The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-09-03

ments made by Mr.. Comstock to you
in relation to the manner in which he
transacted business with Mr.. McIlrath
giving in your own way all the particu.
lars so as to inform the committee. 4
The first particular transaction that
recollect of, was, think, in the spring
of 1869. ] was at that time going tc
Pine county to examine some lands Of
mine. Mr.. Comstock requested me tc
examine certain lands known as the
estate University Lands" Grand House
river. in the county of Kanabec. H
told me at the time that he asked me
to examine the lands, that the stump
age on the lands had been bid off, and
company formed to cut off the timber
known as Allen Warren & Co-some
Such firm as that. And he told me a,
that time that the timber was bid of
at what he considered as being less than
1t was worth. He also told me at The
time, and before l went to examine the
lands, that McIlrath was a one fourth
partner in the enterprise of cutting an(
hauling the timber, and that they had
arranged with McIlrath SO that the
bidding was done at an early hour il
the morning, to avoid competition; and
that they thereby got the timber 70,
less than it was worth. After the ex.
animation Of that, at later period Mr..
Comstock told me that McIlrath had
sold out Of the institution. [ have nc
knowledge of Mr.. McIlrath's connec.
ton with it save as stated by Mr.. Com.
stock. Mr.. Comstock told me that this
''ring'' or "partnership.' as he termed
it, was formed before the sale of tim
Der on these lands, and that at the time
of the purchase Mr.. Mcllrath was one
fourth partner
In the spring of 1850, this same
spring that | examined this land, Mr.
Comstock was called home on account
of the sickness of his wife. and request
ed me to examine certain lands in town
80, r 80, ! believe, to look for trespass
upon school land. This was nearly ad-
joining some land Of mine that was to
look at, and he requested me to 60
down there and book over that land
and see how much cutting had been
done. 1t was either in sec. SO, L 80,
r %, or sec. l, T 80. 4 %. 1t is so
long ago that / cannot quite remember.
The timber had been cut by one Ed
ward jackson, and the supplies had
been furnished by one Adolph Munich,
who claimed the mark, and who subse-
quently paid the stumpage on the tim
Der. reported to Mr.. Comstock that
there was somewhere in the neighbor-
hood of million feet cut upon this
land. :hink it was reported to the
State Auditor and stumpage collected
for about half that amount.
Sometime subsequent to that, when
l ascertained what the report had been,
l asked Mr.. Comstock why that kind
of report had been made-it did not
correspond with the report / had made
to him-and he explained by saying
that the report was made that way in
accordance with an arrangement be-
tween himself and the State Auditor,
Mr.. McIl1ath. He also told me in that
conversation that he had served the
State and Mr.. McIlrath faithfully for
two years, and never had made any
thing out of it except his wages, which
were small; that he had discovered
that Mr.. McIlrath was making large
sums of money out Of the timber trans
actions, and that he had told Mr.. Nc
llrath before entering upon his duties
of that spring, or during the winter be-
fore, that he must make division of
the spoils. and that there was such an
arrangement existing between him and
Mr.. McIlrath, and that he made this
report in pursuance of that arrange
ment
AT some subsequent times have had
SEINE little conversation with him.
Sometimes he has told me that he had
received money from this man and of
other individuals on account Of making
reports. That l understood from the
conversation. Whether it was said di.
rectly SO or not l do not remember
but understood it was under this ar
between him and Mr.. Nell
rath that the money was received, and
| understood that it was to be divided.
l have no further knowledge of any
transactions.
Q. Can you call to mind any other
instance Of cutting upon school or other
State lands, where the amount reported
to the State was less than the amount
cut. A. Not that have any personal
knowledge of. That spring money was
paid, as l have good cause to believe
from Mr.. Comstock statement, under
the existing arrangement between him
wa Mr.. McIlrath, by Isaac Staples,
Martin Moore, Walker, Judd & We
zie.
Q. Do you know where this E Inward
jackson now resides A. Pine City.
Adolph Munich resides in St. Paul. He
spends more than half his time, how
ever, at Pine City. Mr.. Comstock al
ways claimed to me that the reason OF
his making this arrangement with Mr..
McIlrath was that he discovered un-
doubted evidence that Mr.. McIlrath
had been making large sums of money,
and that it was not by Mr.. McIlrath' S
free will that this arrangement was
made. He concluded that as he had
worked hard for two years and had not
got anything out Of it. that Mr.. Nell.
rath must divide; and it was only dur
ing the two last years that he was con-