Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1938-07-21
State Capitol News
BY A. I. HARRIS

The entire episode in regard to the
special committee of architects ap-
pointed at the request of Governor
Benson to investigate the Bemidji
Teachers college project has some
rather strange aspects.
To start with the Governor ap-
pointed as the investigating body a
group of people who do not have
political attachments to his own polit-
ical party. This was for the reason
that partisan politics has no place in
such an investigation.
No sooner had this committee
started its work than it was quite
obvious that they had embarked on
a Roman political holiday. They were
more interested in getting material to
the newspapers to discredit the ad-
ADMINISTRATION than they were in OBJ
tanning the facts and turning them
over to the Governor for action.
Strange indeed was the action OF
the committee in making its final re-
port four days before election day
This may have been merely coin
cidence, but it does not appear Sc
when it is known that the newspapers
had their report in type six hours
before it was received by the Gov
ernor's office.
1t appears also that at least one
member of the committee has tipped
the whole thing off at least so far
as he is concerned by telling several
people that they were ''going to wreck
Governor Benson and the capitol
gang" Mind you, this from the lips
of a member of the committee that
was making an investigation for the
Governor and at the request of the
Governor! Unquestionably this mem
Der has made it very difficult for the
reputable members of the committee
who desire only to do a service in
the public interest.
However, to the everlasting credit
of Governor Benson, he is refusing to
consider the political motives of some
of the committee members and is
going right down the line with every
recommendation of merit which the
committee has made Already he has
instructed the Commission of Admin
iStration and Finance (Big Three) to
revise the procedure in the matter
of taking bids and awarding contracts
along the line recommended by the
Committee of Architects.
Said Governor Benson to the Big
Three: The position taken by the
Committee of Architects in the mat
ter of handling public bids is funda-
mentally correct regardless of wheth-
er or not they had played politics
1t is correct even though the present
system of taking bids has been in
use in Minnesota for decades.
THE system which has been in
practice in Minnesota is unquestion-
ably a very loose one and, as the
architects said, gives an opportunity
for competition to be confined to a
favored few. Under this system it
is very easy to shut out large group
of business people who want to COM
pete for state business and state work
and who have perfect right to enter
into free and open competition
Whether the law itself throughout
these years has been technically COM
piled with or not also is of relative
unimportance. The principal thing is
whether the manner of taking bids
and of awarding contracts is in &C
cordance with best business practices
and with the best policies of admins
tration. l do not believe the present
system is"
State Senator George H. Lommer
of Eveleth, has a commission from
Governor Benson to give him first
hand information on social and eco
nomic progress in the Scandinavian
countries and Finland when he re-
turns from a siX-week trip this fall
The Senator, who was to sail from
New York July 20, bears letter Of
goodwill from the Minnesota chief eX-
ecutive to present to the heads of these
ADMINISTRATION VII of Norway, Gus
tav V of Sweden, Christian x of Den
mark, and President Kyosti Kallio Of