History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 23

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146

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tion of a legislative appropriation. It was said at this time that in 1906 the full amount paid out of the miscellaneous fund was over $21,000 and that in 1914 the amount thus paid out was nearly three hundred and ninety-eight thousand dollars. It was argued that aside from the specific restriction of the constitu- tion, former rulings or holdings of the governor and of the Supreme Court were to the effect that such money could be paid out without any legislative action or interference. It was argued by others that when such sums could be taken and spent annually from the special state funds without legislative appropriation, what reliance could be placed upon figures of the state officials concerning actual expenses and appropriations. It was argued that constitutional "perquisites" and unconstitutional appropriations from the miscellaneous funds were not per se illegal, but were really moral questions and the principles or rights could be settled only by suit against members of the Supreme Court. It was charged by several newspapers that the Supreme Court had by skillful language changed the thought and intent of the constitution, and that the only remedy for pro- cedure or misconduct of this kind was a jury trial provided for in the judicial recall of the amended Richard's Primary Law.

In rejecting the bill providing for the state printing, Governor Byrne encoun- tered severe abuse from the printers of the state in the spring of 1915. He believed that the printers were being paid far more than was necessary to secure good and satisfactory work. Evidence showed that such was the fact. The governor had previously discovered that there were many apparent discrepancies in the printing contracts which had been awarded to the concerns doing the state printing. Any irregularity on their part was promptly denied by the printing companies, but the fight continued with considerable bitterness. In the end many suspicious facts concerning state printing were revealed to the public, with the result that important reforms were demanded generally by the public. The press unitedly continued to abuse the governor, but the people applauded his course in ferreting out and exposing the fraudulent operations. There was much diversity of opinion concerning the justness of this attitude taken by the governor. Many held that he was correct in vetoing the insurance commissioner's allowance, thereby leaving the matter solely to the judgment of the insurance commission to spend what was deemed fit of the $50,000 that came to the department from fees and taxes. Others argued that the system was too loose and flexible and that the time had arrived when an exact amount to be spent by every department and official should be fixed by the Legislature and when the pay of superintend- ents be established on an exact and reasonable basis. State Insurance Commis- sioner O. K. Stablein said in this connection: "The laws of the state require that the state insurance department must be self sustaining and that all expenses must be paid out of the income. Last year the income was $30,000, while the expenses of the department were only about eight thousand dollars. We turned back into the general fund of the state approximately twenty-three thousand dollars. We had absolutely no use for an appropriation from the State Legislature and inas- much as such an appropriation is illegal, it was very wisely vetoed by Governor Byrne."

Governor Byrne was persistent in his efforts to press to conclusion suit against the alleged delinquent state treasurers even though the Legislature refused to make provision to assist him in this course. He was convinced that former

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treasurers had received perquisites to which they were not justly entitled. It was brazenly argued by many newspapers that it had been conceded before the election of the state treasurers that they were to receive interest on the surplus funds deposited in banks to compensate them for the extra hazard of protecting the funds and that there was no constitutional provision to prohibit such a step. This unworthy answer did not satisfy the governor. Suit was instituted against the estate of Kirk G. Phillips, former state treasurer, and against his bondsmen. The case came to trial, but the state was defeated. In this suit the state under- took to recover more than fifty thousand dollars alleged to have been received by Mr. Phillips as interest on deposits of state moneys in his custody. The state was represented by Attorney-General Caldwell and E. E. Wagner, of Sioux Falls, former United States district attorney. The Phillips estate was represented by Judge W. G. Rice and Judge A. J. Plowman, while the interest of the bondsmen was guarded by Messrs. Martin and Mason. The arguments on the demurrer continued an entire day and evening, the defendants evading the issues and con- tending that the statute of limitations operated against the possibility of recov- ery. During the progress of the trial the attorney-general became convinced that the state could not recover, and hence agreed that, suit should be discontinued. It seemed that on the face of facts the only successful court contest with state treasurers would lie against C. H. Cassill, whom the statute of limitations did not protect. It must be admitted that all the former treasurers had made as much money as possible by loaning the state funds, owing to the fact that their salary of $1,800 per year was comparatively small, that their responsibility was very great, and that the state laws did not prevent them from thus loaning the money in their possession. It was admitted that the campaigns revealed these facts and that no serious objection had ever been offered to the proposition that state treasurers, owing to their great responsibility, should be permitted to make these loans and to pocket the interest. Whether this custom was satisfactory to the people of the state cut no figure in view of the refusal or failure of the Legislature to take specific action to remedy the existing condition of affairs.

