Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-05-11

Aln&AN0 - SAaNL0Aaa NJ lnC an NAV
ford was discharged he said the profit
would approximate $4,000, and the fig
ures now published by the Statesman
tend to ~substantiate this. But the gov.
ernor stoutly maintained that the indus
try was a financial failure and giving
that as his sole reason he refused to
live up to the conditions of the con-
tract made between the state and Craw-
ford.
1t was the 1915 Legislature which, at
the request of the governor, appropriate
ed $50, 900 for the flax industry and
road building. About $4,000 of that
sum was spent for flax and the other
$4,000 for a rock quarry and roads.
Left Entirely to Executive.
As Governor Withyeombe had long
been an agriculturalist, the other two
members Of the state board of control,
which at that time had full supervision
of the penitentiary, left the flax bust
ness to the governor, who was taking
particular pride in it.
The board 0. KID the employment of
j. C. Cody, who was selected by the
governor as superintendent of the flax
plant. Cady was pus on the payroll at
$4,000 a year.
The first year, in 1915, a fine crop of
flax was grown. Every flax man who
saw it praised its quality. Cady under
took to prepare the flax fiber for mar
ket. He chose the dew ret ing system
for treating the flax. He put tons of it
ou5 in the field in the fall after the
fall rains had begun. The flax lay in
the rain and mud and, instead of ret
ting, began to rot. Reports of its con-
! dition reached other members of the
state board. Secretary of State Olcott
began to investigate, and on November
"a, 1915, he called the other two men,
bers of the board into conference and
made a protest against the manner in
which the flax was being handled by
Cady.
Cady Kept on Job.
Governor Withycombe defended Cady
and said he was satisfied With condi-
tons, and said the flax was all right.
Sta ;e Treasurer Kay sided with the gov
ernor. The result was no change was
made. Conditions continued to grow
worse. Ton after ton of flax was ruin
ed. The stacks of flax straw were not
properly matched and began to heat,
and had to be removed and restacked.
Although a fine crop of flax had been
grown, the first years experiment was
practically a complete failure.
The flax crop of 1916 was planted by
the farmers and made a good growth.
About the time it was ready for harvest
ing, Superintendent Cady went away on
a vacation, leaving no one to take care
CT the crop except the warden Of the
penitentiary, John Mimic, who made no
pretense of knowing anything about
flax.
Warden Mimic undertook to pull the
flax and haul il in from the fields, bu,
4 he soon reported to the'state board that
the flaN was so foul with wild oats and
weeds that he would no longer assume
RESPONSIBILITY for harvesting it. That
forced the Issu of get, ing a competent
Superintendent. Some of the board mem
bers who knew of Robert Crawford sent
for him. He came to Salem, looked over
the flax fields, which he found had be n
improperly prepared in the first place
and many of them were overrun with
weeds. But lie said he could save much
Of the flax.
Cady Fired Crawford Hired.
When the matter came before the
board, Governor Withycombe insis.e ed
on retaining Cady, but State Treasurer
Kay, by that time, was ready to vote
with Olcott to make a change. So Oh
colt and Kay voted to employ Craw-
ford. while the governor voted to re-
tain Cady.
The $4,000 appropriation had been
all spent and the board had borrowed
approximately $4,000 to pay the far
mers for the crop they had grown IN
1915. So when Crawford asked for the
same salary that the governor had given
Cady, namely $4,000 a year or $3.50 a
month, the governor objected. He took
the position that the salary should be
cut, and Kay offered as a compromise
that an agreement be made whereby
the state would pay Crawford $500 a
month, but if he pulled the industry out
of the hole and turned it INFO a finan-
cial success he would be paid the re-
naming $50 a month, to make his salary
the same as he'd been paid his predeces'
sor. That was the contract as finally
made.
Crawford was Immediately placed in
charge Of the work, and began harvest
ing the crop. Then he threshed it and
stored some in the penitendary build
ings and the rest was stacked in the
field, where it went through the win
ter without the least damage.
He built retting tanks and 10 a large
extent substituted the tank retting for
the dew retting method of treating the
flax, and retted all that portion of the
1916 crop which has been marketed.
Governor Gets Complete Control
The 1917 legislature met and the gov
ernor asked that the penitentiary be
taken from the control of the state
board Of control and be placed under the
exclusive authority Of the governor. The
Legislature passed a law making the
change. This gave the governor com
plete authority over the flax plant also.
Last fall Warden Murphy of the pen
itentiary and Crawford began to clash
over the management Of the flax plant.
He and Crawford had several tits over
the matter.