Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, July 14, 1906, Page 4

Published Every Saturday. By E. C. KILEY. TWO DOLLARS A YEAR IN ADVANCE Entered in the Postoffice at Grand Rapid ‘Mmnesota, as Second-Class Matter, —————————— Jupez McCLENAHAN announced in open court that there would be no more Miller cases tried at this term. bis Esler es Dip it ever occur to you, Mr. Itasca County Taxpayer, that $12.00 per day is a mighty big salary for a nine-dollar- per-week bookkeeper? Doesn’t it look a little grafty? —_+0+—_——_ GrorRGE H. SPEAR, Itasca county’s “Richard III,” never looses an oppar- tunity to get his name priated in the Duluth and Twin City papers. He always manages to sendin frequent reports during the trial of state cases. ———— Ir 1s now Postmaster C. M. Atkin- sun of Hibbing. But the additional responsibilities will make the Ore man none the less‘an editor whois a credit to the professton. The Ore is always full of interesting things that are well told. If Atkinson makes as yood a postmaster as he is editor the people of Hibbing will get first-class service. A. G. BERNARD, secretary of the Northwestern Editorial association, bas informed the traternity that the proposed summer outing, which was announced a few days ago, has been postponed, a-date to be fixed by the executive committee in a few days— all of which is entirely satisfactory to the presiding elder hereof. There is but little delight in a ride through the dust-blizzards of North Dakota, The Herald-Review genius and staff would much prefer the cool shades of Itasca county for a few days’ recre- ation. The original plan was ,for a journey to Devils Lake, N. D. We've been there, thank you, and it’s no fun in the summer time. RECOMMENDED BY COMMISSION When the next: legisheeniie convenes a number of facts will be called to its attention by the state beardof high- way commissioners, who will’ request and recommend a number of laws relative to highways be altered. The position of county surveyor is held by the commission to bea useless office and an office that should be abolished. In place of the county surveyor, they propose to install a county highway commissioner who will have active charge of all road and bridge work in the county, including the repairing. Another law that is regarded as unfavorable to the best results is the poll tax law which states that farmers may work out their taxes u the roads. The commission hopes to see the law altered to such an ex- tent that the taxes must be paid, not worked out. It was also proposed to recommend the building of state stone crushers at different points in the state to be operated by prison labor, that is those convicts not em- ployed in twine-making, but engaged in the manufacture of shoes. This change would, it is said, be of great benefit to the state and put a stop to the dissatisfaction now existing among organized labor, Another law held to be bad is the law which requires the highway com- mission to apportion to each county in the state at least $300 yearly whet- er the county assist the state in good road work or not. The law is held to be unjust to other counties. The passage of a law requiring that all roads shall be kept in a state of re- pair by the county wherein they are located will also be urged. There is no such law at present and consider able trouble has arisen regarding the repairiog of roads. Hitherto the matter has-been left in the hands of uhe town boards, who in many cases refused to repair county roads. The expense to the state froin the vast army of overseers in every county was also taken up and the remedy was xiyen in the shape of the county high- way commissioner. Under expert engineering it is said the cost to the state is about 11 per cent, while under the present system it exceeds 25 per cent. It was decided by the commission to ereet a building at the fair grounds, the structure to be completed before the 1906 fair opens. The building is to be unique in design, will probably be built of brick and will cost in the neighborhood of $1,000. During fair week two split log road drags will be operated on the grounds for the bene- Jit of those interested in road work. tt MLLER IS AGN AEUITED The Jury -Takes But One Vote to Declare the Defendant Not Guilty. ANOTHER OF- SPEAR'S FIASCOS After Spending Thousands of Dol- lars of the People’s Money in an Investigation Charles C. Miller is Declared Innocent. Another farce has heen enacted in the district court of Itasca county. George H. Spear has once more play- ed to the gallers, but instead of the plaudits of the people he is receiving their hisses. The taxpayers will have a bill of $15,000 to pay for the insane pleasure of Itasca county’s ‘Richard III.” George H. Spear is responsible for the employment of an alleged ex- pert accountant ata salary of $12.00 per day during the past year and a half who has given his entire atten tion to looking over the accounts of ex-Treasurer C. C. Miller. The tax- payers of Itasca county: have paid over five thousand dollars in good cash for the services of this alleged expert, Spear claimed to believe that the ex-treasurer was short in his accounts and insisted on having a thorough and sweeping investigation of the books. He has had his way, He has been hampered in no manner. No hmit has been placed upon the expenditure of money. The books ofthe treasurer and auditor have been in the possession of Freeman, the alleged, and there has been no