Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1904-02-19
SENSATIONAL SUIT FILED
Penitentiary Officials Charged With
Using State Property for
Private Purposes.

A complaint was filed in department
No. Of the state circuit court fol
Marion county Saturday in which
sensational charges are brought
against Superintendent G. W. James
and Warden Frank Curtiss of the
Oregon State Penitentiary. The suit
is entitled u. w. Jones, resident
and tax payer of Oregon for himself,
and on behalf of himself and all other
tax payers of Oregon, plaintiff, VS..
@. W. James in his Individual
capacity and the said @. W. James as
superintendent Of the Oregon State
Penitentiary and Frank Curtiss in
his individual capacity and the said
Frank Curtiss as warden of the Ore
gon State Penitentiary, defendants, !"
and the plaintiff charges both with
"wrongfully, unlawfully and fraudu-
Iently conspiring to secure for their
private use and the use of their
families a large amount of household
furniture to be paid for out of the
public funds of the State of Oregon"
In support of his charges Mr.. Jones
alleges that during the year 1908 the
defendants purchased from divers
business firms large amount of val
liable furniture for their own use and
had the price of the same charged
against the public funds set apart by
the laws of the state of Oregon for the
betterment of the penitentiary. That,
thereafter, the defendants with the in
tent to defraud the taxpayers of Ore
gon, caused more than $1,95O Of the
betterment fund to be paid for such
furniture upon the representation that
the furniture was purchased for the
use and benefit Of the penitentiary.
Mr.. Jones further alleges that
neither the whole nor any part of the
furniture has been delivered to any of |
the institutions Of the state of Oregon
for their benefit or use, but that the
same was wrongfully taken and used |
by the defendants in their individual
unofficial capacity.
The plaintiff also charges Superin-
tendent James and Warden Curtiss
with conspiring to supply their
respective families with all necessary
groceries, meats, provisions, fuel,
table luxuries, laundry and servants
ont nf tho. stafa'a sunds, and alleges |
that they have already caused about
5000 to be paid out of the funds for
such purposes.
He also claims that the defendants
have for more than eight months and
do now compel the convicts to do all
the laundry work and perform all the
menial labor in and about their
private residence uhder the orders
and directions Of their families, and
that they have failed and neglected to
account to the state or for. the benefit
Of it's funds, for such convict labor,
which the plaintiff contends is a loss
Of about $3.50 to the taxpayers of Ore
gon.
The plaintiff for himself and on be-
half of the taxpayers of Oregon, asks
the court to decree for the
payment of the furniture, referred
to in the body of the complaint, out of t
public funds, null and void; that an
accounting be taken Of all the pay
ments caused to be made by the de-
fendants for the same, out of such
funds, and that they be ordered to pay
he sum of money found to be due, to
he fund out of which the payments
we're made. That they also be re-
luired to refund the amounts which
hey caused to be paid for groceries,
meats, provisions, etc, and that an
be taken with the defend
lnts with reference to the employment
If convicts as servants, and that they
oe required to pay to the state the sum
'ound justly due for such convict
service.
He asks the court to restrain Super
ntendent James and Warden Curtiss
rom supplying their families with
whatsoever at the expense
If the taxpayers, and also to restrain
hem from employing prisoners for
heir private benefit
L. H. Mcmahon, of Salem, appears
n the suit as an attorney for the
Statesman. ,
This same condition of affairs is
aid to exist at the other state institu- ,
ions, the asylum (main building and
ARM reform school and blind and
mute schools, and the question of
whether the officials of these institu-
ions have the right to live off the
tate will probably be settled as a re-
ult of this action. =