The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 1, 1917, Page 9

The farmer has some political grain to grind. He has grown it and harvested it at great expense and {abor. at the gate trying to block the way, and what is it he would bar the farmer with? You have one guess. D SR B TR P, SO ) RS W ey e P MmN e e e st AT e TITA T A e i, Y e B swea S eamTH NI A An R st e e o The mill is ready to grind it. But who is this Hanging Onto the Public Pap Frazier Having a Hard Time Ridding Regent Barnacles From State Educa- tional Institutions—May Oust Them by Court Process BISMARCK, Jan. 27.—The house of the fifteenth assembly this afternoon passed house bill 65, introduced by Representative Hagan, providing that the governor, state superintendent of instruction and three qualified electors appointed by the governor for terms of six years shall comprise the state board of regents. It was passed by 74 for, 15 against and 24 not voting or absent. The bill will now go to the senate. The senate of the fifteenth assembly today refused to confirm the appoint- ments made by Governor Frazier for the board of regeits and the appoint- ments were returned. Several weeks ago the governor de- clared on an opinion of the attorney general that the members of the pres- .ent board of regents were illegally ap- pointed and he declared their office vacant., He sent the names of five men to the senate to be appointed to fill the offices of regent. The senate returned the appointments with the request that he name just two men to fill the vacancies, the senate not pay- ing any attention to the opinion of the attorney general that the entire board was holding office illegally. : Governor. Frazier then sent the five names to the senate again, and it was these appointments that the senate re- fused to act on. The names were sent to the senate last Monday, but were not acted on until this afternoon. OUSTER PROCEEDING = - MAY BE STARTED ° The senate returned the appoint- ments today with the statement that ft could not pass on them ‘until the matter of the legality of the.present board of regents had been passed on by the supreme court. Next week will probably see ouster proceedings begun against the de facto board, and action taken before the su- preme court. The de facto members of the board defy the governor and refuse to con- N tice of the supreme court; Aubrey Lawrence of Fargo and Henry J. Linde, former attorney general. The board will not start the battle, but will wait until action is begun against it. Lewis Crawford, president of the de facto board, late yesterday sent a challenging letter to Governor Frazier denying that he has the authority to terminate their term of office and oust them. The letter demands that the controversy be taken to the supreme court. . 3 A copy of the letter to the governor was sent to the head of.each of the state educational institutions with a circular letter in which it was stated that the governor’s mandate could not remove them from office. GOVERNOR ‘NOTIFIES. ALL STATE SCHOOLS Governor Frazier served notice on the various institutions directed by the board of regents.that no act since January 17 of the board headed by F. L. Crawford will be held valid. CGovernor Frazier notifies the in- stitutions that he has appointed a new board, which has not yet been organized. 7 He tells the institutions he took the step on advice of the attorney general. \ That the matter will get -into the courts and shortly now seems certain, unless both houses pass house bill 65, introduced by A. M. Hagan of Bot- tineau county, a. Nonpartisan League member, which ‘would abolish the pres- ent board of regents and with it all entangling problems and establish a new board, constituted along different lines. This bill was referred to in the Leader a week ago, and briefly pro- vides that only three‘members of the board of regents shall be appointed, while the governor and state superin- tendent of public instruction shall make up the other two members, the We'veVoted Enough, He Says Proprietor of Hill Grove Farm Writes Something About the Present Situation at Bismarck % Hill Grove Farm, Edmore, N. D, Editor Nonpartisan Leader: The McBride bill for a new constitu- tion is another of the old guard's time killers. Mr. McBride wants us to do some more voting, eh? But it seems to us we have voted enough now and given them to understand plainly what we want. Any member of this legis- lature with his brains where they ought to be (instead of in theif pants’ seat) ought to know and should direct his actions accordingly. £ ‘We want the League program put through and we want it put through now. We are through voting. It is up to the men in the legislature to take speedy action. The shorter course they taks the better. , If we are to do any ° more voting on these questiony then we ghomid take & retall vots on soms of the hold-overs in the senate. We would then most likely relieve them of The trouble with the old guard is they want to be bpsses over the us. In their infinite wisdom they they are the only ones that how to govern North Dakota. it be plainly understood that we tired of just voting. We want ac- on now and we want it quick. There a limit to everything and there should be a limit to thwarting the will 4 Efi;sg%% governor being ex officio president of the board. . The situation with regard to two members of the board of control, which L:as under its supervision all the penal institutions of the state and with the board of regents divides authority for all North Dakota's public institutions (the latter having supervision of the schools and celleges) is not changed. On this board it is also claimed that the terms of two members will shortly expire, leaving a majority to be ap- pointed by Governor Frazier. But nothing is being done in this mat- ter until the other case is settled, as the administration holds the board of regents positions are vacant now and need to be filled immediately, while the board of control positions will not be- "’ come -vacant for some months. THWARTING THE PEOPLE (Editorial in thHe Bismarck (N. D.) Palladium.) ‘The opposition to the principles laid down in the platform of the Non- partisan League is merely another instance wherein history repeats it- self, in that all measures of progress have ever met with opposition. It often, takes time to work out a -plan which is really for the good of those who most bitterly oppose it. It is the belief of the majority of the sound- thinking people of this state that the new arrangement proposed for the constitution by the League will work to the good of the masses, and that this should be adopted. The men who are working for this improvement in the conditions which interest every one of us are real pa- _triots, and it is a safe prediction that time will prove the wisdom of their. contentions and efforts. They may not succeed in all they desire at this ses- sion, but the opposition will only serve to furnish a greater energy which will assert itself two years hence, when the issues which now ar- being fought for 8o loyally will bp carried about as nearly unanimously as would be possible. The will of the people can not be thwarted continuously without an up- heaval which will' settle the question in no uncertain terms.