The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-02-09
1NEST()S ASKS TOTTEN
AND CAH|[L TO GO

fhGtSIapIiIlS GUSJ0StlIy HIS dG6iUlI ~ y
vague charges Of Hlnisd demeanor and
misconduct iii office, Governor Mes
tos today, demanded the resignation
Of members of the Board Of Admin
istratio ION, who oontro 81 manager of
all state Educ ational Charitable and
Institutions. The Board is composed
of Mr.. r. ~ Muir, Mr.. j. r Cahill,
MI. Geo. Totten, Sr., Mr.. Kitchen, Ex.
I Office, and Miss Nelson. Ex. Offico,,
the designations of Mr.. Totten and Mr..
Cahill specifically asked fol. Cues
toned BY Mr. Cahill as to his reason ae1
for the action, Coy. Nestos declared
that he had been advised the Board
members were willing I'd resign and
were only awaiting his request. This
being denied, the Governor further
stated that he understood the Board
members to have engaged legal couI1-
sci to assist them to retain their seat
but that he had been informed of
serious charges of misc conduct
against the Board and felt compelled
to take the action.
Examination Of the records Of the
Auditing department of the Board re-
veal absolutely nothing i'll the way of
misconduct. The Auditor, MI. Ole
Lund, declares there have been no
complaints lodged BY state institu--
tions against the Management of the
!, Board, and that the affairs OF II are
III excellent condition. &
The Governors action has aroused
q storm Of protest IN many parts OF
the state. Pledges Of support from
many quarters have already come TO
the Board members and extreme dis
satisfaction has been expressed by
prominent. men, over the Governors
action iii the matter. Attorneys have
not been engaged by the Board, but
several lawyers have volunteered their
services gratis, in its defence.
Governor Nestos could not give any
specific charges when questioned by
Mr.. Cahill and it appears that the &c
tion is purely political. as5s5
Voters in many parts of the state
are understood to being preparing
petitions to the Governor asking that
he desist IN his efforts to remove OF
fieials merely because they 90 not no,
share his political opinion.
. The removal of officials strikes g
new note in North Dakota polItlcs. s.
Never before State Executives at
tempted to- remove state officials,
w;tbo,,ts we'll grounded cause. Seldom
il ever is an official removed unless ne
hassbeen eanilty of rpisapp ton ct
public funds Or gross mise onducf ns
office. Appointive officials are All ap-
pointed for definite term OF years,
and are not supposed to be removed
any more than an elective official until
their term expires, unless it Is 70 the
public interest to do so.
Mr.. .Cahill has only occupied his pre-
sent position a few months being the
newest member Of the Board, and
therefore having the longest time TO
serve. His appointment does not fex;- \;
pire five years, and it is said N many
quarters that his removal Is sought
because his term will not expire IN
time to permit the present admins 9
tration to appoint successor before
retiring from office. It would seem
that if there were really cause for the
removal Of any member Of the Board
Ii would be the older members and not
4 man who. has hardly had time TO
become guilty of misconduct II there
,,,o,.n nv,u s,aisrnI1dIIct 81 IS E5s+ss%s