timelimit. It is easy for a prosecut- ing attorney to seeire indictments— especially easy fur a conscienceless character—and several were returned, on one of which Mr. Miller was tried and acquitted last winter. In that trial the state had no case and a prompt acquittal followed the sub- mission of evidence to the jury. Freeman was continued on the books} up to and during the present term of court. Spear selected what he duubt- less considered his strongest case against the defendant. The sum of fifty dollars was involved. In Jane uary, 1904, Mr. Miller, as county | treasurer} issued a check payable to himself, gs county treasurer, on the First National bank of Grand Rapids tor the 8um of ifty dollars. In Feb- ruary, the mortb following, the .fifty dollars was returned and credited w the county in the customary way. Mr. Miller had dune the same thing many times during his 1ncumbency of office. It was frequently necessary to do so in order to get change with which to accommodate parties who came to the treasurer’s office to pay taxes. To so draw money was his legal privilege and legal duty. As the custodian of all county funds and the receiver of all taxes he wus leyal- ly responsible for the transaction of the county business. Every treasurer in the State of Minnesota, or any other state, does precisely what Mr. Miller did, when they find it neces- sary. A. A. Kremer, the present treas- urer and witness for the state, testi- tied that it was sometimes necessary to trausact the business of office just as Mr. Miller had done in the case on which he was being tried. When the attorneys for the defense produced the records to prove that the fifty dollars In question had been returned in due course uf business, Mr. Free- man, the twelve- dollar - per-diem- chap, was perceptibly surprised. After about eighteen months investi- gation he did not know enough about books to know that the proper credit had been made. ‘This is the case, in- cluding the former trial, that has cost Itasca county more than fifteen thousand dollars. The question with the people now is: What insane mo- tive did Spear haye in bringing into court a criminal proceeding when he must have known that no offense had been committed? There are many who have reached the conclusion that the fellow is unable-to distinguish the difference between right and wrong; unable to distinguish the difference between a legal and an illegal act. Others hold that he considers him- self so vastly superior to ordinary mortals that it is only neccessary for him to seJect a jury from among the common people and proceed tu prose- cute, with the chances equal to se- cure a conviction be the defendant an innocent victim or a blood-stained criminal. There are still others who hold that Spear is a ‘Richard III.” who soliloquizes “if the jury be as dense and ignorant as I am false and treacherous, this day there should be a conviction.” Court was reconvened Thursday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock by Judge during which time Sheriff Hoolihan and his deputys were gathering up a special venire of 125 jurymen for the case of the state vs. Miller. By Saturday noon the twelve men had been selected and the trial of the farce began, with Gecrge H. Spear prosecuting, C. C. MdCarthy and C. L. Pratt, defending. The abso- lute innocense of the defendant was established with the state’s own witnesses and evidence. The de- fense did not introduce a single wit- ness. or. a particle of evidence.. It was not necessary. The proved the case so completely in be- half of Mr. Miller that the: jury took but one vote when it was ready -to report a verdict of “not guilty.’ The claim cannot even be made that ‘the “defendant” Had friends on the jury. There were only three men on that jury whom Charley Miller had ever seen before. The case went to the jury Tuesday even- ing. Here is the whole farce sum- med up and presented in a nut shell: John Brown goes to his neighbor Jim Jones and borrows a a revolver with which to kill a dog, he says. Jones loans the firearm to Brown and Brown kills the dog, thereafter returning the revolver to the rightfulowner. The prosecut- ing attorney hears of the transac- tion, employs a Pinkerton detective at a cost to the public of $5,000 to ferrit out the case, and it is finally concluded between the detective and the attorney that Brown borrow- ed the gun with the intention of killing his neighbor Sam Smith. There is not one scintilla of evidence to even indicate that Brown had any intention of harming Smith. He did exactly as he said he would do with the gun and Smith does not allege that he was in any danger. The five-thousand-dollar detective forgets to learn whether or not the gun was ever returned to the owner. The attorney and the slueth argue that Brown might have intended to kill Smith—nobody knows what his intentions may have been. All the evidence goes to show that his in- tentions were in harmony with right. Notwithstanding, the attorney and the sleuth concluded to submit the ‘fntention’”’ feature to the jury— and they did—with the result as stated above. There would have been as much cause to charge Miller with the in- tent to appropriate to his own use any sum of money that he ever received as treasurer of ths county as there was in the case just tried. Berryhill Was in Town. Charles J. Berryhill, the versatile editor of the St. Paul Review and a lawyer of state reputation, was a Grand Rapids visitor this