The Bemidji pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minn.) 1896-1917, 1900-10-04
STILL ON! I! The RUN.
DEMOCRATIC MANAGERS FAIL TO
RESPOND TO TELLING BLOWS
y ADMINISTERED by "BoBo
DUNN IN HIS MILACA
SPEECH. .
STATEMENTS CONSERVATIVE.

STATEMENTS CONSERVATIVE
Losses by Democratic Nrismanage-
ment Rum up into the Hundreds
of Thousands, and the SUR n
I'll plus IL Rapidly Disap-
pearins,
\ The speech of Hon. r. G. Dunn at
I Milaca Sept. 21twas such body blow to
the Lind administration that the DEM
@ocratic machine was fairly paralyzed
and has not even yet recovered. On
the Sunday following the speech the
Globe. Gov. Lind's official organ, had
only recovered its breath sufficiently
( to make the feeble defense that the
old railroad bonds voted by the Demo-
cratic legislature of 1857 Were stood
for" by the people; that a majority Of
the people were Republicans and that
the Republicans were therefore really,
responsible for the issue Of the bonds,
even IL a Democratic legislature did
pass the act. Z
And right there the Globe stopped.
Even Gov. Lind, in his opening speech
of the campaign at Red Wing the
evening following Mr., Dunn's speech,
could find no excuse to make for hthe1
extravaganza and waste lin the grain
inspection bureau or the shameful in-s
competency OF those in charge of the
binding Irvine plant, The fact is there
was no explanation that could be made
nothing but excuses-and the Dem
8ocrats would gladly drop the subject
where is 1t. bad a plight as that leaves
them in. Mr.. Dunn's stat ement Of the
case was so conservative, and his LAM
guage SO mild, that few, even among
Republicans, appreciate their import
sance and gravity. s
s. The statement as to the grain in ~
spection bureau Is plain enough, and
any one can see the point of 1t. It Is
"a automatically demonstrated propo-s
8sttion, the figures being furnished by
the Democrats themselves and the con-
syiction coming out Of their own mouths
The last year of Repub-
ncan adm nfstrati0n of
the bureau cost. $101 ,0S1.12
The first year of Demo
Il cratic administration of
the bureau cost. ......... SO7 ,055. 80
Difference in favor of Re- Ess
Y. publicans .................. $16,274. a
xuo0 1iffaranpa n
the cost OF maintenance in the two
years the excess should be in the year
when there was the largest crop, but
such is not the case, for the crop that
1t cost $207 900 to inspect was about
sone-fourth less than the crop that the
Republicans inspected for $191 900. And
ut must not be forgotten that the Lind
administration also had board of APP
peals to fill with it's heelers at a cost
5of $4,000, bringing the total excess
Dyer the expenses of the last year Of
Republican rule quite up to $50, 1000;
II The cause Of this difference in ex-
jpense is not far to seek. 1t can be
found in the fact that Gov. Lind APP
pointed to the chief places in the
bureau men who were totally unfa-
miliar with the work, and who We're
given places for purely political rea-
sons, and this compelled the depart
ment to enlarge the pay roll in order
to get men to do the work. The ex-
cess in the pay roll of 1900 over that OF
1898 would, as Mr.. Dunn has pointed
out, pay twenty-seven inspectors sal
aries of 5000 a year each. The DEPART
fnent has simply added to the pay roll
enough of these $500 inspectors to do
the work of the $1,000 to $4,000 men
who devote their time solely to Dem
ocratic politics.
But it was Mr.. Dunn's expose Of the
nismanagement---t call it by its mild
est name--in the prison Irvine plant
that appalled, the people and dumb
founded the Democratic managers.
They could not deny the accuracy of
the figures, for they were taken from
Warden Reeves official reports to the
state auditor In making his report Of
the facts Auditor Dunn speaks almost
as a reluctant witness, disliling to
attach discredit and reproach to the
state of which he Is SO proud. He
simply gives the official figures that
show an excess Of s341, 651.45 in the
operating expenses Of the prison for
1900 over those Of 1899.
He then points out that, according,
to Warden Reeves report, there is on
hand at the prison 1,175,000 pounds of
sisal for which the managers paid S1s
cents a pound, and which can be
bought in the open market to-day for
SIS cents pound, showing a loss of 3
cents a pound on 1,1T5.000 pounds, or a
total loss of $4,000. That is as far as
Mr.. Dunn carries the figures but those
who have read and followed his speech
go further. They face the fact that
the state has been disgraced if not
robbed, and want to know the worst.
The fact Is that the managers of the
Irvine plant bought, as Warden Reeves
report to the state auditor shows; more
than 100000 pounds of sisal, costing,
according to the same authority, not
less than 8la cents a pound. Now. this
is about the highest price ever paid for
that product. and that price ruled for
but short time, that time being when
the Philippine insurgents were making
their most successful fight against the
American forces. 1t is a most singular
thing that Col. Reeve. who had just
returned from the Philippines as a
nominal officer of an American regi-