Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-10-28
THE PINE RING.
How it is Composed and How it Has
Plundered the Public Domain.
w. d. WAsHBURN EXPOSED.
Forty Thousand Acres of Pine Traced
Directly to Him.
SECURING THE LAND FOR A SONG
BY Bogus Half Breed Scrip and Other
Ingenious Devices.
THE CONSTRUCTION co. SWINDLE
Whereby Washburn and Eleven Others
Stole Over Million Dollars
From the Northern Pacific.
THE SIGNIFICANT STATEMENT
That Washburn Has Always Been q
Conspicuous Member Of All
These Rings.

These Rings.
The GLOBE has accused Bill Washburn of
being member of the thieying Wheat
Ring; Of being member of the thieving
Pine Land Ring, and Of beisg q member of
all the plundering Rings which have cursed
and robbed the people Of Minnesota. The
llck-spittles and dirty dogs who have Wash
burns money in their pockets and are paid
for barking at those who dare to strip tho
mask from the sanctimonious hypocrite.
have united in denouncing the GLOBE. The
tender sensibilities of these paid hire
lings has been greatly shocked because the
GLOBE does not hesitate to call thief
thief, even though he may wear broadcloth,
kid gloves, and be a candidate for Congress.
And now we arraign VIM. D. Washburn
before the bar of public opinion as a public
robber; as a man who has prostituted his
public position to enrich himself; who has
sought upon all occasions to put money in
his purse no matter how, and we call as our
first witness the ST. Paul Press. In that
paper of Feb. II, 1876, we find the following
article, which we invite the men of Mime
sofa, and particularly the voters of the
Third District, to read and consider:
st. Paul Press, Feb. II, 1851
AM nj n
vestigation would be the way in which the
U. S. surveyor generals Office has been run for
the last fourteen years, and its connection with
the mysterious "Phc La,sd Ring which flour
ishes with such extraordinary luxuriunce of
splendid mansions and big mills, and half-J'ved
scrip and things at Minneapolis. The results
of such an investigation would probably ex-
plain the reason of the intense anxiety which
has been displayed by considerable number
of leading lumbermen and others at Mime
apolis since 1851, that tho surveyor general
should be Minneapolis man. With two brief
exceptions, the q. S. surveyor general
always has been Minneapolis man
aimee the Republican party came into
power, and it has been so because they have al
ways demanded and insisted upon it.
An Investigation of this sort would doubtless
help to explain the notorious fact that about
H1es-q quarters Of all the immense pine forests Of
Northern minnesota have become the property Of
the minneapolis Pine Land Ring, which is COM
posed of the leading lumbermen, merchants
and bankers of Minneapolis. Some of these
men are said to own rs high as 40, 900 acres of
pine land each.
AMONG THE ASSETS OF WILLIAM D.
WASHBURN the first Surveyor General, FIG
URE 100000 ACRES OF PINE LAND VALUED
AT $40 PER ACRE.
Some dozen Minneapolis men own nearly the
whole of Cass county, which is largely
covered with pine forest. MILLIONS OF
ACRES Of pin: forests have thus been concen-
trated in the hands Of small circle Of men,
nearly all residents Of Minneapolis, and it is
GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT THE SURVEYOR
GENERALS OFFICE HAS BEEN LARGELY
USED AS AN INSTRUMENT IN THE HANDS
OF TIE PINE LAND RING to facilitate their
acquisition Of valuable tracts of timber.
These immense forests of pine, thus monop-
olized by q ring of men who have made a speci
atty OF the business, are valued at from $S tc
500 per acre, half-breed script, traders permits
and other ingenious devices being employed tc
GET POSSESSION OF THESE VALUABLE T1MBE1
LANDS FOR A SONG.
These operations have been STEALTHIL.
CARRIED ON for the last fifteen gears, and TO
the last ten on scale Of gradually increasin
ALL TEE AVAILABLE PINE TIMBER II
THE STATE is OWNED BY THE MINNIE
APOLIs PINE LAND RING.
A great deal has been said about rings an
especially est. Paul rings in the preser
Senatorial contest. Here is ring which hs
gradually acquired a yi,ttal monopoly of tt
entire lumber interest of the State-a ring
such stupendous magnitude in the extent
it's acquisitions, that all ote'. rings are daua,Ji
into utter insignifcsnce beside.it.
It far overshadows even that gigantic yia
which was got up ct Minneapolis to pl,ntl
the Northern Pacific Railraod Con1pany-tl
Northwestern Construction Company, so Gale
which pocheted ouer a million dollars from o
contract to be divided among dozen men.
We do not make it an objection to WAS
BURN that He WAS ALWAYS A CONSPIC
GUS MEMBER OF THESE RINGS, for he
doubt came honestly by his 40,00O acres of pi
land, and by his stock in the Northwestern &c
struction Company, though there acas eoider
A HUGE STEAL in the contract, for viii
somebody was responsible. In fact, We did I
intend to mention his connection with
matter ct all, and the whole subject was 81