The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-09-04
OUR POOi< RICH MEN.

OUR POOH RICH MEN.
We publish this week a reply from
Hon. Fl. G. Burbank to an article which
appeared in the Press Of two weeks ago,
in which the action of the Board of
Equalization was criticised aud the mo-
tives OF its members were impusued,
and mistatements made concerning
the assessment of Mr.. Burbank and
other citizens. Mr.. Burbank defends
the Board, and shows most conolusively
the falsity Of the statements of the
Press concerning himself.
1t was matter of general surprise
in this community that Messrs. Waite,
Clarke, Mcclure 4 Go. ventured to at.
tract public attention to themselves in
the particular Of tax returns. It is,
and for years has been, a notorious fact
that, in proportion to their means, they
have returned less property for taxa
ton than have any other citizens of
the place. And that tho scrutiny
which they provoked on this occasion
has been unfortunate for them, the facts
produced by Mr.. Burbank amply DEM
onstrate. TIC. Mcclure, who has been
doiog banking business here for near
~ fifteen years, is able to find, in "bank
moneys, credits, notes, etc.," only
$l,0OO-his large contracts, his lum.
bering operations and his position as
Receiver Of the Land Office appes ~ ing
to have yielded him nothing at ALL
HIS horses, which look sleek aud hand
some on the streets, present a sorry
appearance 10 the tax returns while
his 1875 watch" suggests the thought
Of fortunate investment in a prize
stationery package, in which specula.
tive articles of merchandise such gifts
as these are occasionally deposited TO
lure the worldly. minded.
Descending in the scale of poverty,
We come to Mr.. N. P. Clarke, who had
been claimed by his friends, and who
was generally supposed, to be worth
several hundred thousand dollars. In
stead Of being "the wealthiest man in
Northern Minnesota" he is but little
short of absolute want. The summer
is ended, cold winter will soon be here,
the gaunt wolf, hunger, will knock at
the door, and poor Mr.. Clarke has not
one dollar in "moneys, notes OF cred.
its !" How sad! We feel tears of
sorrowful apprehension begin already
to steal down our cheeks. Not dol.
lar in cash, and -four six dollars bar.
rel! And then to think how hard it
must be for him to carry on all his
business-to ell government contracts,
to employ scores OF men in NUMBERING,
to tit teams for transportation work, to
pay young men to pre-empt valuable
tracts of pine land for him, to keep
saw mill or two engaged, to hold sew.
eral million feet OF lumber and to do
the multifarieus things which engage
his time-without one dollar 10 money !!
We respectfully submit that this Is q
distressing case, and the Board did
very wrong in adding taxes to his other
already too-heavy burdens.
One step lower brings us to Mr.. Il.
G. Waite, the last and most forlorn vic.
tim Of the mysterious mistortunes aud
disasters which appear to have been
epidemic in this family, reducing men
from abundant prosperity to AFFECT
penury. BE, too, is without money
and without scrip (half. breed scrip not
referred to.) His great grist mill At
Cold Spring is yielding him not a cent;
he saved nothing from his four.years'
term as Register of the Land Office
with a salary Of $4,000 a.year and
perqaisites; his pine land speoula.
tions have proved a delusion and
snare, and life is a failure. He must
shoulder his cares aud go through tho
world without a dollar he can take
from his pocket and call his own,
and fondle, and gaze upon until
it shall assume the proportions of a
United States bond. And this poor,
poor man the cruel Board insisted
should help pay the taxes Of his town
aud county and State! Where, ah /!
where, are our once boasted liberties 2
We might refer to the hardships Of
Clarke & Mcclure who omitted to re.
turn three.quarters of a million feet of
lumber at $40 per NJ, which they
sell at from S13 to $40 per NJ; who
forgot all about a million and a-half Of.
logs owned by them and lying in the
booms here and all about a number
of valuable horse and OK teams en-.
gagged 10 very profitable transportation
buslness-ws might refer T. these mat
ters, bat We will not, because this I'M
fortunate firm was compelled, only
about two weeks ago, to pay $3.50 back
taxes on lumber-the hard-hearted
Treasurer Of this county taking pos.
session Of several piles Of the article as
security.
We cannot close this sad re.
cital without directing to it the atten.