St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-29
lUNN ANSWERS BIERmANN
fHE EDITOR CT THE PRINCETON UNION
FIRES SOME HIT SHOT.
EXPLAINS HOW 1T Is DONE.

Which the State Has Been
PIucked Laid Barc-Row the
State Timber Experts Do Not
Do Their Duty.
Mr. Dunn, Of the Princeton Union
In his paper issued yesterday, devotes
nine columns of his space TO reply to
State Auditor BIermann's address to the
public on the now famous pine land
sold to Messrs. John s. Pillsbury and
c. A. Smith. We give extracts from
Mr.. Dunn's reply as follows:
HIS MAIN CONTENTION.
Mr.. Biermann'S main contention is
that he followed the presidents of his
iilustrious predecessors; that IL had
been customary to dispose of pine
stumpage on school lands at private
sale. That is no justification at all.
Mr.. Biermann was elected TO office as
performer" The battle cry of his party
in the campaign of 1890 was Turn the
Changew Moreover. he was the candi-
date of the Populists as we'll as the
Democrats. Certainly he was not eX-
pected to follow in the footsteps of his
corrupt" Republican predecessors.
Better things were expected of him. Mr..
Biermann's Immediate predecessor, w.
w. Braden, Swore before the legislative
committee that he had never sold an
acre of virgin pine DIT private sale during
his term of office. But whether Mr..
Braden did or did not sell at private sale
is immaterial as far as the case under
discussion Is concerned.
THE LOW ESTIMATE.
Mr. Biermann says of the estimate:
Judging from the comments made by
the court and press. the public may be
led to believe that | sold the pine on
this section for 81, 400" The court did
not assume anything of the kind. Some
of the papers may have been misled.
What does low estimate mean? Let
us suppose a case: Mr.. Smith pur-
chaSeS piece of pine from MI. Bier
mann and it is estimated in Mr.. Bier
manniS office at 100000, when in reality
there are 100000 feet on the piece; an
accommodating scaler makes a return
of 100000 feet to Mr.. Biermann-300,0 900
more than the estimate in his office calls
for. The state has gainen 100000 over
the estimate and Mr.. Smith has gained
100000 feet. We do not say that this
would have been done in this particular
case, but had there been no inveStlga-
ton it could have been done, and every
lumberman in Minnesota knows it has
been done. Several letters are before
us as we write. One is from John &.
Smith, or st. Francis, an old pine land
cruiser and one of the recently appointed
Red Lake examiners. He writes: "Iknow
OF one section of school land on the
Eastern Minnesota railroad where 2,000,-
600 feet of timber was hauled, and only
1.O00,0O0 was returned to the auditors
office" MIR. Smith is an honest man
and strange to say is good Democrat
Here is sample of under. estimating
that Is receiving attention at the hands
of the joint investigating committee:
Amount paid for. 669.S60 feet. actually
scaled as cut, 2,120,000; amount paid
for 675,2T0 feet, actually sealed as cut,
7l50,000 feet" A score of other SIM
liar discrepancies between the scale as
returned and the actual cut could be
cited. Now, If the auditors records
showed the correct estimate of piece
OF pine in the first place such frauds
would be impossible. Because if the
scale reported was less than the eSti-
mate on the auditors books he could
send experts and have the timber scaled
from the stump. Then again, scatter
Ing pine is not as valuable as compact
pine. 1t costs more to handle scattering
pine. For instance, 100000 feet of
pine standing on one section is worth
equally as good pine would be,scattered
over five or six sections. Underestimate
ing and understanding has robbed the
state of Minnesota of millions of dol
lars.
THE VALUE OF THE LOGS.
The claim that the state received all
the Stumpage was worth is absolutely
and unqualifiedly false. Pine stumpage
OH Rum river is growing scarcer and
more valuable each year. Second and
third cuttings, that is, timber that has
been cut over two or three times. sells
for from 81 to So per NJ. Every piece of
school and university land has been sold
and resold. There is scarcely any pine
left outside the old Mile Laos reserva-
ton, and there is not single piece of
virgin pine within the limits OF the old
reservation that can be had short of
s. per N. Years ago Hon. ID. NJ. Sa-
bin authorized Judge Keith and the
writer to pay as high as So to settlers
for small punches of pine-say from
100000 to 100000 feet on an I6O-acre
tract. The witnesses for the defendants,
{. A. Smith IL Co., all swore that 81 was
good price for the stumpage on 36-42-
20, and that the logs were worth only
from $3.50 to IS III the boom. Elk Gov.
j. 5. PillSbnry testified that he thought
81 was fair price for the Stumpage.
Here is copy of a contract made by
and between j. S. Pillsbury and Page
Bros. for ''old slashings" on a tract of
$40 acres-S2.50 per NJ. for 100000 feet:
OFFICE OF GULL RIVER LUMBER Co., !
Minneapolis, Jan. 30, 1893. {
Permission is hereby given to Messrs.
Page Bros. to cut and remove the pine
timber on the following described lands.
viz: East = of southeast d and the
southwest 4 of southeast 4, and the
southeast Il of the southwest u, and
the southwest 4 of the southwest il of
section 80. all in 40, range 81. This
permit is TO cover the logging season OF
1892 and 1898 only. The estimate of
timber upon said lands, as made by
Lowell Chadbourne, being 100000 feet,
and the price is $3.50 per thousand feet.
the same to be paid for on delivery of
the permit. j. S. PILLsBURY.
THE STATE TIMBER EXPERTS.
1t is no excuse for Mr.. Biermann to
say that he is obliged to rely upon the
estimates and appraisals of dishonest
examiners. The state makes liberal
provision for the estimating and ap-
praiSal of pine timber. The examiners
are appointed by the auditor. Mr..
BIermann seems to have unlimited
confidence in his timber and land ex-
amlnerS, MeSSrS. mailman and WeStly.
In his letter of Jan. %, 1892. to c. a.
Smith 81 Co., in referring to the said
section So, he says: while the es-
innate is not large, l have no doubt
il will cut double the amount
of the estimate" Why didn't Mr.
B!ermann send his examiners there to
look the matter up? Mr.. B. admits that
he had no faith i'll the mythical esti-
mate, yet he took no pains to verify his
suspicious. But after the investigation
had been commenced, ''for nv own sat
isfaction," he says, II sent both our
state appraisers OUT. at different times,
and instructed them to take all the time
necessary to carefully estimate and ap-
praise the timber" The state appraisers
could not help discovering what every
lumberman who operated i'll the Rum
river pinerleS knew for years. that in
stead of 7O0,0 900 there were nearly 6,OOO,-
600 feet on the section The anuraiSprS