The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-04-13
no VIII T lslI Her /.
THE STATE SCHOOL FUND DE-
FRAUDEDOF$ 11, 600.

THE STATE SCHOOL FUND DE-
FRAuDED oF$1l 600.
COMMITTEES on Section se. Town
AZ, Range 2G--The State VIII
Recover $1l, 900 the Cow
ernor Does His Duty.
St. Paul, MINI, April Is, 1893 Hon.
i William q. Lee, Speaker House OF Repre-
sentatiyes: Your committee appointed TO
investigate alleged Irregularities in the Of 4
fee Of the state auditor, beg leave to re-
On FEB. IS Representative Dunn intro
duced the following resolution which was
Whereas, 1t is charged that the pine tim
Der on school section SO, township ~. range
26, Mile Laos county, has been sold to a, a
Minneapolis lumber firm at less than half
Its value; therefore be it
Resolved, That the state auditor be and
is hereby directed to report to TINS mouse
ton whether the pine timber on said sec
ton a6 has Eeen disposed OF, when, 20
| whom and for what consideration, ana
public or private, and If at public sale,
when. where, and in what manner notice
Of said sale was given .,,,a
Resolved, That the chief clerk OF TINS
house be and is hereby directed to serve
copy of this resolution on the state auditor
| forthwith.
!
| following communication from the state
auditor was received in the house OF rep ti!e
rescntatives, and appears . on page OF the
State of Minnesota, AUDITORS Office, st.
Paul Feb q, 1893 Hon. William p. Lee Lee:
Speas5 to Sf Of
inst. I have the honor to inform you that
the timber on section Sc township AZ, range Iis'
neapolis on Jan. IS, 1892 at private sale.
| The price said timber sold for was So per
1000 Very respectfully e,4o+o .,,,+or
! On March 1 Representative Dunn intro
duced the following resolution, which was
committee asu1i of five to investigate the al
legged irregularities said to exist IN the
state auditors office more especially Win
reference to the sale Of pine timber on sec
ton Sc, township ~, range &c, Mile Lacs
county. and that said committee be en- en-
powered to employ stenograph ,ts; ana
| send for persons and papers and administer
! oaths. authorize and compel attendance OF
witnesses and report to this house not
Pursuant to the above resolution. the fol-
lowing committee was appointed; KcpTe-
sentatives Dunn, Fleming, Zelch, Cole, t.,
On March the committee held its its first II;
meeting in room Is at the capitol, the fol-
: lowing members being present: Dunn
The first witness examined was John Goss
of Anoka. Being sworn he said he had
/ numbered on Rum river and its trib itane e
for more than twenty-three years past. He
had section So town AZ, range rs estimated
by competent estimators and cruisers with
view to bidding for the ii timber - on nth, the
same at Il sale advertised by the state audit
I or to be held at Princeton in May. 1892
i He testified he went to Princeton pre-
to bid as hh nf }Se f Section
was estimated by his men to contain nearly
, 6,0O0,O 600 feet of an extra good quality OF
pine.
at the Office of the auditor of Mile Laos
l county, where such sale was advertised to
take place. and was there advised that said
2 land had been by the state auditor with
, drawn from sale;
l That he went to St; Paul to learn why the
Auditor Bierman that the timber had been
sold in December to c. A. Smith 4 Co. OF
Minneapolis. exhibiting at the time a con
which the timber was sold at - per LOGO.
Robert Burch, a resident Of the town OF
Robbins, Mile Laos county, and practical
- all the pine lands in that region, testified
q that he had cruised and estimated the tim
Der lands in question with view to bid
y ding on it at the May sale;
That he estimated the section to contain
A $4,000 feet of pine of an excellent quail
That it was worth 81 per ], 1000 bank scale
Being c-oss-questioned by Auditor Biermal
he testified that the timber was worth s.
per 200 and was still still willing! II to pay tha
!, E. s. Page, a well known and responsible
l. lumEerman Of Anoka. testified that he hat
h desired to purchase the same timber, ant
- corroborated the testimony Of the foregoin.
}. witnesses relative to the quality and valu
10 Of the timber.
vs. R. f. Mcclellan, county surveyor of Mill
Y Laos county, testified that the pine on sec
ton 36 was Of an excellent quality an
worth 81 per 1,OOO
lowing members present: Dunn, Cole, Zelcl
% and German: G. A. Smith testified that h
y had bought the timber from the state audit
= thought that was fair price for it, He ais
testified further but offered nothing in re
l. buttal of the testimony already offered a
I. to the value of the timber except his owl
opinion, the value Of logs in Minneapoli
r and other irrelevant matters.
:, Auditor Bierman testified that the pine o.
J, the section in question was sold on a.
- estimate Of 700, COO feet and that a bond 0
$4,000 was exacted on the contract (estimat
10 exhibited, being fragmentary slip of pape
~ bearing. no date OF signature but simply til
. words s and o figures, section &c. town AZ, rang
"a appraisal of the timber. He had sold t
a. William Sauntry section in the adjoinin
~ - township east, at public sale in December
0. 1881. He. sent appraisers on the land i
, question in February of the present veal
L. after there had been some talk of an il
" vestigati ion oo and they reported that ther
a. Ex-State Auditor: Braden testified tha
ar during his term Of Office he had sold OIL
cuttings at private sale. out never Vlfgl
pine. He had always had the timber al
praised before the sale.
James Mulvey of saltwater and W. !
Ransom of Minneapolis, testified as to tt
relative value Of logs in Saltwater an
le Minneapolis. Ma -.
~ The committee met again March %, thos
IL present being Dunn, Cole, Fleming, Zelc
it and German.
Leonard Pratt testified that he was or
re Of the appraisers who appraised the Ian
h. in question for the sale advertised for Ma,
Il 1892. He had put ''bidding price, on
is realizing that it was. worth 81 per Lon
and that it would be bid up to or above til:
a figure. Knew lumbermen who would b
rk that for it. It was one of the best section
- in the reservation was excellent limb
tn and had not been and was not. liable
:. damage by fire. The reason he did not p1
II the bidding price higher was that if he b.
e, appraised it at it's true value ga per 100
-, some of those who wanted to bid on /
lit would have said he was trying to bar the
II out. gsS
IL A. w. Woodcock resident OF Princeto
VS. an old time lumberman on Rum river, tes
fed that he was intending to bid in sectit
TO 36-42-26 and that he would have bid
,et per 1000 had he been afforded an oppo
les tunity to do SO and knew Of other lumbe
men who were ready to pay the same pric