St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-11
IA BOUNDLESS SEA OF INFO
ITITYo

ihiNlNO lSA0tNo anu MillCn lllO Ol-OlD u
gives to its readers this morning. 1t re-
vealS condition of moral rOttenneSS
which Is appalling. Eminent reSpecta-
Dllity, wearing the garb of churchly
sanctity, plundering the children of the
rich heritage which the state had pro-
ylded for them; prominent and minor
state officers joining with them to aid
them in their robbery, and sharing in
the loot; the state betrayed by those to
whom it had confded its trusts; the
school funds robbed of millions of dol
lars; this is the shocking tale.
For years rumor has been whispering
her stories of rottennesS in the dealings
of the lumOermen with the state. Hints
have been thrown out of fortunes made
by ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Names emf
nent in the state have been connected
with these transactions. The surveyor
generals Office has been associated in
the rumorS with the frauds. 1t is said
that the state appraisers have been uni
formlY corrupted into making low APP
praiSementS in the report to the auditor
and furnishing tue parties in whose
pay they also were with estimates CIV
ing the correct appraisalS. But when it
has been attempted to run the rumors
down to ascertain what of truth there
was in them; to find the facts and the
proof of them, it has been found impoS-
sible. All that is known that is tangi-
bic is that men engaged in the numbering
business have accumulated large fort
unes-larger than any legitimately con-
Quoted business would warrant-and
that officers have been rated as wealthy
men whose salaries would render such
accumulation impossible.
The report shows that these rumors
had basis in fact. 1t shows methods
adopted. Appraisers have been cor
rupted to make false report of the
quantity and value of the pine on the
state lands. The GLOBE referred to
this recently in commenting on the low
sense of morals of an appraiser who
gave testimony in the Mile Laos inVes-
tigation. Sworn to appraise the pine at
its full value, he appraised it at less
than half its value. Testifying to the
committee thai it was worth 81 an acre.
he was asked why he valued it at 81 in
his sworn appraisal. He coolIy, and as
If it were the most usual aud proper of
actions, said that he put the lower value
on it "as starter"
Lumbermen having secured the I'M
LIBERALIZATION by the cruisers, then COM
bined, at the public auction of the pine,
to bid no higher than the appraisers
estimate. The state auditor, having no
knowledge or source of Information
other than the report of the men who
had sworn to value the pine at its full
value, sold the pine to the gang when
the offer reached the appraisal. In some
cases the committee find that this fraud
melted the lumbermen and defrauded
the school fund out of thousands of dol
lars on a single section of land. In
other instances they did not even go
through this form of stealing, but did it
outright, stripping the land of the pine
without pretenSe of right.
Not only has the general school fund
been defrauded of immense sums, but
the lands granted to the university have
been looted, and that, too, by citizens of
the city in which the university is stu
ated, and of which it is so useful and
valuable an Institution. The methods
used were the same as with the school
lands. The swamp lands, too, have con-
tributed their quota to the ill-gotten
wealth of this gang of pirates. The
railroads, or their officers, to which
these lands had been granted, have been
participants in the plumber. They have
joined with the lumbermen to hunt out
the valuable land, and then have had
the auditor certify it to the company
which conveyed it to the lumbermen.
The GLOBE has heretofore called atten-
ton of It's readers to the way in which the
state is robbed in this matter of its
swamp lands and of the effort the pres
ent auditor is making to protect it. The
report shows how. with less honest
officer in that place, the state might be
and has been left with the lands of
little or no value to fill its grant to the
various institutions of the state.
The committee ask that the inYestiga-