USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 34
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The governor then proceeded to call attention to the fact that while the con- stitution provides that the supreme executive power of the state is vested in the governor, still other provisions of the constitution nullify this to a certain ex- tent by scattering such executive power among several elective officers and num- erous boards and commissions, and treating this matter at length asked for the reorganization of the executive department of the state by dividing the execu- tive and administrative departments into a number of small departments, the head of each to be directly responsible to the governor, and the functioning of each office, bureau, board or commission of the state to be assigned to one of such departments, such departments to be divided where necessary into bureaus; and proposed that the heads of the several departments, including constitutional and elective officers should constitute a Governor's Cabinet or Council, thereby furnishing a vehicle through which all departments of the state government could be coordinated and correlated in their functions, and asking for a careful scrutiny on the part of the Legislature of all acts proposed with a view of ascer- taining their good or evil effect upon the entire state and all of the people.
THE FIFTEENTH STATE LEGISLATURE
It was very generally conceded that the members of the Fifteenth Legislative Assembly in both houses honestly endeavored to accomplish the duties imposed upon them. More important legislation was enacted at this session than at any prior session of the Legislature. The new codes provided for two years before by the Fourteenth Legislative Assembly had been prepared by B. W. Oppenheim, a member of the Boise bar eminently qualified for such duty, and submitted to the Legislature at the very commencement of the session and passed without
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change. The absurdities of the primary election law as it had existed had been thoroughly exposed during the campaign and that law was amended by return- ing to the old convention system for the nomination of state officers and allow- ing county officers to be chosen at primary elections. Three new counties, Clark, Caribou and Jerome were created, making the entire number of counties in the state forty-four.
An appropriation of $900,000 was made to finish the Capitol building, the condition being imposed that Boise City should cooperate by procuring title to portions of the city immediately fronting the Capitol building and devote the same to parking purposes. Many other statutes were enacted and appropriation was made by the Legislature in the total sum of $5,593,748.68, including the erection of the public buildings burned, the completion of the Capitol building and necessary improvements in various public institutions of the state, and also included a number of bills against the state which had been approved by the board of examiners of the state and the Supreme Court, and for which no appro- priation had before been made ; also the sum of $145,848.83, being for deficiency expenditures made by the prior administration growing out of the war and for which no appropriations had been made before. Practically all of the important recommendations made by the governor were crystallized into statutory en- actments by the Legislature.
Another legislative enactment worthy of mention was an act permitting box- ing contests when authorized by a boxing commission created by the bill.
The most important enactment, however, of the Legislature was the passage of House Bill No. 19, known as the Administrative Consolidation Bill, which was submitted by the State Affairs Committee of the Senate and which fully expressed the suggestions made-by the governor in his message in regard to the increase of executive authority by the creation of new departments. Under this law it is provided that there shall be created nine civil administrative de- partments of the state government, each department to have an officer at its head to be known as a commissioner, these departments to be divided into bu- reaus. The nine new departments and the offices under them are as follows:
Department of Agriculture in charge of: Bureau of markets, continuing present duties of State Farm Markets Bureau; Bureau of Animal Industry, succeeding to functions of live stock sanitary board and state veterinarian; bu- reau of plant industry, performing work of horticultural and bee inspectors; bureau of fairs, to be in charge of state fair director; office of weights and measures, formerly a part of duties of pure food inspector ; office of registration for registration of cattle brands ; board of nine agricultural advisers.
Commerce and Industry-office of banking, in charge of director of bank- ing ; bureau of insurance, continuing duties of present office of Commissioner of Insurance; Bureau of State Industrial Insurance, continuing present office ; Office of Supervision of Investment, for enforcement of "Blue Sky" law.
Finance-Office of budget and taxation ; office of public auditor, with same duties as present deputy state examiner ; office of state deposits, to be in charge of one of employes.
Immigration, Labor and Statistics-Office of labor which will include duties of safety inspector ; office of immigration; office of statistics, which will gather statistical data for all other state offices.
