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About Weekly Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1900-1924 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1903)
WEEKLY OREGON FTATESHAN,-FRIDAY, MARCH. 13. 1903.- GEirLODELL- MAKES-REPLY To Charges ofthefgislative ; Joint Committee at Re- v . cent "Session " ISAT8 IT WAS A-jFjJB.Q:' CONCEIV ED IN ENVY; PROSECUTJTO WITH , JdALICE, ANDTJCECDTED WITH tStlMINAL, DUPLICITY V PO LITICAL sciieMb. -' ' f . - f ' (From Wednesday's' Daily). "A IegIsUtive- farce, conceived in i envy, prosecuted with; inaNee." execut ed with criminal, topldity.t.ThLite the title of a -pamphlet issued by Gen 1 eral W. IL Odell discussing the inves i tigatlon of the State-Xand Agents i office conducted by a cornmlttee of the : last Legislature. The' Vampbtet coo j tains 86 pages and sets forth all the testimony taken before the committee. 1 A copy wlH be sent to each member of the Legislature and to c& newspaper InUhe state. By way of rersonr4 In troduction, the author of the pamphlet :jay: - .' - v- . i . I'ln view of the distorted and mis leading constructions ;wit upon the I testl mony . taken and the extreme - and partial and evident unfriendly purpose - manifested by the Joint committee ; of the Legislative Assembly relative ;to i the State Land Agent and the manage ; ment of his office, justice 'and self respect demand the following analy : sis of the report of the Joint commlt- tee. appointed by the Senate and House , j of Representatives. Oregon Legislature. 1903, to Investigate the office -of state Land Agent L. B. Geer, together with testimony in full as submitted by said committee. :'t "All of which Is hereby respectfully, dedicated to an appreciative public ;, -W, H. ODELLJ" The criticism of the Legislative corn mlttee's report Is as follows: jj "To an Appreciative Public jj "The object of this -analysis of the proceedings and findings of th Joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives. Oregon legislature. 1903, appointed to investigate the con duct of the office of ithe State Land Agent, L. B. Oeer. as reported tojthe Legislative Assembly on the 20th day of February, 1903. . t ' ' "A candid and unbiased examination of the proceedings and " findings will show, on the part of the coramrttee, both incompetency and "malevolent purpose. : Incompetent In the matter j of gathering and , receiving alleged ; testimony and malevolent in the per version Of faCtS. ' -', - j "Malevolence was first manifested when a member of the 'committee i en deavored to foist on the committee as chief clerk the arch-traducer of j the 1 late Governor and the State Land ! Agent, and second by the committee i accepting as uch clerk the said trady cer's man - FYtday. -still more cunning . and equally .venomous. 1 - 'The committee received and based Its actions upon Informal, unverified allegations made by one, William M. Bushey. The allegations were vague and general in terms.- and. , when j put under oath. Mr. Bushey admitted fhat i all the knowledge he claimed to have jwu based upon -.hearsay, newspaper reports and rumors. He had no knowl edge of a single fact; could not nme anyone who did; but thought one J-W. Draper did yet he had not talked with him: he had heard tlmbermen talk, but ; could not name anyone. Some Plain English. ' , "Mr. Bushevs man Friday had this Mr. Driper subpoenaed to appear fore the committee, and it appears, from the bill of costs submitted, that : said Draper danced four days in at tendance at a Cost to the state of iSIS ' yet. after due coaching by the man Friday. -,h was not brought before the committee and consequently . gave l no testimony. The .allegations, of Mr. "Bushey were left .without foundation. like a baseless fabric. resting upon the intangible Imaginations of a splenetic vlliifler. actuated by politic! motives and personal spite, set " on edge Just before election time, "The committee charges neglect, of dutv under the laws of 1899. The laws of 1898 Impose no duty upon the Gov frnor not Imposed by the Constitution of the State of Oregon and the laws of . 1S452. The same duties and the same obligations have been resting upon every Governor of the state, the only atfrrivc hlna- in some miner details as to the manner of appointment! and salary and prices of larsvr Neither the Governor nor - the State Land Agent has ever been authorised toj sell any state school lands snd neither of them has ever attempted to do so; ! and there is no evidence showing that they ' did. ., . . ' - ' . "There l no evidence to snow that even so much as one acre of these lands has been sold by the State Land itnrri for nnc cent lessi than the price fl xed by law. Every- acre selected by o.i. unit Annt u lieu lands tick) ftAsn vhn tt onroved by the Keg i?celver of - tne v; - prate have been and are. now kepton file in the vaults of the office