Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1876-01-01

lie affairs have been administered. 4
has been singularly exempt from rings
powerful and corrupting Hobbies, extrav
agant legislatures. or defaulsing state Off
GERS. In the condition Of its finances il
compares favorably with any state in the
Union. But it has its minor losses and
wastes, like other communities, and prob.
ably the greatest single cause of recent
loss has been the result of the "part paid
system of selling lands, and the abuses
and frauds committed under that system
by purchasers. In speaking of ''frauds
on the state lands" we desire it under
stood at the outset that the phrase i'm
plies no charge or suspicion of irregular
ity' or failure in duty on the part of the
present state officials. On the other hand,
the management of the state lands, under
the vigilant administration of Commits
sioner ClapD, and under the more strin-
gent regulations adopted by the Legisla-
lures of 1873 and 1875, upon the recon-
mendatiOn of Mr.. Clapp and Governor
Bagley, is careful and thorough; and
there is now no more loss to the state
than is inevitable under any system by
which the state lands are sold, and only
a part payment in cash required. The
losses to which we have referred have oc-
CURED in the past, and have resulted from
the negligence, ignorance, or intentional
fraud of purchasers. 1t is, in fact, to the
vigilance of the present officials, in look
ing up these cases and compelling resti-
tuition and adjustment when they are
possible, that We owe our present knowl-
edge of them.
The fruitful source of all these losses
has been the "part-paid" system, under
which purchaser buys lands paying one
quarter down, and interest on the remain
der. These purchasers frequently let the
taxes accumulate for series of years,
and tIen, by neglecting to pay interest,
forfeit the land to the state. They are
again placed upoi, the books of the Land
Office, and the Original purchaser pro-
cures some friend to enter them, again
paying quarter down, the state thus
losing the accumulated taxes. The state
it is held, cannot sell the lands for taxes,
as the title to them remains in the state
until they are fully paid for. The total
amount of uncollected taxes upon spart
paid" lands amounts to about $4,000,
upon nearly 100000 acres. Governor
Bagley has called attention to this subject
in both his last biennial messages. and
two excellent measures have been adopt
ed to check it. one raising the amount
paid down for ''part paid" lands from
one quarter to one-h half, and the other
compelling a purchaser to pay annually
the taxes on the lands, as well as the in
terest under penalty of his certificate
becoming void. Thus this leakage has
been pretty well caulked up for the
future. ~
Another and much larger loss to the
State Treasury, the facts in regard to
which have been developed in detail
through the activity of Judge d. j.
Evans, the Trespass Agent of the State
Land Office, has come from the entry of
valuable timber lands under the spart
paid" system. The law expressly pro-
vides that all the agricultural college and
primary school lands which are valuable
for timber shall be sold only for cash, and
not on the 'part paid" plan. But the
Trespass Agent, who has devoted much
time to personal examination of lands
located under the ''part paid" plan, states
in his recent report that three-tourths of
these locations are frauds upon the state,
being in reality valuable timber lands.
Purchasing these lands, and paying but
one-fourth down the spectators have
gone to work and stripped them of the
pine which constituted almost their sole
value, and have then abandoned and for
SeiteG them to the state. The necessary
aifidavits for the purpose have been pro
cured either through connivance or by
fraud. In some cases lands have been
thus located through ignorance of the
law: but i'm most instances it seems to
have been the deli erate intention Of the
SPECTATORS to cheat. The fraud has been
double. The purcha sers have got the
lands at much less va. luatiOn than they
could have done if the state authorities
had been aware that they were timber
lands; and they have only paid one-fourth
of that valuation, have denuded the lands
of their timber, and have then permitted
them to become forfeit.
1t is estimated that about 75,OCU,OOO
feet of timber have thus been cut from
state lands fraudulently located. The
Trespass Agent is actively pressing his
Investigations, and is compelling restitu-
ton and full payment in all cases where
he has the power to do so. In many in
stances, however, the cutting has been
done more than six years ago, and the
claim of the state in the matter has been
cut off by limitation. The Agent has,
however, collected from parties thus
trespassing, without expense to the state,
the sum of $6,23S.33, assessing the ex-
penses of examinations, surveys and adj
justments upon the trespassers themselves.
He has also accumulated vast amount
of evidence against other trespassers,
whose cases will be attended TO In turn
1t would not be just to close this arti-
Gle without acknowledging the efforts
which have been made by the present
Land Commissioner and Governor, and