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Law Enforcement-Office of state constabulary, in direct charge of com- missioner of department; bureau of fish and game, which will be presided over by present state game warden, who will be under the supervision of department commissioner ; office of registration of motor licenses.
Public Investments-This department will be the same as the office of state land department register, with added duties heretofore exercised by the Land Board in connection with investment of state funds.
Public Welfare-Succeeding Boards of Directors of North Idaho Sani- tarium, Idaho State Sanitarium and Soldiers' Home; the State Board of Health and the State Sanitary Inspector. Division of Public Health Service, Medical Adviser in charge of bacteriological laboratory; vital statistics bureau; office of public health adviser, division of charitable institutions and the division of child welfare work are also under this department.
Department of Public Works-Succeeding State Highway Commissioners, and Trustees of Capitol building. Under departments will be: Bureau of high- ways, office of public parks, bureau of supplies in charge of a state purchas- ing agent, and the office of public buildings to have charge of the Capitol build- ing.
Department of Reclamation-Succeeding to powers of State Land Board on Carey Act matters, and taking over duties of State Engineer. Subdivisions are : Office of Water Rights; Bureau of Water Distribution; Office of Safety In- spection to have charge of inspection of dams and structures used in irrigation ; and office of Carey Act administration.
It is provided by the act itself that it shall be in force and take effect from and after March 31, 1919, and late in the month of March the governor made the following appointments of members of his cabinet and commissioners of the several departments :
Department of Agriculture-Miles Cannon.
Commerce and Industry-Jay Gibson.
Finance-G. E. Bowerman.
Immigration, Labor and Statistics-
Law Enforcement-Robert O. Jones.
Public Investments-Charles A. Elmer.
Public Welfare-J. K. White.
Public Works-William J. Hall.
Reclamation-W. G. Swendsen.
As the record of events chronicled in this history is intended to end on the first day of April, 1919, it will be impossible to set forth any further events of Governor Davis' administration. Every good citizen of Idaho hopes that this new departure in the administration of the state's affairs will prove a success and all of the benefits prophesied by Governor Davis as a result of its enact- ment will be more than realized. The editor, in common with all citizens zeal- ons for the future of his state, wishes Godspeed to the administration in the effort that is being made to reform past conditions and earnestly hopes the his- torian called upon to chronicle future events will be impelled to truthfully as- sert that the legislation of the fifteenth session tended in greater degree to ad- vance the best interests of Idaho and its citizens than all efforts before made by the governors and legislatures of the state.
CHAPTER XVII
PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
FIRST PENAL LEGISLATION IN IDAHO-THE PENITENTIARY-INSANE ASYLUMS- STATE SOLDIERS' HOME-INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL-SCHOOL FOR DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND-CHILDREN'S HOME-IDAHO STATE SANITARIUM.
One of the problems that comes to every state for solution is to provide prisons for the confinement of the vicious and homes or asylums for the un- fortunates. The first white settlers of Idaho were gold seekers-men of hardy physical constitution and inured to the hardships of frontier life, who had little need of hospitals or asylums. But among them were some who had little re- spect for the law, which made it necessary for the young territory to provide some suitable place for their incarceration. The second territorial Legislature, which met on November 14, 1864, enacted a law making the territorial treasurer ex-officio prison commissioner and designating the county jails of Boise and Nez Perce counties as territorial prisons. When the third Legislature met at Boise on December 4, 1865, Boise County presented a claim for keeping prisoners, to wit :
Board for five prisoners 1,120 days. $3,200
Clothing and laundry
415
Medical attendance. 240
Guards 3,887
Blankets, etc.