week. He had business in Judge McClenahan’s court where a motion was argued in the case of McAlpine vs. the admin- istrator of the Caldwell estate. This Matter has been in the courts for a bumber of years. Some time ago Attorney Berryhill secured a verdict in favor of his client, McAlpine, in the supreme court of the state for several thousand dollars, Kratka, the administrator of the estate, is still making an effort to prolong - the litigation. E. M. Stanton of ‘Thief River Falls, is the attorney for the defendant. : While Berryhill is a good lawyer, it is his editorial pen that scintillates with the brightest effulgence. When he 1s “at himself” he keeps the whule state press gang astir and when he says mean things about papers or politicians the chap that’s hit sits up and takes notice. He bas state poli- tics down pat; has an extensive per- sonal acquaintance throughout Minnesota; knows the peculiarities of every political piker that shows his head above the surface, and never hesitates to express his opinions with either compliments or kicks, as the case appeals tu him, Berrybil] would make a good man in the legislatnre— and this reminds us that he is a candidate for that very situation in the Thirty-seventh legislative dis trict. in St. Paul, on the Republican ticket. He is one of six looking for the same job, and the Herald-Review really hopes to see him win out and .be elected in November. His natural independence, ready wit and knows Jedge of state affairs would make bim one of the most valuable members in the lawmaking body of Minnesota. If he fails to make the hustle neces sary to scorea winning against his several opponents this will never-again lend him ite st. Paul influence. As to Telephone Rents. W. N. Dalcour, manager of the local telephone exchange, informs the Herald-Keview that the bills issued_to patrons on July 1 for rent service to September 30, was not tended as a demand for payment of three months rent in advance. Some patrons, Mr. Dalcour says, prefer to pay three months in advance. Many such re- sponded promptly without protest. The object in making the bills in ad- vance was to save office work each month, Every userof a phone. will be in good standing if the bill¥s paid at the end of each month x Rate McClenahan aftera four days’ recess ' after the service has been rendered, state, FOR INDUSTRIAL ~ SCHOOL WORK Grand Rapids Should Institute New Department in Her Schools MANMUAL TRAINING. A EGESSIT The Matter Should Be Considered at the Annual Meeting Next Saturday—A Most Im- portant Matter The time was when public schools were regarded as serving their highest purpose in training the mind irrespec— tive of the hand, Mental training was considered the only purpose for which the public school existed. But the economic developement and industrial progress of recent years have placed new and enlarged obligations on the state, and in no small way increased the obligations of the schoul to society. Schools have givenevery consideration to the brain worker but scarcely any consideration td the hand worker. Thus a mistaken notion has ansen in the minds of many that the school in its higher grade work has for its sole purpose the preparation of young men and women for the professions. In fact such emphasis has been placed upon scholastic training that many of our young people have no apprecia- tion of the dignity of hand labor. ‘Then, too, withthe coming of improved machinery an the modern labor union has gone the possibility of tie boy who desires to earn his hving by hand work and the one who has no other future before him of entering an apprentice- ship as was possible for the boys of the last generation, ‘Thus he does not have the opportuuity of becoming skilled in hand work and 1s deprived ofa privilege that should be denied no industrious lad. ‘The question is often asked, why 1s it that only six per cent of the pupils who enter schoo! ever graduate from the high school. One answer to this question is that the high school is not giving the boy what he wants and 1s adapted for. Some boys are adapted for professions and some for the industrial world. ‘The high school should prepare students to take their places in the industrious world as well as among the profes- sions. It must be admitted that tne great majority of young people who pass through the doors of the public school must make their way in the world by the labor of their hands, and if this be true that great majority should be given such training as shall make for skilled laborers. ‘To this end educational interests zre awakening all over the country, and it is the coavic- tion of all prominent educators that the problem must be solved by the —eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEeSesSsSse ———_ public schools. The public school Must enlarge its duty and train the young people to be useful members of society in serving it in its industrial as well as in its purely tellectual pur- suits. | \ Many communities have arisen to the situation, and wherever manual training has been established there has been little or no trouble in keepiig the boys and girls in school until they complete their high school|course. In fact the manual training department in. many of our city schools: have - be- come the favored departments, and their influence for good among the young people and in keeping the boys in school has exceeded the anticipa- tions of the promoters of the work. Manual training