of the clerk of; the State Land Board ' and those records are open to Inspection by any one who desires- to examine them at all proper times. These records have been kept up by the officers in charge and are quite full, so that' the selec tions of indemnity have kept pace with the development of losses. This was true at the expiration, of Governor Lord's term and so he stated it and it is still true; all lieu selections made by the present State Land Agent have been made upon adjudicated mineral base and. non mineral base made avail able by departmental action since the beginning of the : present incumbent's term of office; and there- has been no f ime within the last four years when the State Land Agent could have made selection of any 50.009 or 100.000 acres of good timber land, upon any base that he had "or could have had. The suppositious case of "a possible'loss of $800,000 or any other sums more or less is but the vaporlngs of a profes sional timber expert who; would pose with his co-abettors as being possessed with great foresight, , i ; ( A Political Cry. -'Such as these are wont to upon what 'might have been., fThey deplore the ' fact that the mfjf who drove ox teams across i the plains' should have presumed to deal with the affairs of state; the school iands and the timber belts should have been left untouched until the Pullman car ex perts arrived upon the scene of action. Yes, dig up the bones of the pioneers, and kick them, for lack of better Judg ment and charge all the losses and mis management and bad laws to the out going Governor. VJ "The committee claims that It is in -evidence that. Ode!!, during the time : that he occupied desk room in the office of the State Land Agent, pre pared a . book of descriptions of the lands ' lost , to the state in sections IS and 36. which he offered to produce but afterwards, declined to do so. and it is also in evidence that, while Odell was preparing said book, he -was not in the emplcy of the state on salary or fees; that he made the book at his own cost of time and labor, and that It was as much his private property as were the private memoranda of any of the many who examined the rec ords and took data, from the office of the Cler and the State Land Agent. This! was a matter of almost daily occurrence, and, with quite a good many, prolonged and extensive; all without question or hindrance, j !The comm'ttee charges! that Odell received large sums of money, and de manded to know how much and from whom; an Inquisition wholly unwar ranted; It being no part of the proper prerogatives of the committee. No FAIR BOARD IN SESSION ";- -f ' '- 1 ' ' " '- '-' -'.-"v' Greater Pari of Time Devoted r to Revision of Prem- ium List , irX ' !- . 1 ' WILL LOOK OVER GROUNDS 4TO . DAT AND 'NAME ' MINOR IM PROVEMENTS AND PLAN FOR MORE EXTENSIVE NEEDS IN THAT LINE WILL GO AHEAD. (From Wednesday's Daily . The State Board of Agriculture, con sisting of Hon. W, H. Wehrung, presi dent; Geo. Chandler, Baker City; Jas par Wilkin. Coburg, and G. A. West gate, of Albany, and Secretary; M. D. Wisdom, met iri room No. 5 of the State House yesterday, for the purpose of making definite " arrangements for the coming State Fair. All of the mem bers of the Board, except Mr, Wilkins, who arrived on . the afternon ; over land, came in ou the morning train and the entire day was spent in looking over and revising the premium list.' This work was not completed by any means, however, and as the Board will be in session for about, three days, the greater portion will be devoted to re vising the premium list. On account of the liberal appropri ation which the Legislature made for premiums this year the Board will feel more free, but at the same time it will exercise the greatest discretion in ap portioning the money at. their disposal so that the greatest benefits will be realized from the amount awarded and President Wehrung said that especial effort will.be made to build up the ex hibits in every line to the highest stan dard and. for the present, the $12,000 appropriated will be sufficient to make wonderful improvements In the exhi bition lines over previous years, which will be a great drawing feature of the exhibition. j ; ; " J More attention will be given and greater efforts put forth to obtain more county exhibits and to arouse interest In this line, and make it possible for the counties In the more remote por tions of the state to enter and compete it will be necessary to offer larger and She is resting in an easy position and is uninjured, and wjn be taken off at the next tide. Many ' of the f small steamers did not venture oat and all communication was cut on with the other side of the river, during: the day. The wind backed the-morning tide of 7.7 feet up equal . to an "11-foot, tide, but this did no damage, f ' ; i ; McCLELLAN RELEASED. ' s 1 A.I BANT. Or., March !0. Ro7 