Early in 1915 the public charge of former State Auditor Henry B. Anderson that the state administration could be conducted for $500,000 less than was being spent attracted general attention. He was asked to come before a joint commit- tee of the Legislature to explain what he meant by this charge. In his reply he admitted that he may have placed the amount too high, but insisted that the amount was approximately correct. He declared that if purely business methods were applied to all departments of the state and to all its institutions, a large sum could be saved. He pointed out that an immense sum could be saved annu- ally by consolidating all the normal schools at one point in the central part of the state to be under one management, and declared that all the state institutions, both penal and educational, could be placed under a board of control not to exceed three members and that this board could be required to devote their entire time to looking after these state institutions, thereby saving another large sum. This course would reduce the thirteen members of the two state boards to but three members, thereby saving thousands of dollars annually in hotel expenses, railroad fare, salaries, etc. He further pointed out that the board of control of three members could be authorized by law to make a tax levy each year not to exceed a fixed rate of mills to pay the running expenses of all the state institutions and

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other needs, and that this board could apportion the money so raised to the differ- ent institutions in accordance with definite regulations and with their particular needs. Of course all of this would require an amendment to the constitution, but it would be a movement in the right direction and should be made at once by the Legislature. Although this matter had been presented to the voters of the state at the last election and had been defeated, this did not prevent the Legis- lature, he asserted, from taking action to educate the people as to the wisdom of this procedure.

Governor Byrne early in 1915 said : "In the case of the judges of the Supreme Court there is no provision of the constitution, express or implied, requiring them to reside or maintain offices at the capital, but it is clearly in the public interest that they do so, though it is well known that in some states the judges of the higher courts do not live or maintain offices at the seat of government. The constitution requires that at least two terms of the Supreme Court shall be held each year at the seat of government. If the judges continued to reside at their homes instead of coming to the capital and giving their entire time to the services of the state they would unquestionably be saving themselves much in living expenses. Also, if they continued to live at home no one could question the validity of a law providing for the payment of personal expenses when coming to the capital to hold terms of court. In North Dakota when the Supreme Court judges reside away from the capital the Legislature provides for each in addition to an annual salary of $4,000 the sum of $100 per month for personal expenses when such judge was away from home in the discharge of the duties pertaining to this office and for other necessary expenses. If payment of such expense is constitutional, can it be claimed that a law providing for payment of part of their personal living expenses incurred in the service of the state and incidental to and a necessary result of their residing at the capital is unconstitutional? If it is unconstitutional to provide money to pay the personal expenses of the circuit judges in the discharge of their duties, it must be just as unconstitutional to pay the other expenses of the courts which the constitution does provide for."

In regard to the expense account of the railroad commissioners the governor early in 1915 said: "In my first message to the Legislature I urged the impor- tance of requiring the members of the board to reside at the capital and remain in continuous session as a board, and because of the meager salaries paid them, which would not support their families at the capital, I urged that some allow- ance for personal expenses be made to each commissioner who would so enter upon his duties. The Legislature embodied these recommendations in the laws of 1913. I knew I performed a valuable service in bringing about this change and I surely have no apology to make for it."

In March, 1915, Governor Byrne said: "Much of the talk about the laws for the payment of expenses of the governor and other officials incurred in the dis- charge of their official duties being unconstitutional is mere captious criticism by interested parties and is not made in good faith. Those who want to prey on the government need not be expected to want the governor and other officials constantly on the job at the capital. The Hipple Printing Company pretends to be much interested because of the extravagance of what they call unconstitu- tional provisions for the payment of such expenses, including rent for a home at the capital for the governor. An examination of the vouchers on which they Vol. III-11

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drew for years suggests that they may not be wholly disinterested in this matter. For instance, this company was paid for the 1912 publicity pamphlet $13,795, and the 1914 publicity pamphlet of approximately the same number of pages was furnished by another house at a cost of $2,544. Thus the Hipple company seems to have received in excess of a fair profit $11,251, which was taking down excess profits in good sized chunks. It is almost equal to the governor's entire salary for four years. * * * Largely, I believe, because of the inadequacy of the salaries we pay our officers, we have had too much absentee government in the past. I have been trying to establish the policy of requiring officers to give their time and attention to the duties of their offices in the interest of the public."

In July, 1915, a test case was instituted by the governor against the state treasurer to decide whether the interest paid on the daily balances of the perma- nent and income public school fund, should be paid into the school fund or the general fund of the state treasury. The law stated that all interest collected on such balances should be paid into the general fund while the constitution pro- vided that no income received on school funds, should ever be diverted from that purpose. The treasurer had been placing this interest in the general fund and the object of the test case was to find where it should be legally placed.