124
Irons for shackling prisoners. 185
Rent of jail and transporting prisoners
75
Total
$8,126
Some of the members of the Legislature thought the charges were too high and the matter was referred to a select joint committee, of which H. C. Street was chairman, with instructions to investigate and report. The committee re- ported by bill (House Bill No. 3) making an appropriation of $8,126, with in- terest, for the payment of the claim, and recommending its passage. The report further stated that the account for board (five prisoners for 1,120 days) was equal to board one prisoner for 160 weeks at $4.00 per week, which was not too high when the prices paid by the jailer for provisions were taken into considera-
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tion, and that the county held vouchers for the other items in the claim to show that the money had actually been expended. The report of the committee was accepted and the bill passed.
By the act of January 10, 1866, the law relating to the prison commissioner was amended so as to define more clearly his duties and authorizing him "to exercise general supervision over all territorial prisoners," and for defraying the expenses of keeping such prisoners the act set aside 30 per cent of all ter- ritorial tax "hereafter levied and collected to constitute a special territorial prison fund." The county jail of Boise County was designated as the tempor- ary territorial prison and the sheriff of Boise County as the keeper thereof. The commissioner was directed to employ, or cause to be employed, all territorial convicts at hard labor; to make such improvements to the jail of Boise County as might be necessary; and to employ two guards at $6.00 per day each to prevent the escape of prisoners. He was allowed $2.50 per day for each pris- oner, to pay for board, clothing, medical attendance, laundry work, etc. Such were the first laws of the territory relating to criminal matters of this kind.
THE PENITENTIARY
On January 22, 1867, President Andrew Johnson approved an act of Con- gress making an appropriation of $40,000 for a penitentiary or territorial prison for the territory of Idaho. The passage of this bill was due to the efforts of Edward D. Holbrook, then Idaho's delegate in Congress. Thomas Donaldson was appointed to superintend the work of construction and the contract for the erection of the building was awarded to Charles May, one of Boise City's pioneer builders. The Territorial Legislature, by an act approved on January 15, 1869, authorized the governor, when the buildings were so far completed as to be se- cure, to certify the same to the prison commissioner and direct that the prison- ers be transferred to the new institution. The act also provided for the appoint- ment of a prison warden to take the place of the commissioner in the manage- ment of the penitentiary.
The prison was not ready for the reception of convicts until 1872. It is located just east of the City of Boise on a tract of land which originally con- tained 160 acres, but which has been added to from time to time until the peni- tentiary holdings now embrace 520 acres. In 1889, a short time before Idaho was admitted to statehood, Congress made an appropriation of $25,000 for an addi- tion to the building. Work on the new wing was commenced in March, 1890, but before it was completed Idaho was admitted into the Union and the peni- tentiary, with all its lands and appurtenances, was turned over to the state. On August 1, 1890, there were seventy-five prisoners in the penitentiary, six of whom were United States prisoners. Since the admission of the state the peni- tentiary has been practically rebuilt, the main buildings being inclosed by a strong wall of sandstone taken from the quarries in the hills not far from the prison and being upon the prison lands. The contract system of employing convicts has never been employed in the Idaho penitentiary, so that the work of quarrying the stone and building the wall was done mainly by the inmates. When the wall was completed the buildings in the inclosure were reconstructed, the convicts doing most of the work, and several new structures have been added. The war- den and other prison officials and attendants live in comfortable quarters out-
IDAHO STATE PENITENTIARY, BOISE
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side of the guard wall. A considerable portion of the penitentiary land is un- der cultivation, the work being performed by the convicts.
A prison library was started in 1886 by Edward J. Curtis, then territorial secretary, who gave fifty volumes as a nucleus. Visitors to the prison are each charged a fee of twenty-five cents for the benefit of the library fund, and philan- thropic citizens have donated books, magazines, etc., until a very respectable collection has been accumulated. The convicts have free access to this library and out of the fund newspapers and current magazines are kept on the tables in the reading room. The parole system and indeterminate sentence are part of the prison policy. The governor, secretary of state and attorney general com- pose the Prison Board, and exercise the pardoning power.
