East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1916-09-13
PRESENT PRISON
POLICY SCORED.
BEN SELLING, SPEAKER OF THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIVES FI4AYS GOVERNOR
WTTHYCOABE
State Emergency Board Has StOrmicst
Session In Its History - Parole
Board and Parole Officer Keller
Come In for Denouncement Along
With Flax Experiment.

SALEM, ore, Sept l2.-At this
afternoons session or the state emer-
gency board. Ben Selling of Portland,
speaker Of the house Of representa-
tives, strongly denounced the prison
policy of the present administration
and particularly the parole board and
Parole officer Joseph Keller, while
s. B. Cobb Of Portland, chairman Of
the house ways and means commit
tee at the last session, az vigorously
censured the members Of the state
board Of control for the wanton ex-
travagance and unbuslnesslike meth
DDS in connection with the state flax
experiment
The other members of the board
present we're senator l. N. Day Of
Portland and the governor, secretary
OF state and state treasurer.
With the exception that there was
less personal invective, the afternoon
session was almost on par with the
morning session, which was the
stormiest in the history Of the emer-
gency board Before the board got
through, however, 1t authorized the
state board to incur deficiencies in
the following sums Penitentiary
maintenance, $25, 90; tuberculosis hos
pital maintenance, $1,000; state train
ing school for boys maintenance, $40.
900, for returning to the state fugi-
tives from justice, $4,000, a total of
$434,000.
The board, following an opinion by
Attorney General Brown, took no ac-
ton on the request for $4,000 for
the state flax experiment. The board
also refused a request for $4,000 for
paving at the state training schoo.
and $4,000 for the supreme court re-
porter.
Out of the originai $4,000 appro-
priation for the flax experiment. S6.40l
remains In the fund, but it was fig
ured that about $4,000 ought to be
available from sales that have been
made and seed and tow yet to be sold
Hope was expressed that this would
keep the flax plant running until the |
end of the year. though the farmers
who raised the flax straw will have to |
await until the next legislature meets
to get their money. The sum due the
farmers is approximately $122,00O.
Attorney General Brown held that
the board could not legally authorize
a deficiency in connection with the
flax appropriation as the boards au-
thority applied only to state institu-
tions and departments
The deficiency for the penitentiary
was voted down once, and was finally
carried over the opposition of Ben
Selling only after the board of con-
troll took action to include the inves
tigation and survey tnat is to be made
Of the penitentiary, the boys training
school and the industrial school for
girls !
Governor Charges Plot.
Refusal of the board to authorize a
deficiency for the flax industry leaves
no fund to pay for the 1900 tons of
flax straw contracted for this year by
the board of control from farmers.
Governor WithycomDe and Senator
Day indulged in bitter personalities.
Governor Withycombe charged the
senator with standing with Secretary
Olcott and the Portland Journal in an
attempt to make a failure of the flax
industry.
The controversy fiared intermittent
ly throughout the entire meeting, and
was precipitated when Secretary OIL
colt read an opinion from Attorney
General Brown in which he held that
the emergency board had no power
to create a deficiency for carrying on
the flax work. The opinion was writ |
ten at Mr. Days request.