The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1912-08-12

Oklshoms city, Okla. Aug IL
am not asking you for your resigna
ton; You have nothing to resign
you ceased to lie a member of the
state board Of education OF Oklaho.
Ina ats o'clock Monday morning,
i Jfiy % isi9 " et 81 .t-auas
| FOREGOING was the closing para
\ grS ph In Gov. Lee Cruces letter TO
lStA1e Treasurer Robert DunlOp. an
, swering the communication sent the
governor by Dunlop last week re,
earding the status of the state board
and the recent text book adoption
A. The controversy over the adop
! tion and attending circumstances are
taken up by the governor in detail
as we'll as hhe kraement Of the
treasurer that he tthe governor) had
, ignored the advice Of Attorney Gen
eral West and had followed the ad
vice of the law firm OF which the
governors brother is a member. The
governor says that when the Ques
, tion OF appointing Dunlop on the
state board was up he told Dun
lop that he did not believe an elec-
tive OFFICER could serve in the ap
pointed capacity. The law Arm held
in an opinion that the state treas
.urer could not legally hold a place
on the board. while the attorney
general held that he could
Il took the attorney generals
opinion, and made the appointment,
the governor saws. hut you request
ed that before | acted upon the at
torney generals advice YOU be per.
after YOU received a favorable reply
from him, YOU asked that the ap
pointment be made.
Not only have | followed the at
tcrney genen3l in matters that
have submitted to him heretofore
brt in removing you as a member o.
the state hoard of education. I am
following the advice of the attorney
general. He has given me an opin
ion that | have the right to remove
members of the board of education
and that all acts attempted TO be
performed by the three members re
moved after the order of removal
was entered in my office at 2 a m,
July 30 1912 are absolutely void
In his letter the governor again
explained his reason for asking
pos stponement of the school book l
abortion. as follows:
School and Politics.
y stated to the board that had |
tried as hard as knew how from |
the time | entered the governors |
office, to divorce the schools from |
politics, and to keep politics out of |
the schools that | felt that il was |
the duty of every member of the |
board to do what he could in that
direction; that the adoption. no mat
er when it took place no matter
now honestly, made. would occasion
that undr< ordinary cir.
il would be largely con-
ined TO hotel Iobbies in Oklahoma
Nlty ana to disappointed book men,
)ut that at the present time. in the |
midst of heated political campaign. |
when politicians were seeking every |
sort OF political advantage, the criti-
cism of these book men would be |
seized upon by a thousand speak
srs. snd from every stump poison
against the board S work would be
circulated, with the result that thou
ands of the school patrons would
,ecome dissatisfied with the board. /
md that il was the duty OF the
'oard, so far as it lay in its power,
o avert this calamity to the schools I
'ou md every other member of the
oard know that my entire argu- I
nent was along the line of pursuing I
he course that would prevent your
york from becoming a factor in the I
olitical arguments. The game of =
olltics, as il is commonly interpret ID
q to me, is BIZ no means an inter /
sting one, and when played in the u