INSANE ASYLUMS
The thirteenth Territorial Legislature of Idaho met on December 8, 1884, and remained in session until February 5, 1885. Near the close of the session a bond issue of $20,000 was ordered, the proceeds to be used in establishing an asylum for the insane at Blackfoot. L. Shilling donated a tract of ground a short distance north of the town and the institution was opened for the admis- sion of patients on July 2, 1886. Prior to that time the insane of the territory had been cared for by contract with the State of Oregon in the insane asylum at Salem. Upon the opening of the Blackfoot asylum, twenty-six men and ten women were brought from Salem and placed in the new institution. The first building erected was three stories in height, with basement. The basement walls were of stone, those of the first and second stories were of brick, and the third story was of frame construction.
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In his message to the first State Legislature, Governor Shoup said: "On the morning of November 24, 1889, I received from Doctor Givens, medical director of the insane asylum at Blackfoot, a telegram stating that the insane asylum was burned to the ground."
The governor, accompanied by I. N. Costin, one of the asylum trustees, went to Blackfoot, where they learned that the alarm of fire was sounded at 1:30 A. M. At that time there were forty-seven male and twenty female patients in the asylum. Doctor Givens and the fifteen employes managed to save these patients, though some resisted and had to be carried out by force. An hour after the fire started the roof fell in and by daylight the asylum was a mass of smoking ruins. The male patients were quartered for a few days in the Bingham County courthouse and the women were kept in the Methodist Episcopal Church, which the congregation generously tendered to the state for that purpose.
An appropriation of $15,000 had been made by the last territorial Legislature for an addition to the main building. This addition, 117 feet long by 30 feet wide and two stories in height, was almost completed at the time of the fire. It was not seriously injured and Governor Shoup ordered the work to be hurried, so that within a short time temporary quarters were ready in the new structure. In reporting these incidents to the Legislature, the governor stated that the site of the asylum was such that the premises could not be properly drained and recommended the purchase of a new location in order that the sani- tary conditions of the institution might be improved. In the summer of 1890 a new site, some distance north of the old one, was purchased and a new build-
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ing, modern in appointments, was erected. The original grant of land was added to from time to time until in 1900 the asylum farm consisted of over two thousand acres, a large part of which was under cultivation, and farmed by the inmates.
As the population of Idaho increased the need for better accommodations for the insane became apparent and on March 7, 1905, Governor Gooding ap- proved an act of the Legislature authorizing the appointment of a commission, of which the governor should be chairman, to select a site in the northern part of the state for a new insane asylum. The act also authorized a bond issue of $30,000 for the erection of suitable buildings and set apart 40,000 acres of lands granted by the Administration Act for the support of "other state, charitable, educational, penal and reformatory institutions," for the benefit of the north- ern insane asylum. The act also set apart 50,000 acres for the asylum at Black- foot, the proceeds arising from the sale of the lands to be a permanent fund for the asylums.
After examining several prospective sites, the commission decided upon 245 acres of unimproved land on the north side of the Clearwater River, near the Town of Orofino, the county seat of Clearwater County. Dr. J. W. Givens, medical director of the asylum at Blackfoot, was placed in charge of the work of preparing the ground for the buildings. Taking with him twenty men and five women patients whose insanity was of the mild type, with horses, wagons and the necessary implements, tents for shelter, etc., he commenced clearing ground and planting fruit trees. Within a year from the time the location was selected the institution was ready for the reception of patients. Additional buildings have since been erected, with modern appliances, the orchard started in 1905 has been kept in good condition and the farm here, as at Blackfoot, affords work for the patients that are not violently insane. In both asylums attention is given to proper exercise, amusements, etc., and the insane asylums of Idaho will compare favorably with similar institutions in other states.
SOLDIERS' HOME
Although Idaho furnished no troops during the Civil war (1861-65), a num- ber of veterans settled in the territory in the years that followed that great conflict. As the years rolled by and many of these veterans became unable to support themselves, the question of providing a home for them came up for consideration in many of the states. By an act approved by Governor Mc- Connell on March 2, 1893, the Idaho Legislature appropriated, "from any money in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated," the sum of $25,000 for the establishment of a soldiers' home. The act also set apart 25,000 acres of the land granted by the Act of Congress "for charitable and other purposes," for the support of the home, and provided for the appointment of five trustees, consisting of the secretary of state and the department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for Idaho as ex-officio members and three others to be appointed by the governor, two of whom should be members of the Grand Army of the Republic.
