St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-12-14
A PEEP INTO THE FUTURE.
Auditor Braden Makes Estimates for the
Next Three Years.
VALUE OF PUBLIC LANDS.
Deposits Of Iron Ore on State Property
---Kandiyohi's Capitol Acres Should
Be Sold.

iSSued Tue biennial report Oh Ill uepaI}-
ment, in which he states:
AT present no reliable data are OBJ
tainable as to the mortgage indebted
ness of this state. Exaggerated reports
are in circulation. representing Minne-l
sofa as literally buried beneath an
enormous Indebtedness on account Of;
farm loans. This, [ believe, is miss
leading calculated to injure the credit
of our state, increasing the rates of in
tereSt to borrowers. For the purpose of
obtaining reliable information bearing
on this subject, appropriate legislation
should be provided. Data eff this kind
might be collected by the assessors, say
every other year, that would be of great
value.
The permanent school fund amounts
to SS,25S, 096.70, having increased $751;
930.56 during the fiscal years of 1887 and
1883. During those years 159,61S.62
acres of school land were sold at an av-
erage price of 1856 per acre. The ay-
erage price for all years from 1862 to
1888 has been $5.962 per acre. The orig
inal grant embraced sections 16 and Sc
in each congressional township, being
one-eighteenth of the entire area of the
state, or about 100000 acres. When the
existing grants of swamp lands to rail-
road companies and state institutions
shall have been filed, one-half of the
will pass to the credit of the permanent
school fund. 1t is expected that the
fund will eventually amount to $lS,000,-
600 or S20,000,00O.
The permenent university fund
amounts to 1887, 361.51. The several
grants of land aggregate 196.353 acres, of
which 1l3, 032.63 acres have been sold at
an average price of 1857 per acre The
fund will eventually amount to about
S1.000,0 600.
Under grant. $685. acres commonly
known as ''capitol lands" were selected
in Kandiyohi county. [ believe these
lands should be sold. Their present
value, at compound interest, will pro-
duce as large fund as can be realized
from their sale in the future. So large
a body OF land, exempt from taxation
and settlement, adds greatly to the bur
den of local taxation imposed On ada
cent settlers. in support of schools, etc.,
and interferes with the social life Of the
neighborhood.
/ have refused to. sell lands in the
s'iron range" of st. Louis, Lake and
Cook counties, believing that the law
authorizing sales, especially in the
above named counties, should first be
amended so as to reserve to the state all
mineral rights. Without doubt valu-
able deposits of iron ore will be found
on state lands. Such lands should not,
in my judgment, be sold by the acre.
Suitable laws should be passed allow
ing them to be leased for long term
of years, the leasee paying to the state
stated price per ton of ore mined as a
royalty.
The internal improvement land fund
is derived from the sale of what are
known as the internal Improvements
lands. The original grant amounted. to
100000 acres; 46S, 07s.4o acres of these
lands have been sold at an average price
of S5.527 per acre, amounting to $685.
$3.50. The interest derived from the
investments of this fund is applied in
payment OF interest on the Minnesota
AZ adjustment bonds, while the fnhd
itself is specifically set apart for the
payment of those
BONDS WHEN. THEY MATURE.
The entire fund will eventually
amount to about 2.SG0.000. The amount
of lands Indicated as swamp lands, by
the field notes OF the surveys already
made, aggregate about 4,500.000 acress
of this amount 3,0359, 71174.9f acres have
been certified to the state, and 1861
olt.oa dcIeS pateHteu, luS, io1.9o acItS
have been patented to the state since.
date of last report. BY the terms of the
law, selections can only be made from
even numbered sections. One hundred
and twenty-four thousand. acres have
already been selected. Ii these selec-
tons are continued and carefully made.
appropriations OF money from time to
time will be necessary, involving an
ultimate expenditure of perhaps $4,000.
The states rights to swamp lands, not
yet patented, remains substantially as
it was when my last report was sub
mitted.
Capt. Braden makes the following
estimate of receipts and disbursements
for the years 1888, 1890 and 1891:
Year. Receipts. Disbursements.
1889 ..,......S1, 1854. 69072 S2.175, 1896
1S90........... 1,747 $1,000 1913, $1,000