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

amount cut by making a small
report, and the other was by collecting
the full amount reported by Mr.. Com
stock, and by not resigning it all to the
State. | always understood that the
full amount reported by him to Mr..
Comstock was never collected; that is,
never was returned to the State. In the
years previous to 1869, whatever he had
eported, there had been compromise
between Mr.. McIlrath and the logging
men.
Q. This timber that Mr.. Comstock
reported, or ascertained the amount Of
reported to the State Asaditor, was cut
in the manner known as without per.
nit, or trespass. A. 1t was trespass
on school swamps and university lands.
Mr.. Constock had nothing to do with
cuttings under permit. The Surveyor
General or his deputies scaled the logs
on the land in this case. Sometimes he
used to examine to see if the cutting
was properly done, in some few instances
that recollect of.
G. Have you had any confidential
conversations Of this character with
Mr.. Comstock after he had ceased his
connection with Mr.. McIlrath. in rela.
ton to these matters, Of any kind A.
l have heard him laugh o great many
times, and say that Mr.. McIlrath S strict
attention to business and economy had
made him quite fortune. Some such
remark as that good many times he
would make about it. And l heard him
make remark like this one: That if
he had made one-fth as much out OF
that transaction as Mr.. McIlrath had,
that he could par bis debts. That was
in the summer Of 1872. when he was
very hard pushed with his debts. He
said to me one day that if he had only
done what he might have done, only
made one-fifth as much as Mr.. McIlrath
did out Of that, he could pay his debts.
@. Has he ever made statement to
you Of what he estimated was the
amount realized by Mr.. McIlrath in this
ways a. | do not think he knew, and
| never heard him make any estimate
at all.
Q. Can you call to mind from infor-
nation derived from Mr.. Comstock, or
in any other manner, the names of any
other parties that cut timber in this
manner, and which vas reported :
A. do not know. The most of the
lumbermon who cut up there. cut more
or less, but ! do not know what arrange
ments were made. l never had an idea
that Mr.. Comstock got only a very
small proportion of this; that is, of
what was really unreported-or report
ed and not paid for. He never told nae
definitely what he did get.
9. Do you know when it was that
L. II. Stannard acted as explorer and
examiner Of school and other lands to
ascertain the amount cuff \. Well,
think 1t was in 1871. This was in the
same district in which Mr.. Comstock
had examined.
@. Then Mr.. Stannard was Mr.. Com
stock S immediate successor as exam
liner. A. Yes sir; the most of the
swamp lands at that time had gone into
the possession Of the railroad compan-
ies-all except the school lands.
@. State if you know or received any
information to enable you to form an
opinion, who of the firm of Staples &
Co., that transacted this
business with Mr.. McIlrath
4. Isaac Staples and Gustav Munich
If they have a mind to say what they
know, can tell all about this transac-
tion-both the transactions in the Uni
versity lands and the school lands.
Q. What of the firm of Walker, Judd
& Vezie! A. l do not know. l only
know by knowing where they cut. |
do not know what there was Of Staples.
only what Mr.. Comstock told me.
Z. Have you stated all the informa-
ton that you derived from Mr.. Com
stock relating to these matters. A.
] believe have.
Q. You stated that you were re-
quested to examine the timber which
was to be cut by this company. in which
Mr.. McIlrath was to have q one-fourth
interest. State, as far as you know.
what amount of timber there was on
the land proposed to be cut, and the
particulars thereto. A. This was
tract of timber known as the State
University timber on Grand Horse
river. 1t consisted Of seven or eight
sections of timber. 4 portion Of this
had not been explored. The permit
upon it was given running through
q series of years, of all the
timber on that land. About
two sections of this timber had not
been examined, and it was the two Sec
tons of unexamined timber that Mr..
Comstock sent me to lock over. Where
they anticipated the profit of the con-
Germ was that they thought that there
was timber enough to last fifteen years,
and they anticipated rise in the value,
and not having to pay more for the
stumpage when the last was cut tLan
they did at the time the first was cut, l
hink Mr.. Comstock sold out for a
thousand dollars margin. believe Mr..
McIlrath got little more than that,
and if l recollect right it was less than
three thousand dollars. know it was
not much Of margin for so large q
transaction as it was. Of course l only
know what Mr.. Comstock sold out for,
and about the McIlrath matters from
what he told me. do not pretend to
know ANYTHING from my own personal