This board of trustees was authorized and empowered to acquire a site of not less than forty acres by purchase or donation, and to receive gifts of money
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SOLDIERS' HOME, BOISE. DESTROYED BY FIRE OCTOBER 7, 1917
SOLDIERS' HOME GROUNDS, BOISE
Vol. 1-21
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or other valuables that might be of use in furnishing and equipping the home. The act further provided that when the 25,000 acres of land were sold, the ap- propriation of $25,000 should be returned to the state, with interest at 5 per cent per annum; that the home should be open to the inspection of the board of managers of the National Soldiers' Home; that the trustees should appoint a commandant and an adjutant, the former with the rank of major and the latter with the rank of lieutenant in the Idaho National Guard; and that the inmates of the institution should wear the uniform adopted by the Grand Army of the Republic.
A site of forty acres about two miles from the business district of Boise, overlooking the Boise River, was donated by the people of Ada County, and on May 23, 1894, the corner-stone of the first building was laid with appropriate ceremonies. This building is two stories in height, constructed of brick with dressed stone trimmings, with a frontage of 100 feet and accommodations for sixty inmates. Its cost was $13,500 and it was opened in November, 1894. The Legislature of 1895 made an appropriation of $28,000 for the erection of additional buildings, one of which is a well equipped hospital.
The act of February 26, 1897, amended the original act by making a residence of four months in the state a requisite for admission to the home. The amenda- tory act also made the governor, secretary of state and attorney-general ex-officio members of the board of trustees; stipulated that the home should be open to soldiers, sailors and marines that served in the Union army or navy in the Civil war, veterans of the Mexican war and members of the Idaho Na- tional Guard disabled in the line of duty; provided for the appointment of a superintendent at a salary of not more than $800 a year and rations; and author- ized the board to appoint a physician, who should receive not to exceed $50 per month.
On October 9, 1900, the main building was partially destroyed by fire and some of the inmates were quartered elsewhere at the expense of the state until repairs could be made. The question of rebuilding the home came before the Legislature of 1901, when the United States gave $14,516.43, the state $10,000, and $18,385 represented the receipts from the insurance companies, which sum was appropriated by the Legislature to the rebuilding fund. With these sums the building was reconstructed and made better than it was originally.
Street car service is afforded by the Boise City Street Railway Company and an interurban line of the Boise Valley Traction Company. A portion of the site is under cultivation, furnishing vegetables and fruits for the home. On October 7, 1917, the main building was practically destroyed by fire, but the fifteenth session of the Legislature passed the necessary legislation for its replacement.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL
On March 6, 1893, Governor McConnell approved an act providing for the establishment of a State Reform School at the Town of Mountain Home, in Elmore County, "the purpose of which shall be the care and reformation of incorrigible youth, and the detention of juvenile offenders against the law," on condition that the owners of the College Park addition to Mountain Home, or
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the people of the town, prior to the first day of May, 1893, would donate ten acres of ground to a board of six trustees as a site for the institution. The act also appropriated the sum of $10,000 out of the sales of land donated by Congress by the act of July 3, 1890, for the support of penal and charitable institutions.
The same Legislature established two normal schools-one at Lewiston and the other at Albion, the county seat of Cassia County. The people of Mountain Home were desirious of obtaining the Southern State Normal School, which was given to Albion, and they refused to accept the provisions of the act locating the reform school at their town by donating the site, etc. Consequently the school was not established. The Legislature of 1899, by an act approved by Governor Steunenberg on the 15th of February, reenacted the law of 1893, but again the people of Mountain Home refused to donate the site, because they believed that such an institution would be of no practical benefit to the town.
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