The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-10-05
The Evidence All Taken Before
Judges Baxter and Searle
Last Thursday.
Witnesses for the State Testify
that the Logs We're Worth
$3.50 Per M.
Witnesses for G.. A. Smith & Co.
Think 50 Per M. a Fair
s-. $780,. Price.

Oral Arguments to be Submitted
in Chambers at St. Cloud
October Goth.
The evidence in the now famous pine
stumpage case of the State VS.. G. A.
Smith & Co. was taken before Judges
Baxter and Searle last Thursday. At
10 P. M. the last witness was examined
and both sides rested. The State was
ready to proceed with the summing up,
but the attorneys for the defense were
not, and it was finally agreed that oral
arguments would be submitted in
chambers at St. Cloud on Oct. 26th.
We have complete synopsis of all
the evidence taken, but we do not care
to publish it without comment, and as
no decision can be given until argu-
ments are submitted it would hardly
be proper to offer any comments at this
time.
The State was represented by Messrs.
Warner & Richardson, of the we'll
known firm of Warner, Richardson &
Lawrence, of st. Paul, and the defense
by Mr.. Jackson, of the firm of Jackson
& Atwater, of Minneapolis, and Mr..
Holt, of the firm of Iceland & Holt, of
the same city.
Six witnesses were allowed on each
side as to value of logs. The witnesses
for the State were all men who had
seen the timber standing, some of them
had cruised and estimated it for the
purpose of bidding intelligently on the
same when it was offered for sale.
None of them placed the value of the
timber below 81 per M, and two wit
nesses placed it as high as $3.50. All
agreed that it was the finest section Of
pine timber in the Rum River pineries,
and that it was not liable to waste or
damage by fire. The witnesses for the
defense were mainly Minneapolis lum-
bermen, only two of them had ever
seen the logs cut or standing. Of course
they thought So per M. was a big price
to pay for stumpage. But it was no.
ticeable that not one of the witnesses
for the defense could cite an instance
where virgin pine of a good quality
had been sold for So or even So per M.
On the other hand the witnesses for
State gave instances where stumpage
had brought as much as SIS per NJ, and
several testified to paying over 81 per
M. for stumpage. One of the witnesses
for the defense, VIM. S. Hill, came all
the way from Minneapolis to testify as
to the value of logs. Yet on cross ex-
animation he could not swear whether
he had paid Merriam & Barrows SO or
SIS per M. for stumpage of an inferior
quality in the vicinity of 36-42-26. The
fact is he had paid 81 per NJ. for the
stumpage in question.
Ex-Auditor Braden's testimony was
somewhat of a surprise to counsel for
the State. Later on we propose to give
his evidence together with Auditor
Biermann's as taken by the stenogra.
pher. Both of those gentlemen seemed
to regard the law governing the sale OF
pine stumpage on school lands as a
dead letter. Deputy Auditor Mat
Clark had book which he called the
''Pine Stumpage Sales Book" which
was Chinese puzzle to everybody but
himself, and he did not seem to under.
stand it very well. --4
| Ex-Gov. Pillsbury was on the stand
for the defense but for what purpose
was not apparent. He did not know
hardly anything about the transaction,
but he did know that pine stumpage on
school lands had been sold at private
sale during o. P. Whitcomb's regime.
Messrs. Gardner, Robbins, Burch,
Goss, jr. and Goss, ST., Ed. and Charles
Page all gave good straightforward
testimony in behalf of the State. Ed.
Page testified right to the point.
There was no attempt on the part OF
the defense to prove that the sale was
made in accordance with law; their en-.
tire efforts were devoted to showing
what the custom had been in the State
Auditors Office and that So per M. was
a fair price for the stumpage. Auditor
Biermann did not pretend that there
had been any estimate or appraisal
made before the sale, nor was there
any evidence adduced to show that an
appraisal had ever been made.
There were a score of witnesses for
the defense from Minneapolis and Still.
| not oo11oa