After the House Book and Library Investigating Committee's report was submitted, House Bill 28 (HB 28), the proposed legislation that had caused so much trouble, came up for debate again on December 10, 1919.
Olger B. Burtness, in another lengthy speech, addressed the House. He defended his actions and further condemned the Board of Administration. He again read several excerpts from books.
He also made another unsubstantiated accusation that Charles E. Stangeland and Neil C. Macdonald (former Superintendent of Public Instruction and current Educational Advisor and General School Inspector) were putting controversial books into the state prison library in an attempt to:
"...instill poison into the minds of the prisoners..."
Previously, Macdonald had come up during the committee's hearings, although indirectly. He was never mentioned by name but was referenced by this current position. During Stangeland's testimony, Minnie J. Nielson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, asked him (Stangeland) if he ever worked or consulted with the Board of Administration's "educational adviser" (Macdonald). Nielson and Macdonald had an ongoing feud with each other. Stangeland said he had not collaborated with Macdonald and had not consulted with him professionally.
After barely covering the committee's report and its exonerations, certain anti-Nonpartisan League (NPL) newspapers, although lacking evidence (other than the accusation from Rep. Burtness), ran with the story that Stangeland and Macdonald were allegedly putting controversial books into the state prison library. On December 11, 1919, Macdonald formally denied this in a letter submitted to the Chief Clerk of the House (George Totten, Jr.). Lacking merit, this accusation was quickly dropped.
After Burtness concluded his speech, Rep. Walter J. Maddock gained the floor. Maddock, although being a loyal supporter of the NPL, had spoken out in outrage against the Board of Administration when Burtness initially addressed the House about the books a few days earlier. Now, however, Maddock had seemingly grown weary of Burtness' accusations, and he provided several rebukes. He said that the reading of excerpts "is an attempt to make us believe that we have to pass House Bill 28 in order to get rid of [the books]..." He said this was "so absurd" that no one should believe it.
Maddock also added:
"...the impression left by [Burtness'] testimony does not correspond with his statements here. Evidently if he had about three hours more time to explain his inconsistencies we could get at the meat of the matter."
Once the debates subsided, the House voted on HB 28. The vote was whether to accept the Committee on Judiciary's previous recommendation for indefinite postponement (or "do not pass"). HB 28 was handily defeated by the NPL majority.
The vote was:
Unsurprisingly, among those voting "aye" were:
Equally predictable, among those voting "nay" were:
Of the two members of the House who testified during the committee's hearings, Rep. Christian J. Ness voted "nay" and Rep. William Martin voted "aye".
Portrait of Neil C. Macdonald, 1915
Letter from Neil C. Macdonald to George Totten, Jr. (Chief Clerk of the House) denying the allegation from Rep. Burtness about the prison library. Totten, Jr., like his father (George A. Totten, Sr., Chair of the Board of Administration), was an active member of the NPL. [Journal of the North Dakota House, 1919 - special session, p. 414]
Portrait of Walter J. Maddock, circa 1919. Maddock was a prominent politician with the NPL. He served in the North Dakota House of Representatives (1915-1924), as well as Lieutenant Governor (1925-1928), and Governor (1928-1929).
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