Mc Clellan. who recently escaped from, the Thurston county Jail at Olympia- and was recaptured at this city, has be-n rele- red from custody. He was being held here awaiting the arrival of pficers from Olympia who were to return him to that city. "But the local .officers have received word that the Olympia offers do not -consider it worth the expense to Ltake McCIellan back to Jail, as he was lerving only a sixty .days' sentence, so they have set him at liberty. . FORGER IN JAIL, L KALAMA. Wash.. March 10. William Howard, alias Joe Bowman, who recent ry forged small checks on F. S wager, Scott Strain and H. IL Harvey, of Kel so, was brought to Kalama Wednesday , to await the action of the Superior Court. Tuesday Howard was given preliminary examination at Kelso be- j fore Judge Kelly. He pleaded guilty; and- in default of ball was brought to Kalama to await his trial in the county 111- ...' , J.W- "THb WEB-F00T" . PAPER PUBLISHED AT THE MUTE SCHOOL RECEIVES SOME FLAT TERING MENTION.' : mm We Show and Sell The best of Carpets,' Bags, Art Squares, Matting, linoleiums, and OU Cloth. The. largest . stock evr before' exhibited in alem. Take a look and be oonrinoed. . ; Ozr New lccstl:a269 UScrty St.- M louse f urnisfiing Co. STORES AT SALEM AND ALBANY". more purses. With this end in view . , . J VT, Z "t .1 Tt.t.Ilthe Board proposes to take advantage later him Tjinrt Office, reported: oy to the State Land Board and when w -ot hmrd has been - sold as miVl w . . bv law provided. " "This law requires the Governor or t,i. ati T jjnd Afent to .make selec tions of lieu lands: by sending lists of the same to the proper United i nme 'and. on approval of the same by said local land office, to report ha t fact to the State tna- ioar. thereupon the said board was author mrtit rooulred to sell such lands a ,.rl,vr k1 by law. without waiting for final approval by the Commission er of the General Land Office. This has ten the law, and practice eVer since February 21. WW; ; The Stats Land Agent. . ' -It Is not true that the SUleLand Agent has been derelict in duty In not nrenarine tract dook umw. luids lost to the state .In be sense imniii hv iho renort as made by the .,,!. tvhiu it is true that the present State Land Agent has not prepared tract books showing losses. r-1 h rMsnn that it Is not" required and th-re Is no sppropriatlon to meet the expense, it Is true that the record .u m l!ti Unas or school fund: it being entirely a privates matter of barter; between pri vate Individuals. ' The committee wouM have Just as much right to demand an accounting from Judge Hale of the fees charged his clients or of Mr. Bushey of his settlement with the late Judge T. C. Shaw. - "The committee state: That the ev idence of Odell at page 80 shows that he was not appointed to select swamp lands, Ac That Is a whopper evi dently injected into the : report by Busbey's man Friday; no such evi dence was taken; no such allegation was , made." : ' Sonus Additions. To the above Mr. Odell adds: "With all due deference to the dig nity of the Joint committee of the Ore gon! Legislature and with a proper re spect for the learning and Impartial ity ?) of the Attorney General of the State of Oregon, ; who. with Busheys man Friday, conducted the investiga tion, it will not be deemed impertinent to summarise the results: "First Mr. Busheys allegations as stated above. Second The introduction of a Mr. O. M. P. Jamison of Portland, at a cost of 112.60. to testify that he had found a man. in the person of W. T. Slater, who could be trusted with nis deep laid scheme nothing mere. ' Third This W. T; Slater, at a cost of J2.20 worth, testified to his own fit ness and trustworthiness .nd informed the committee that he could not make the Governor see without rwroallng his blahs. -It being a plain; case where Mr- Slater could be trusted but the Gov ernor could not. (Wonderful discov rv?) -Fourth Levy Stlpp, an attorney (?) from Oregon City, at a cost of J-00. tifir! t reallv do-not know; had Kome. business relations with Mr. Bra per; thought some selections were held n nuite a while by the iaie uinu Agent; did not know whose applica tions were involved; did not kw why they were held, whether on appeal or for amendment: closed by saying: 1 think Mr. Draper gave me all the infor mation I have . "Fifth Mr. J. A. Buckley, a Umber ....t r i nr II vears exoerience. a good Judge of what might nave oeeu, to the tune of $12.0 and the great sat isfaction of the man Friday and the Attorney General. This includes all the -testimony in troduced in. support of the allegations or Mr. Bushey, except me duijb his man Friday, who; in order to draw $78 out of the State Treaeury. signcu his name as M. E. pogue. i "If such testimony were suomnicu btiv Miirt of enultr. or to any jus tice of the peace In a country district. It would be regarded as the veriest rot- Tet It