The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-28
LAW MAY Be REPEALED
BOARD OF MANAGERS AT ST
CLOUD LIKELY TO BE
ABOLISHED
OPPOSITION TAKES NEW LIFE
Action to Be Taken Depends En-
tirely on Fate of the
Board of Control
Bill.

IF the bill providing for the creation
of Il central board Of control fails to be-
come a law, an effort will be made at
once to abolish the board Of managers
of the reformatory at ST. Cloud and thus
do away with at least one Of the several
boards for state institutions 1t is pro-
posed to transfer the power of the
reformatory board to the governor. This
movement, the development of which
now depends entirely upon the fate OF
the pending bill was organized by GER
tain members of the legislature and their
friends even before the present session
began. but it was deemed wise to with
hold action anticipating the effort to
wipe out of existence all the separate
boards at one stroke and place their
authority in the hands of a single man
agement. tfsJ
The plan of campaign will be, should
the board of control bill fail, to draft
Il bill providing fer the repeal of the
law by which the refoFrlatory board was
created and is maintained There was a
bitter opposition against this law when
it was enacted in 1885 and this i'll feeling
seems to have taken new life within the
past few months. fhe bill, if intro
dueed, will be a Republican measure,
notwithstanding the fact that the author
and designer Of the bill under which the
reformatory board law was enacted were
of the same faith.
The old bill was framed by D. E. Mey-
ers, formerly Of ST. Cloud, and intro
duced in the house by former Repre-
sentative Dan H. Freeman, of the same
city. 1t is held that the intent of the
bill was to make Mr.. Meyer the first
superintendent Of the reformatory At
any rate, this was the effect it had. for
Mr.. Meyer, under the measure which he
is said to have designed, was forthwith
appointed superintenden of the institu-
ton. The law is said to confer arbitrary
powers on the superintendent and also
upon the chairman of the board and its
repeal is urged upon these grounds.
Under the p1 esent statute the governor
has no power to even appoint the super
lntendent of the reformatory. Such ap-
Pointment is made by the board of direc-
tors. This power is regarded, by the
promoters of the BILL as enc which
should rightfully belong to the executive
of the state While the governor NAV
name the members of the board his
executive Affiliations with the institution
aside from this are said to be entirely
too meager. AT least, the factors at
work for the abolition of the board
think so so strongly that they will bend
their utmost energy to wipe the board
out OF existence and give the governor
this authority
AAAio OA11J W4l11O II Ad6 0CSu QT6ctlC2UX
drafted, has not yet been given a pa
rentage, as it was drawn by a party of
politicians, and is inotothe work of any
one individual. In the event if the board
of control beng defeated, it W1sA. be placed
in the hands of a member from the part
of the state and by him introduced in
the house. Its existence and the deter
mination to push this matter through in
some sort of shapeiquiekens the interest
in the bill, which provides for the estab-
hshment of the central board
Should the reformatory bill ever reach
the legislature, it would certainly divide
sentiment among the Republicans. Sen
ator Brewer would, ne<doubt, be one of
its bitterest foes in, the upper house. The
senator's law partner, G. w. Stewart. of
st. Cloud, is chairman of the board of
reformatory managers and would there
fore be seriously affected by the adop-
ton Of such a law.