St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-15

this house within hve days OF the re-
ceipt of this resolution whether the pine
timber on said section ST has been dis
posed of, when, to whom and for what
consideration, and whether the sale OF
said pine timber was public or private,
| and II at public sale, when, where, and
| in what manner notice OF said sale was
| given.
Resolved, That the chief clerk of this
| house be and is hereby directed to serve
copy of this resolution on the state
auditor forthwith.
On Feb. rs, in response to the above,
| the following communication from the
state auditor was received in the house
of representatives. and appears on page
2 OF the house journal of Feb. IS.
STATE OF MINNESOTA, AUDITORS
| OFFICE, ST. PAUL, Feb. 81, 1898
Hon. William f. Lee, Speaker
House of Representatives = Sir:
| In response to the resolution of
the 18th inst, have the honor to inform
| you that the timber on section So, town.
| ship ~. range 20, was sold to 9. A.
| Smith & Co., of Minneapolis, on Jan. 25,
| 1892, ut private sale. The price said
timber sold for was 81 per 1000. Very
respectfully,
A. BIERMANN. State Auditor.
On March Representative Dunn i'll
| troduced the following resolution, which
was adopted:
Resolved, That the speaker appoint a
| committee of five TO investigate the al
| legged irregularities said TO exist i'll the
state auditors office. more especially
with reference to the sale of pine timber
| on section So. township AZ, range 20.
Mile Laos county, and that said COM
mittee be empowered to employ stem
| Ographer, and send for persons and pa
| pers and administer oathS, authorize
and compel attendance of witnesses,
| and report to this house not later than
| two weeks from this date.
Pursuant to the above resolution, the
following committee was appointed:
Representatives Dunn, Fleming, Zelch,
Cole, T., and German.
On March the committee held its
first meeting in Room IS at the capitol,
the following members being present:
Dunn, Fleming, Zelch and Cole.
GOss' Testimony.
The first witness examined was John
! GOsS. of AnOka. Being sworn, he said
he had Numbered on Rum river and its
| tributaries for more than twenty-three
years past He had section 80. town AZ,
range % estimated by competent es
timaTors and cruisers with view to
q
sale advertised by the state auditor 10
held at Princeton in May, 1892.
He testified he went to Princeton
prepared to bid as high as 81 per 1000
feet for the timber on said land. That
the section was estimated by his men to
contain nearly 6,000.0OJ feet of an extra
good quality of pine.
That on going to Princeton he APP
peared at the Office of the auditor of
Mile Lacs county, where such sale was
advertised to take place, and was there
advised that said land mad been by the
state auditor Withdrawn from sale.
That he went to st. Paul to learn why
the land had been withdrawn, and was
told by Auditor Bierman that the timber
had been sold III December to e. A.
Smith & Co., of Minneapolis. exhibiting
at the time a contract between G. A.
Smith and the state in which the timber
was sold at 81 per 1000.
Robert Burch, resident of the town
of Robbins, Mile Laos county. and
practical lumberman, VINO is thoroughly
familiar with all the pine lands in that
region, testified that he had cruiSed and
estimated the timber land in question
with view to bidding on it at the May
sale.
That he estimated the section to con-
tain 100000 feet of pine Of an excellent
qurlity.
That it was worth 81 per 1000 bank
scale. Being crOSs-questioned by Au-
ditOr Biermann, he testified that the tim
Der was worth 81 per 1000, and was
still willing to pay that price for what
was left of it.
+. 5. Page, a we'll known and response
BILE lumbernan of Anoka, testified that
he had desired to purchase the same
timber, and corrobOrated the testimony
of the foregoing witnesses relative to
the quality and value of the timber.
r. +. Mcclellan, county surveyor of
Mile Laos county, testified that the
pine on section So was of an excellent
quality and worth 81 per 1000. March
10 the committee met, with the follow
ing members present: Dunn, Cole,
Zclch and German.
G. A. Smith Tes tilted
that he had bought the timber from the
state auditor at private sale for 81 per
LOCO, and thought tllat was fair price
for it. He also testified further, but
offered nothing in rebuttal of the testi-
mOny already offered as to the value of
timber except his own opinion, the
value Of logs in Minneapolis and other
irrelevant matters.
Auditor Biermann testified that the
pine Oh the section in question was sold
on an estimate of 100000 feet, and that
bond of $500 was eXacted on the con-
tract estimate exhibited, being frag-
mentary slip of paper bearing no date
or signature, but simply the words and
figures, section So, town AZ, range 20.
700,00O.)
He testified that there had been no
recent appraisal of the timber. He had
Il =
adjoining township east. at public sale
in December, 1891. He sent appraisers
on the land in question in February of
the present year, after there had been
some talk OF an investigation. and they
reported that there were $780, 900 feet
on the section.
Ex-State Auditor Braden testified that
during his term of Office he had sold old
cuttings at private sale, but never virgin
pine. He had always had the timber
appraised before the sale.
James Mulvey, of Saltwater, and W.
B. Ransom. of Minneapolis. testified as
to the relative value of logs in Stillwa-
ter and Minneapolis.
The committee met again March %,
those present being Dunn, Cole, Flem-
ing, Zelch and German.
Leonard Pratt testified that he was
one of the appraisers who appraised the
land in question for the sale advertised
for May, 1892. He had put a bidding
price, on it. realizing that it was worth
81 per 1000, and that it would be bid up
to or above that figure. Knew lumber
men who would bid that for 1t. 1t was
one of the best sections in the reserva-
ton, was excellent timber, and mad not
been aud was not liable to damage by
fire. The reason he did not put the bid
ding price higher was that if he had ap-
praised it at its true value "a per 1,O0W
some Of those who wanted to bid on it
would have said he was trying to bar
them out.
A. w. Woodcock, resident of Prince
ton, an old-time lumberman on Rum
river, testified that he was intending to
bid i'll sections So, AZ, %, and that he
Would Have Bid 81
per thousand had he been afforded an
opportunity to do so, and knew other
lumbermen who were ready to pay the
same price.
Bassett, of Minneapolis, was sworn,