commanded the consiaerauon i n mmmilte and the findings of the committee were handed to the . niHn hV lion. . li- rwniMU". mrith a. KUStO IMl luiwuvu. send my Pa to Congress. i ail ooneeived ana - execui ttvirlent OUrPOSe to are approaching, that of the St. Louw Exposition next year, and the Lewis and Clark Fair In 1905. In order for the commissions of these fairs to, obtain a complete and varied display of the numerous products of Oregon it wtH be necessary for them to procure the best of every variety of product from each of the several counties. In view of this fact the Board real lsed that it will require the expendi ture of a great amount of money, by both the St. Louis and Lewis and Clark commissions, therefore, the Board in-1 tends making them a proposition which will not only reduce the expense of col lecting these exhibits but wllr add greatly to the attraction of the State Fair and create an Interest In eompetl tion that will bring forth great results. The proposition will be to ask a con tribution of $1500 from the commissions of the two big fairs to be placed at the disposal of the State Fair Board, to be expended for premiums for county ex hibits. which amount will be sufficient Inducement for every county in the state t? enter Into competition and bring the choicest of their products for exhibition. It Is a standing rule with the Board7 that the exhibits brought to the fair for county competition becoinie the property of the Board, and from the exhibits i that will be secured through the great Inducements which this proposition will offer, a most ex cellent and complete general display of Oregon products could be secured to exhibit at both the St Louis 'and the Lewis and Clark fairs; such an one as could not be collected through the ex nonrttture of double the amount of money by either of the commissions. At... Governor and his efficient and trust- w aft ".. worthy state jLiaim -""- I Cows should have rock salt in every field. This will with besmirch the (From Thursday's Dally). "The Web-Foot Is th new name ol the paper published at the Oregon School for the Deaf. Following are ome of the comments of the papers published at other institutions upon the changed name and improved appear. a nee of the Oregon publication: Together with a new dress, the Oregon. -school paper has taken on a new, name. lereafter It wants to be known as The irVeb-Foot.1. Not so long ago It was The Sign, then it became The Gaxetteer. The Kansas Star may rest easy. This custom of using the nicknames of stater not likely to be followed by either Missouri or Illinois. Missouri Record. When a new superintendent takee harge in Oregon one of the first things he does Is to change the name of "the school paper. They have a new super intendent out there consequently The Oregon Gaxetteer now comes to us as the Web-Foot, ' We consider the new name an improvement and besides wllJ remind . the members of the 1. p. f. to extend sympathy or rebuke, to the Irenched brother at Salem. The paper has been much improved of late. Ken tucky Standard. When our eyes fell upon The Web- Foot we thought we has espied a can- vasback. or something of that kind, and felt sorely tempted to point the muzzle of our, gun and take it on e,wlng, but i moment s reflection warnea us tnai he game laws of Michigan forbid, at this season of the year. We then reco flised. behind that name, out yregon friend and former fellow-worker. Mr. T, P. Clarke, and doffed our cap and wel comed "the little paper to our sanctum It looks so Priam, -so newsy, and so lean In Its bran new hat and vest that t really deserves a place -well up at the lead of the list of little papers in our amily. We hope our Oregon friendr will be successful In obtaining the ap- orcpriations needed to make the chang- n.i I mnrnvomfnt that thev; have . . . ix i 1 ' m... minnAn 1 1 r l f i 1 1 I linn. iireii uui ,-eb-footed Western friend will have, in addition to a new hat and vest, a new coat and trousers. Michigan Mirror. too More Subscribers Wanted Ws hsve now 4J0OO subscribers for the Twiee-a-Week SUtMman. This field ought to maintain at least 1,000 mors. Ws want' 1X mors this year. In order to induce our present subscribers to hslp us get the next 1,000 names en our lists, ws make the following of fers good for 1903: - v"- If you will bring or send us two new subscribers, with the $5 to pay'for thenv ws will credit your' own subscription one full year. " For every new subscriber, with the 1 to pay for the same, ws will credit yor own subscription six months, whether in advance . or in rrssrs. For every time subscription secured, payable within six months st the $1 rate, we will credit your subscription three months. There are new people coming Into the country. Tell them about ths Twice-a-Week Statesman, and secure their subscriptions, and thus pay your own subscription, whether in