has been made.a suc- vess wherever it -has-been~tried,-and there is no reason why it cannot be made a success in our own schools, if-any community in the state de- serves to have its boys and girls given every opportunity that a school s tem can make possible, Grand Rapids is that deserving community. We have schools whose equipment com pares favorably with the best schools of the state, but as yet the industrial side of education has not been pro- vided for. This 1s a matter which should concern every good citizen in Grand Rapids. Manual _ training should be established for both the boys and girls. ‘The boys should have a shop for training in the skilful use of iron and working tools. With the introduction of manual training for boys should be added domestic science for girls. In the work. 1n domestic science, practical work in sewing and cooking is done. ‘The subjects are taken up from their scientific as well as practical stand- point, and when the girls have com- pleted the work offered they are cer- tainly better prepared to become use- ful members of society, and to meet the obligations that womanhood places upon them, ‘The work in both manu- al training and domestic science is begun in the fifth grades and is con- tinued throughout the high school course. ‘To organize the work in the Grand Rapids schools would required no extra space, All the room, that 1s neccessary is provided in the high school building. The citizens of our community should see that this great work be established m their schools, and ‘thus give the young people of Grand Rapids every opportunity of making the most of hfe and of becom- ing the highest types of citizens, Dr. Gendron Coming Home. The Herald-Review is delighted to announce that Dr. Gendron is able to write: “I am well.” Ihe good news was received in a note to ths paper from the doctor, who was then in St. Paul. He will be home tomorrow, accompanied by Mrs. Gendron and their son, Bertrand. ‘The doctor has had a serious time of it during the past two months ina battle with pneumon- ia and the annnuncement of his com-| p, plete recovery will indeed be good news to his Grand. Rapids friends. For Sale or Rent—New six room house. Inquire of King Lumber Co. COUNTY BOARD ———— HOLDS MEETING Continued From First Page. appeared before the board to ask for sma}l appropriations for road repair- ing. No aetion was taken on any matters relating tu.road work at this meeting. . John Wallace was given a contract for the raising of two bridges on Big Fork and Popple rivers in the Cald- well district. This action was taken to permit the navigation of steam Dbuats a ‘Fwo hundred and tifty dollars was transferred from the revenue fund to the incidental fund. This money is used for postage, express, etc. The Pokegama lake ferry, which constitutes a very important fraction of\ the highway between Grand Rapids and Hill City, bas been turned over to the management of James Harper. The ferry needed some repairing. This was done by-Hil} City parties and the ferry was turned over to Mr. Harper who will receive his compen- satiun in charging toll, Mrs, Nellie Murphy who hasa claim and four chiliren in town 69, range 25, applied for county aid. Anallowance. of $10 per month was voted in ber be- behalf. This was considered much cheaper and more beneticia! to the woman and her children than to care for them at the county poor farm. The following election precincts were established: In.section 1-66-25, section 6-160-29, section 21-160-28, sec tion 21-158-26, section 6-69-23, section, 15-68-28, section 1)-67-25. All these precints are located in the proposed new county of Koochiching in up- organized territory. A liquor license was granted to Michelich Bros. who are doing busi- ness in the new town of Keewatin. A bunch of bills were audited and allowed and a number of peticions for abatements considered. ‘The board adjourned until Monday, July 16, when the members will meet as a board of equalization, As a board of commissioners an adjourn— ment was taken to August 29, Urged For County Attorney. Attorney C. M. King of Effie, was in town this week and remained three or four days on business. Mr. King bas been a resinent of the Big Fork country for a number of years and has taken an active part in the deviop- ment and improvement of the section in which he lives. During the past two years he has taught school in his township. Before coming to Tta: county he was engaged in the practice of law in Wright county. Two years ago he was stropgly urged to file for nomination as county attorney, but declined to seek the office. This year e is again being urged to file. bu thus far has refused ty give his con sent. Mr. King would make a strong man before the voters of the county. He is an eloquent public speaker and is possessed of a personality that win: friends wherever he is known. , 9 F9S599900000000000000000000000 000005008) JOHN BECKFEL Grand Rapids, Minn. to buy. JO 3 Pioneer Store ee eT re ee Superiority Try on your shape and size of QUEEN QUALITY or JULIA MARLOWE shoes and you will be amazed at the snug fit and changed appearance of your feet. After wearing a pair you cannot fail to recognize their superiority over oer gouge Sy Saas In Our Windows Note the strickingly handsome styles of Summer Oxfords and Slippers dis- played in our windows. stop at the window, come in and try onapair. Not the slightest obligation HN BECKFELY] Grand Rapids, Minn. But don’t Pioneer Store