Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1893-04-20
LEGISLATIVE NOTES.
Items Regarding tho Doings Of Legislators
at tho Capitol.

at tho Capitol.
The pine land investigating commit
tee made its report to the senate. It
says:
The results of it's investigation will be o
source Of establishment to the senate and to the
people Of the whole state. 1t is not too much
to say that no committee ever appointed by any
legislative body in this country has, for the
length Of time it has been able to give to the
subject, exhumed such mass OF startling evil
dence. This evidence establishes, in the judg.
ment Of our committee, the conviction that the
state of Minnesota has been robbed of millions
of dollars worth OF its property during the past
fifteen years. and that the most gigantic frauds
have been practiced upon the school fund: We
find the laws for the collection of taxes In q
vast area of the state made farce and laugh
ing stock.
The evidence before your committee shows
that in many, il not majority Of cases, the
state received but little over One-quarter OF
the amount justly its due. This great fraud 10
accomplished by false returns OF the amount OF
timber cut and hy low prices put upon the same,
as is abundantly shown by the evidence before
the committee
According to the testimony Of one witness
section &c. town S. range "a, school section, the
scaler for the attorney general returned only
about 450, GOO feet Of timber, while the witness
found by actual scaling that it had produced
about $40 900 feet Of timber, aad the school fund
was out the difference, or about $1,000 on this
section alone.
On section 80, township 1873, range "a. there
were 600 900 feet of pine and 600 feet of oak,
and one witness testified that he would have
been willing to have given 50 900 for the section,
but the records Of the state auditors offico
show that the state received but $176, which
was for the cax, moth ng showing that anything
was paid for the pine. On section Is, township
x ronr II fhotf 1,oc soto iHyod
less than 81 600, while 100000 feet Of logs were
cut from the section. It is estimated that the
school fund lost over $500 on this section. It
was sold ~ Or 10 years ago.
Other evidence would make it appear that q
certain lumbcrman, whose name is in the pos
session of the committee, cut 80, 900 feet of tim
Der from 40 acres of internal improvement land,
for which the state never received a dollar.
Section &c. township AZ, range 49, according to
the testimony, was bought by q lumber COM
pany at 81 per thousand upon a fraudulent esti-
mate that IL contained only 600 feet while it
really contained nearly $780, 600 feet, worth s.
per thousand.
According to expert testimony the value OF
the timber on section l6, township 1885, range 80,
was 1885, while the state received simply
credit OF SCOTIA, the amount never having been
paid. Three Of the forties in this section have
been sold as agricultural land
Your committee would also report that the
general of logs and lumber for the Second dis
trict employed as one OF his deputies certain
party whose duty it was to scale on the river
bank in 1901 the amount Of pine cut by j. T.
Welsh, on the Willow river to sell to the Akely
Lumber company. A very small amount of the
whole Of the logs hauled was reported to him as
being hauled from o school section, tO-Wit:
Section sixteen Q6), township one hundred and
forty-two Q42), range twenty-five CS5), and the
rest from land owned by private parties; but
the witness learned from the Transfers who
hauled the logs that the whole Of them were be.
ing taken from the said school section. When
the surveyor-general visited the place, the wit
ness told him that he had learned that the
school land was being robbed of it's timber.
It appears from the testimony Of the deputy
that he kept record of the amount OF timber
so taken; and that while but 359,23O feet were
ostensibly taken from the school land the
amount really taken therefrom was 1906 800 feet.
The witness notified the state auditor of the
facts, and the clerk of the land department
afterward sent for him and said to him that he
had rescaled the land and found his statements
correct, and that he had collected 5000 from
the lumber company for pine so taken; and he
paid said witness 500 as a present from the
state for his valuable information.
The books in the auditors Office were found
to be inextricably mixed up, but the figures for
the two sections mixed up, according to evi.
dence Of witness, leave balance OF 81, 738 which
was paid to the land commissioner and not the
state. A draft for 500 on the man who cut the
logs would corroborate the present of 500. The
committee then states that for years back the
state auditors books are badly confused. In
regard to the state officers the report says:
1--WE will not 60 so far as to say that the state
officers were direct party to these frauds and
shared in the plumber, although some of the
witnesses have so testified but we can certainly
hold them responsible for great neglect of duty;
nor do these wrongs seem to have been confined
to any one year or any one state officer. They
extend back as far as our investigation has
penetrated"
The report of the committee on pine
land sale says: ''Your committee is fully
convinced, and the evidence conclusive.
ly shows, that the pine timber was well
worth 81 per thousand feet, and would
easily have brought that amount had it
been offered at public sale, as provided
by law. The committee then quotes
the law, declares that it has not been
complied with and that the pretended
sale is illegal and void, and if permit
ted to stand the state school fund will
suffer a loss of at least $1,000.
A queer matter came before the Leg
islature recently. 1t is nothing less
than resolution requesting the Minne-
sofa legislature to petition congress to
make a song entitled ''In God We
Trust" the national anthem. The song
was composed by Mr.. Chapple, mu-
sician of st. Paul, and inasmuch as its
title is the same as the motto on the
silver dollar, it is expected to appeal to
every heart.
\ \
Mr.. Turrell, in presenting the bill for
the tax levy for the next two years,
made the statement that the sum levied
was 81, 100000 for each of the coming
two years, 1S94-5, the rate for which
was IL mills, which was reduction of
$40 mill over the levy of two years
ago. The statement was enthusiast
tically applauded.
On motion of Senator Donnelly, the
sergeant-at-arms of the house was di-
rected to turn over Mr.. Rhodes letter
book to the attorney general to be used
in evidence in the prosecution of the
coal combine.
When the house reached the Red
river drainage it was passed with only
five negative votes.
Governor Nelson sent to the senate q
veto of Senate File 3s7, the bill chang
ing the methods Of the election of mem
bers of the state board of health. He
made numerous objections to the bill.
/ It changes the terms of Office from four
to seven years and is somewhat vague
as to how long the present incumbent
shall serve. Another objection is that
no governor can appoint more than two
members and yet his administration is
responsible for the acts of the board.
The provisions divesting the secretary
of his salary was also objected to. The
matter was referred to COMMITTEES IN