advance or in arrears. Time Subscribers may sloo this order or something similar. .190 LABOR MAN ELECTED WILLIAM CBOOKS GOES TO PAR LIAMENT TO SUCCEED LOUD BERESFORD. To 8TATESM AN PUB. CO. Salem, Oregon. j Please send tbe Twlcte-a-Week Statesman to my address as given below, for 12 months, for which I agree to pay $ 1 within six months from this date. (If not paid wlthte montb the Mbscnption price U 11.25 per year.) P. O. : Seeds A 7Z 7 A . - . mere mt ttae KO oTm. rsrav a CO, It Is believed that : the commissions ot th two ble- fairs will take up . this nroDosition very readily. The Board will go out to the Fab- Grounds this morning and make an in SDection of some few Improvements that have been made during tne winter months, such as grading, fencing and draining and to formulate plans for carrying on extensive Improvements and repairs to; the buildings ana grounds In general during the coming summer. Among the Improvements which are absolutely necessary this year are,: The relaying of a pipe line for carrying the water supply to the grounds; mas Ing additions and extensions to the grand stand and building more stock sheds. An : appropriation of $10,000 was made by the Legislature for this purpose, but unfortunately" It was. as President Wehrung expressed It, -old dog Tray In bad company,- Included in the soecial appropriation bill and w.a tni bv the Governor, which greatly crippled, the' Board in earryingj on the much needed Improvements. f The Board thinks, however, that no trouble will be encountered in finding some one to take up the warrants for the amount necessary to make the most essential improvements this year, and rely upon the next Legislature to make up the deficiency. , This afternoon the Board will resume the revision of the premium list and Invites all who have any suggestions to make in that respect to bring them In and submit them., ' v The Board has : not yet decided as to whether the officers for the coming fair will be elected during mis meet ing, but an effort will be made to get out the facial, program and premium list. . ' ' J GALE IS OVER. ASTORIA. Ore, March II. The southeast: gale that started during Monday Bight lasted until last even ing, when It subsided without hating done much damage in this vicinity, either on land or water. Many are blown down and windows broken, bet no individual Injured. In the river the British ship Hotton Hall, anchored - h lower harbor, held on all right. but he German bark BiBe. whidrwaa anchored opposite the city, dragged her anchor and went on the middle hda. LONDON. March 11. The election of the successor to Lord Charles Beresf ord s a member of Parliament for Wool wich Division of London, took place to day., and resulted In, a majority of 3229 for the Labor candidate William Crooks over Geoffrey Drage. the. Unionist can didate. Crooks is County Counsellor, and is somewhat of the' John Burns type. Lord Charles Beresford's retire ment from Parliament Is due o his ap pointment to the head of the Channel Squadron. , Crooks is a working cooper fifty years old. When nine years old he was in the poor house. As late as 188 he tramped from London to Liver pool In search of Work. He Is a ready speaker and sin Indefatigable worker. Addrew Orders to Statesman Pub. (Co. . ... Sqlem, Oregon. , . EUGENE CXTT COUNCIL. EUGENE. Ore, March 11. At the regular monthly meeting of the City Council last night an ordinance was naasad dlvidlRK the city; Into four wards, in accordance with the recent ly amended charter, and providing for the election of Councilmen. ; Eacb ward is toi be represented by two Council- men. - One of these is to be elected each year, and the term of office will be two years. The proposed ordinance In rrMsiner the fee for saloon licenses 1 from 1500 to $09 per annum was dls- riKMNI' mi I was . laiu - over unui m next meetng of the Council, f Rffy Yecrs ihd Sfsndcrd si: MHLtlNERY JM We have now opened 500 ladies' street hats. New Spring goods, all of the newest styles and no two exactly alike. They invite your inspection, they are tempting. The season is now approaching when you should lay aside that heavy winter hat, that makes your head ache to carry it, and provide yourself with a new straw, light, durable, stylish, good qual-; ity and reasonable price. : For all of : these good features interview thein at- . - j . GrRBBlSTBAUM'S Dry Goodo Gtore, I 302 Cczercl2l Sl 1st Czzr tziih it Hi Pest Office. -! : Ueau Oreesa. s- ) . Sk nlijxl r.zzzn Ucrlf F!r rrifctil tnU O.S. C:Vt Cht!i!s " CCAOO . . . & EEJD WHEAT Some line clean seed now on hand , . Lmmd Plaster mud Fertltlzers - We carry complete stock for the field or garden. We have fertilizers for onions and strawberries. It pays yon to use St. K . .. jTsv AC are A medicine for cows only. The Lest on the market, ' ' - D. A. WHITE JS CN Fecrlmen and Feedmcn . VI Court Street, Salem, dr.