CHAPTER V

CAPITAL CONTESTS DURING STATEHOOD

Perhaps no single feature of South Dakota history sheds so much light on all conditions of growth and advancement in the state at the time as do the several prolonged and elaborate capital contests. The rivalry was so vigorous, intense, audacious and remorseless that every item of information was laid bare for the historian by the capital committees, the local boards of trade, the news- papers, and generally by the elaborate, studied and acrimonious campaigns. In details, research, artifice, abuse, personality and misrepresentation they far dis- count and surpass any political campaign ever conducted in the state. These con- tests were proper and legal, because it was the privilege of any town or city to aspire to this great distinction and honor; but when they resorted to the tactics that are not even allowable in politics for power and position and in business for commercial advantage, they were striving far beyond the domain of their acknowledged rights. When they went beyond what may be considered strictly honorable measures to achieve success, their course, while no more reprehensible than is that of many active business men, professional men and politicians of today, reached within the boundaries of criminality, dishonored the contestants by unbecoming and disgraceful conduct, and cast a shadow upon the fair name and fame of the young state.

As will be learned in detail elsewhere in these volumes, one of the first con- tests for the capital site after it became clear that Dakota Territory would be divided into two states before long occurred in 1885, when the question was sub- mitted to a vote of the people with the following result: Huron, 12,695; Pierre, 10,574; Chamberlain, 3,232; Sioux Falls, 3,338; Alexandria, 1,374; scattering, 613. The large vote for Pierre indicated this early that at least three important principles were taken into consideration by the voters, viz .: (1) The location of the capital in the geographical center of the state; (2) the belief that in the end the great reservations west of the Missouri River would become thickly populated with white people; (3) the envy or jealousy of the towns in the James River Valley against one another, each wanting it, but being unwilling to let either of the others have it, thus fearing injury to its own material growth.

Again in 1889, immediately after the passage of the enabling act, the contest for the temporary capital sprang into life and action. At first there were many aspirants, among which were Watertown, Chamberlain, Mitchell, Pierre, High- more, Huron, Woonsocket, St. Lawrence and Miller united, Redfield, Aberdeen, Madison, Alexandria, Sioux Falls, Yankton and perhaps others. No town was too small and unpretentious to covet the honor. Gradually the least desirable ones were eliminated by popular opinion until Huron, Pierre, Chamberlain, Sioux

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Falls, Mitchell, Watertown and Redfield alone remained as the real and active contestants.

In the spring of 1889 the Sioux Falls Commercial Club voted that that city was in the race for the temporary capital, but R. F. Pettigrew opposed this action for prudential reasons and favored Pierre. He realized that Sioux Falls could not hope to be the permanent capital and that if the temporary capital should be located there the fact would bar out other permanent state institutions that might otherwise be secured. Redfield was a vigorous aspirant for the honor, particu- larly after July. Aberdeen assumed the role of a compromise contestant-a sort of dark horse-hoping to secure the prize when the others should fail through jealousy to settle on a mutually satisfactory candidate or aspirant. The James River towns all favored the location in that valley, but could not agree among themselves as to location. All of them at first opposed Pierre with many mani- festations of indignation and self sacrifice. At this time Yankton favored Sioux Falls for temporary capital, because that city previously had opposed the removal of the capital from Yankton and because both Pettigrew and Grigsby, residents of Sioux Falls, had previously worked and voted in the Legislature to prevent the removal of the Supreme Court from Yankton to Mitchell. Pierre and Chamberlain were favored by the Black Hills.

Late in August, 1889, the Woonsocket Capital Investment Company, a strong, moneyed corporation, decided to cast all its influence and efforts in favor of Pierre. That company claimed to control 10,000 votes. They established an office in Pierre and began to work for that city. They at once secured much land near the limits and did everything in their power to boom Pierre as well as the real estate in that vicinity. At this time the big Locke Hotel was projected and commenced and electric lights could be seen for the first time on the streets. The action of this company roused the indignation of Mitchell, Huron, and the other capital possibilities. Both of those cities organized for the fight and raised large sums of money with which to conduct the campaign. In fact about half a dozen James River towns, seeing now the strength of Pierre, organized and united in part to oppose to the bitter end the ambition and pretentions of that town. Even Chamberlain joined them, owing to its jealousy of Pierre. As a matter of fact the Woonsocket Investment Company was a private organization to make money out of real estate deals and speculations. It went to Pierre, be- cause it believed that town had much the best chance to become the capital site, both temporary and permanent. Aberdeen was so indignant at the conduct of this company that her citizens held a big mass meeting and denounced this act of a money making and private institution as a contemptible interference with a purely state affair that affected all the people and should be above greed, selfish- ness and private schemes and intrigues. Major Barrett of the Aberdeen Repub- lican charged that this movement of the Woonsocket Investment Company was a dastardly attempt to buy the votes of the citizens in favor of Pierre. For this charge he was assaulted and thrashed by Ordway Johnson, a member of the company, but did not retract what he had said.

Many newspapers in the Black Hills, including the Times, favored Sioux Falls for the temporary capital, because that was the only city in the state that could take care of the Legislature and the crowds. The Times said of Huron that at the dates of the democratic and republican conventions many persons were forced

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to sleep on cots in halls, that the meals were bad and that conditions were even worse in Pierre, Chamberlain, Mitchell and Watertown.

