The Nevada County picayune., 1922-07-27

.nnd is legally, safely, permanetly and
 .stohlv invested. The state has .horeby put it's farms on a cash basis
 ohooIs penitentiary and state all .olned Nobody hurt.
 pepitentiary Self-Sustaining.
 yhon the present administration .ol, charge of the penitentiary it's warrants were being hawked upon the .oo+s and not business house in .rkansas wanted to credit the pen ,.ontiarv. These outstanding warrants ,ad to be taken care of, and the con ,;cts and live stock maintained, for .hov were left without food or feed, oxcont it the Tucker farm, by the outooing Burkett regime. And do not overlook the fact that the indebtedness of the penitentiary was over one-half million dollars at the time of my in- duction into office, due to the waste sul inefficient political management of the salaried commission under John T Rurkett. who was secretary and in oboroa of the office. It is now on d cash basis. and is paying the interest and retiring the indebtedness inherited bv the present administration. Pris- oners are humanely treated, and san itary conditions and conditions of com fort and welfare generally are better than ever known in the history of the Arkansas penitentiary. To substanti- ate their charge of extravaganza, I am charged with appropriations made to pay debts created by some of this same crowd. who are backing my opponent.
 Paroles Based on Law.
 The opposition predicts that paroles will be held up until after the election, but those in control of the penitentiary are not unfair enough to deny pris- oner his legal right to a parole be cause it may react upon some candi- date for office The board does not play politics, and any intimation that it does is rank demagogy.
 II is to he regretted that some peo- pie misunderstood the functioning of the parole board. I am certain if those who so readily condemn it would study it they would confess that the commission is operating according to law They would know that the charge that paroles were invented as a subterfuge," is not true. As to se- cret paroles, there is no such thing. The parole law is not of recent mak- ing, but was enacted by the General Assembly of Arkansas in 1907, and has been in opera ton under every Pen itentiary Board since that time. The particular section of the law governing paroles reads as follows
 Tt shall be the duty of the State Board of Penitentiary Commissioners 10 convene on the first Monday in June, 1907, and on the same date each three months following, to consider the adyisability of releasing those convicts who have served the minimum time of a general sentence. and paroling others who have served one-third of a def nite sentence"
 Sec 97O3, Crawford X Moses Di- gest
 But aside from the discussion of whether or not it is good law, the governor, nor the Penitentiary Com mission had anything to do with it's enactment The oaths of office of the commissioners require them to sup port and abide by all the laws of the State of Arkansas. Should they make an exception in my case? Are they not bound to permit one law to be enforced the same as any other! 1T the parole law is not a good law, then ii should be repealed. Until it is re pealed, it is the duty of the Peni- tentiary Commission to permit 1t to operate.
 But does my opponent stand for it's repeal? Let him say. The Board en-