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

OAASItO QuTIuS liz CO0tIuudACO VI tAAlo
account for the State to borrow money
In the manner indicated.
Complaint having been made to your
committee by citizens of the township
of Independence, in Hennepin county,
that sections Is and SO of that town
ship had been stripped of their timber
without payment having been made for
the same, and that the school fund of
the State had been thereby defrauded
of large sum, the subject was fully in
vestigated, and the following facts de-
veloped: That in 1861, Hon. Jared
Benson, then being engaged IN furnish
ing ties. and timber for the construction
of the main line of the St. Paul & Pa
cific Railroad, entered upon these Sec
lions without purchasing the same. or
the right so to do, and cut timber and
% ties thereon; that complaint was made
by the citizens of that township to MIR.
: McIlrath, who appointed three residents
of Independence to appraise the value
of the timber cut by MIR.
Benson, and that they appraised the
same at six hundred dollars that sub
sequently Mr.. Benson purchased the
land at ten dollars per acre, the ap-
praised value, paying but twenty per
cent of the purchase money at the
time; and that soon thereafter MIR.
Benson sold and assigned his interest In
said lands to other parties for the sum
of five thousand dollars; and that Ben
sons assignees proceeded at once to
strip the land of all the timber Of any
value thereon. paying meanwhile to the
State only the interest on the purchase
money. 1t appears from the testimony
that the value Of the timber cut from
these sections, was from twelve to thlr-
teen thousand dollars, which may be re-
garded a loss to the permanent school
fund of that amount, less the twenty
per cent paid at the time of the sale,
inasmuch as the parties
cutting the timber have
eiefaulted upon their payments and al
lowed the land in its greatly deprecated
value to revert to the State.
Another matter to which the atten-
ton of your committee has been called
is the sale Of certain tract OF land up
on the north shore of Lake Superior, IN
the county Of Lake, to Henry H..
Eames, then State Geologist OF this
State. We find that in 1868 Mr.. Nell
rath, as State Land Commissioner, sold
to said Eames nine hundred and seven.
ty.four acres of land at five dollars per
acre; only one-fourth of the purchase
price being paid at the time; and that
Eames defauled upon all except three
hundred and thirty-four acres, which
he paid for.
The circumstances attending the sale
of this land were represented to have
been of questionable char
acter. Mr.. Eames being absent
from the State, the only evidence that
we found that would throw any light
upon the case is that of Mr.. George p.
Harris, which was taken but short
time before closing this report. Mr..
Harris details in his testimony a con-
versation held with Mr.. Richard nj.
Eames, who it appears had a common
interest in the purchase of the land
with his brother, Henry II. Eames, in
which that gentleman stated to him
that for the purpose of making this
purchase they chartered steamer to
carry them to the place of sale, and
avoided competition by refusing to al
low any person to accompany them
thereon; and that they paid Mr.. Nc
Ilrath the sum of $500 for going with
them and making the sale in the man.
-ner indicated. This land was supposed
to be very valuable on account of the
mineral deposits it contained.
The accounts Of the sale of grass
upon school lands, your committee
found to be as incomplete,
imperfect and unsatisfactory as those
relating to the sale of stumpagc. No
book account whatever Of the same was
kept, except an entry in gross of the
amount paid over to the State Treasu-
,rer for different years, while for other
years there is no record Of such pay
,ment or of any amount received by Mr..
McIlrath. For the year of 1862 he
paid to the State Treasurer the sum OF
$4,000, while tabular account found
among the papers left by him in the
office shows the amount realized from
sales that year to be $592.28, and
enough of the reports of sales for that
year exist to show that after deducting
expenses Ol SAFE t&lcIc Was IcdilLcu dllu
paid over to him $497.93. For the
year 1853 he paid over to the Treasurer
the sum Of $706 90 on this account, yet
the reports of sales show that the sum
of $8305O was paid to him. For the
year 1856 he fails to report or pay over
any money as proceeds of the sale Of
grass, yet the reports of sales for that
year show there was paid to him as
such proceeds the sum of $753.67. This
shows deficit for those three years o.
$l,423.45. For the other years of Mr.
McIlrath's occupancy of the office there
is nothing ineligible to be found in the
Auditors Office relating to the sale Of
grass. When this fact was ascertained
your committee addressed circular
letter to each of the county auditors o.
the State, calling for detailed informa
ton in relation to the sal, of grass iI
their respective counties; but owing te
the fact that Of late years all the grass
has been sold by the chairmen of the
Boards of Supervisors of the towns il
which the land was located, who re-
rorted directly to the State Auditor