The Woonsocket Investment Company did not claim to be anything but an organization to make money. It sold many lots at Pierre for reasonable prices. It held the ground that Pierre was bound to win unless a combination that could beat it should be formed; but the combination of towns to secure the capital for the James River Valley was a rope of sand which fell to pieces readily when either of the towns involved saw its chances fade in the dim distance. If at this time these towns had united on one location and if they had stood by and fought for that spot, the capital today would be in the James River Valley instead of in Pierre. Neither of these towns would concede the capital to either of the others, hoping for its own success and in the end actually voting in favor of Pierre.

By the middle of September Aberdeen was out of the race-was too far north, and Pierre was far in the lead and gaining new voters every day. Watertown was too far to the eastward and Redfield did not have a very strong and enthusi- astic following. At Pierre the Capital Investment Company reorganized, had two offices and sold hundreds of lots in the city and suburbs at rather high prices based on the supposition that the capital would come to Pierre. Another argu- ment in favor of Sioux Falls was that the state would not be put to any expense for buildings, a statement that could not be made with truth about any of the other contestants.

At a secret meeting held in Aberdeen on September 5, 1889, it was disclosed, so the newspapers said, that the Woonsocket Investment Company had applied for tracts of land at low rates to all the capital aspirants of the James River Valley, but had been turned down by each in succession and had thereupon gone to Pierre where the land was forthcoming. It was later openly claimed that this was a fact.

On September 13th, Redfield withdrew from the race and came out in favor of Huron for the temporary capital site. It was claimed that Huron money accomplished this withdrawal and support. About the same time Yankton was accused of selling its support to Sioux Falls for from three to four thousand dollars. Other similar charges and counter charges were afloat in the Sunshine State.

Finally, in October the election was held, with this result: Pierre, 27,096 votes ; Huron, 14,944; Watertown, 11,970; Sioux Falls, 11,763; Mitchell, 7,516; Chamberlain, 2,414; scattering, 44. Pierre had wisely anticipated this victory and had prepared for an elaborate celebration. On October 3, when the long train pulled up at the station, about five hundred people, all warm friends of Pierre, stepped off amid cheers and joyous acclamations, waving banners on which were emblazoned the words, "Pierre is the Capital." At once the whole population turned out and bedlam for a season reigned. Bells were tolled, engine whistles were blown, guns were shot off, cannons were fired and a genuine love feast of delight swept the young city for thirty minutes. The leading men were called out, both in the street and at the opera house, and compelled to give voice to the joy that possessed the city. A large number of Two Kettle's Indian band was encamped on the river and they too soon joined in the revelry with an energy that dwarfed the transports of the whites, but their enthusiasm was for- given and even applauded under the extaordinary circumstances. At night the revelry was continued with fireworks, torches, bonfires, etc.

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"For the capital honor Chamberlain, Huron, Mitchell, Pierre, Redfield, Sioux Falls and Watertown entered the race, and each organized a strong propaganda backed by vast sums of money secured through subscription or the issue of municipal bonds and warrants, and the interest in the capital fight overshadowed the interest in the constitution or any other topic at that time before the people. To say that it was a campaign of wholesale corruption of voters is to put the matter in its mildest form. Practically every newspaper in the state was subsi- dized in the interest of some candidate and many voters were subsidized by all of them. From the standpoint of public morals it was a most unhappy time."- (South Dakota Historical Collections.) "Under the terms of the constitution the permanent seat of government was to be determined by another vote of the people in the fall of 1890 and Huron, Pierre and Watertown announced them- selves as contestants for the prize. However, before the campaign fairly opened, Huron, through negotiations with the Watertown people and for a substantial consideration, induced the city to withdraw from the race, so the issue was fairly drawn between the cities of Huron and Pierre. It was another campaign over which it is perhaps charitable to throw the mantle of obscurity. Both cities bankrupted themselves to secure funds to prosecute the fight, Pierre being again victorious by the vote of 41,876 to 34,852." -- (Same.)

The people of Watertown entered the capital contest in 1889 against the advice of the local newspapers and secured third place with an alleged expenditure of $96,000. In 1890 Pierre offered Watertown a bonus to again enter the race in order probably to draw as many votes as possible from Huron. There was a general demand all over the state early in 1890 that the election the next fall should settle permanently the capital site. Huron showed such strength early in this campaign that Pierre became alarmed and organized at once for a relent- less fight to the finish. With Pierre the great object was to draw by hook or crook as many votes as possible from Huron. All over East South Dakota, par- ticularly the James River Valley, there at first arose a preponderating movement for Huron. At a big mass meeting held at Howard a Huron capital club was organized from the citizens in several counties near that town.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 23

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146