The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1916-07-15

!
lect the site and they chose to locate
the institution one mile southwest
! from Monroe on a tract of 329 acres.
| The soil of practically all of the tract
! is a very rich black loan and covers
the land to an average depth of from
! Is to "a inches. There is no better
soil in Snohomish county and this
land will raise any product grown in
this part of the state. At the time of
! purchase, about 20 to 20 acres were
cleared and the site contained about
one million feet of standing timber.
In July, 1907, the Governor ap-
! pointed the first Board of Managers.
! Temporary quarters were erected by
the Board of Control to accommo-
date so prisoners. A brick plant
was installed so that brick could be
made in sufficient quantities to erect
the buildings for the permanent ms
titution. In January, 1908, the
board appointed Cleon B. Roe as the
first superintendent. However, he
did not assume charge of the insti-
tuition until August LIST, 1908, when
the Board of Control turned over the
institution to the Board of Managers.
At that time the buildings consisted
of a few wooden structures, which
housed thirty inmates, surrounded
by stockade. The only other build
ings on the grounds were a small
farm house, which was to serve as
superintendent's residence, and a
farm barn.
To the 1909 legislature, the
Board of Control in its report gov
erning the management of the Re-
formatory, stated that the authority
of the two boards conflicted and re-
commended that the institution be
placed under the absolute control Of
one board. Nothing was done, how
ever in making the change, but
handsome appropriation was made
for the start of new buildings.
When planning for the permanent
buildings at the Reformatory. the
board considered it wisest to have
completed institution in mind, and
outlined a building to that end, so
that when the equipment of the ms
titution was completed, it would be
one harmonious whole, and not
general piece of patchwork.
Again, to the 1911 legislature, the
Board of Control in it's biennial re-
port, recommended that the Reform
atory be placed under one-headed
management. They stated that 1t
was impossible for the Board of
Control to serve satisfactorily as
business manager of this institution
while it had no control over its in
ternal needs. They stated that the
authority to contract for construc-
tion and maintenance should be con-
solidated in a single board, in order
to insure the most expeditions and
economic disposal of the business of
the institution. And again no relief
was granted.
To the 1913 Legislature, the Board
of Control again made complaint and
stated that the present joint govern
ment of the institution was extremely
unsatisfactory and perplexing, They
stated that there was no we'll defined
line between the duties of each
board. They stated that the provi-
sion of law that the Board of Control
shall have the business management
of the institution was impossible OF
clearer Interpretation and the pur-
chasing of supplies and passing OF
accounts under such a condition or
uncertainty must inevitably lead to
confusion Again the legislature
would make no change and Governor
Lister came to the rescue of the stu
alton by appointing on the Board OF
Managers the three members OF the
Board of Control which placed the
entire management Of the institution
practically under the one board.
The management of the institution,
therefore, passed to the control OF
but one board in June, 1913.
A man is never sent to this ms
titution until he has been convicted
of a felony. They do not come from
the Sunday school classes of our
state. They are sifted out by the
courts from the general community
and sent to us because they are
deemed so lawless, unruly and dan
gerous to society that they can no
longer, with safety, be at large.
Many, when they come, are depraved
and turbulent, vicious and rebel
lious, with little or no desire to DO
otherwise They are new here, and
untried. Most of them, for some
time after their arrival, would rath-
er be any other place than here.
The underlying principles OF the
reformatory system are simple. II
starts out by laying aside the old and
worn out idea that "once criminal
always a criminal" and recogni-