Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-05-03
l.. ]. WEHE Wins
FIRST ROUND0F
LEGAL BATTLE
Nuessle Orders That
Salary For April, 1920,
Be Paid.

LEI AE GAsttEN - - - = .Eh sf .t+ A ISL
Bismarck, N. d.. May 3.-L.&J. We
he continues to be a thorn in the flesh
Of the state, administration, and If he
keeps on winning lawsuits he may
finally establish his contentious made
after he was kicked off, the work.
mems compensation commission. over
Q year ago.
has handed down a pcremptorys man.
damus order commanding the work.
mems compensation bureau to pay
Wehe $20S.33 as salary for the month
Of. April 1920. Wehe also has a suit
pending to collect $2.291.63 for his
salary for the months from May,
1920 to February, 1921, inclusive.
These lawsuits, it is supposed, will
be carried to the supreme court by
the administration, if necessary.
Perhaps the most serious trouble
caused the administration by the gov
ernor's failure to observe the re-
Qufrements of the law when he want.
ed to get rid of Wehe was on the
minimum wage decisions Of the COM
pensation bureau, acting as a mini
mum wage commission.
And Townley Came Also!
The minimum wage commission
was preparing for a conference in
Fargo in April, 1920. A. C. Townley
appeared in town. About 30 minutes
before Wehe was to take a train to
Fargo to participate in the minimum
wage deliberations he was served with
an order Of removal by a representa-
tive. of the governor.
Wehe has claimed that he was re-
moved 1t was known his
views on the minimum wag matter.
did not square with those Of S. S,
Mcdonald. II this is true, the true
purpose of the dismissal Of wehe was
defeated. and Mr.. Wehe may laugh
up his sleeve between his frequent
court battles when he thinks of it.
The minimum wage as far as it af-
fected six classes of the orders was
attacked in three suits. One of the
principal grounds was that there was
not a full legal board, due to the sus-
pension of Wehe. So, while the adj
m~lnistration presumably gave a clear
path to the minimum wage rules it
wished to promulgate, the whole
thing was defeated by the things the
administration did.
The district court, in granting an
Injunction against the enforcement of
the minimum wage classes, which de-
cision was affirmed by the district
court, said:
THE ground for my holding is the
n on which the most stress was laid
at the time OF the argument and in
the briefs. That, is hat by reason of
the suspension and attempted re-
moval of Mr.. Wehe the bureau was
not constituted as required by law
and all of the acts done by the two
members. Mr.. Mcdonald and Mr..
Hagan, were wholly ineffective and
void in so far as they purport to act
as a bureau in determining the wage
matter"
The orders were promulgated as of
August 16, 1920, but the officials were
restrained from enforcing them.
Spencer Named in November.
1t was lot until November II, 1920,
that c.. A. M. Spencer was appointed
as Wehe's successor and he did not
file his bond until December A.. No
lawsuits yet have been instituted other
than the minimum wage in which the
validity of the boards acts are at
tackled because of Wehe's. absence
from the board.
However, since Judge. Nuessle of
district court held in determining the
first Wehe wage case here that the
appointment of Spencer was void, as
was the second attempted removal
proceedings held after the supreme
court had decided Wehe was entitled
to the office and the district court or
dered the governor to desist in the
hearing. there is a probability that
the Wehe case will bob up again to
worry the administration.