pray, does the editor Of the Journal know
that the outside companies, the jobber
and the dealer are able to make prof
it's at this years prfces7
The Cordage Trade Journal. a recox-
nized authority In this country, in It's is
sue OF July IT, says; The continued de-
cline in fiber values has helped to bring
about g. Generalization IN prices that has
rarely been witnessed even in binder
Irvine trade where sharp declines towards
the end OF the season are wholly I'M
known. Although some sellers have rnada
effort to keep their losses down to the
lowest possible minimum, the extensive
system of guaranteeing has brought
losses TO even the best TnanaKed irvine
manufacturing companies Nothing that
the most pessimistto opponent Of the