Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1893-04-14
no WHITEN ASH HERE.
THE STATE SCHOOL FUND DE-
FRAUEED OF Sll.OCO.
Full Report OF the Pine Investigating
Committee on Section SO, Town
AZ. Range 26--The State VIII
Recover $11. OOOifthe Cow
arnOr y oaS His Duty. Is.

st. Paul, Mimi, April 10, 1893 Hon.
William d. Lee, Speaker House OF Repre-
Investigate alleged irregularities in the Of
flee of the state auditor, beg leave to re-
port as follows:
On Feb. IS Representative Dunn intro
duced the following resolution which was
Whereas, 1t is charged that the pine TIM
Der on school section 36, township ~ range
Minneapolis lumber firm at less than half
its value; therefore be 1t
Resolved, That the state auditor be AND
is hereby directed to report to this house
ton whether the pine timber on said sec
ton So has teen disposed of. when, to
whom and for what consideration, ana
public or private, and If 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 u
copy of this resolution on the state auditor
on Feb. %, in response to the above, the
following communication from the state
auditor was received in the house Of rep
resentatives and appears on page ? Of the
house journal of Feb. IS: =.
PAUL. aa'I Feb Go ~. isss@Hon. William T. Lee,
Speaker House of Representatives: S!r:
In response to the resolution of the 18th
inst. have the honor to inform you that
&c. was sold to c. A. Smith & co. of Min
neapolis on Jan. 25, 1892. at private sale.
The price said timber sold for was 81 per
1000. Very r sinS T. State Auditor
On March / Representative Dunn intro
duced the following resolution when was
Resolved, That the speaker appoint a
committee Of five to investigate the al
legged Irregularities said to exist In the ne
state auditors office, more especially with
L. In fafV min
ton SO, township AZ. range 26, Mile Laos
county. and that said committee. be en-
powered to employ stenographer ana
send for persons ana papers and Of
witnesses and report to this house not
later than two weeks from this date -,
Pursuant to the above resolution. the iol-
lowing committee was appointea; Repre-
scntatives Dunn, Fleming, Zelch, Cole, T.,
and German.
On March the committee held It's first
lowing members being present: Dunn
Fleming. Zelch and Cole:
The first witness examined was John Goss
Of Anota. Reing sworn ne SAID 81, ne mao h; al
for more than twenty-three years past. He
had section Sc, town AZ, range rs estimated
By competent estimators and cruisers with
same 1T Il sale advertised by the state audit
or to he held at Princeton in May, 1892.
He, testified he went to frinc nee On pre- re,
the timber on said land. THAT the section
was estimated by his men to contain nearly
6.NO.OOO feet OF an extra good quality OF
pine.
at the office of the auditor of Mile Laos
county, where such sale was advertised to
take place. and was there advised that said
land had been by the state auditor with
drawn from sale;
That he went to ST. Paul to learn why the
land hnd been withdrawn and was told by
AY5itor Dierman that the timbtr had been 81,
Minnear polls. exhibiting at the time a con-
tract between G. A. Saith anl the state in
which the timber was sold at - per l,C00
Robbins, Mile Laos county. and practical
lu'nber,r;in who is thoroughly familiar with
all the pine lands in that region, testified
that he had cruised and estimated the tim
ding on it at the May sale;
That he estimated the section to contain
), 1909 feet Of pine Of an excellent quail
THAT it was worth 81 per 1000 bank scale.
BEING c"oss-questioned by Auditor Herman
he testified that the timber was worth 81
per LOCO and was still willing to pay that
price for what was left of it.
Il. S. Page, n we'll known and responsible
luniherman Of Anoka. testified that he had
desired to purchase. the same timber, and
witnesses relative to the quality and value
Of the timber.
II. F. Mcclellan, county surveyor of Mile
Laos county, testified that the pine on sec
ton 80 was of an excellent quality and
worth 81 per 1000.
March 10 the committee met with the fol
lowing members present; Dunn. Cole, Zelch
and German. &. A. Smith testified that he
had bought the timber from the state audit
or at private sale for 81 per LOCO and
thought that was fair price for it. lie also
buttal of the testimony already offered as
to the value of the timber except his own
opinion. the value Of logs in Minneapolis
and other irrelevant matters.
Auditor Bierman testified that the pine Oh
the section in question was sold on all
estimate of 100000 feet and that bond Of
$1,000 was exacted on the contract estimate
exhibited, being frasmentary slip of paper
bearing no date Or signature, but simply the
26. 7OO,OOO.)
appraisal of the timber. He had sold to
William Sauntry q section in the adjoining
township east, at public sale in December,
aSY sent appraisers on the land in
after there had been some talk of an in
were 100000 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 ap-
James NIulyey Of Saltwater and W. B.
Ransom Of Minneapolis testified as to the
relative value of logs in saltwater and
The committee met again March %, those
present being Dunn, Cole. Feming, Zelch
and German.
Of the appraisers who appraised the land
in question for the sale advertised for May
lS9H He had put bidding price on It
ae nd iha n Maud w was hd wopth per 1900
figure: Knew lumbermen who would bid
that for it. 1t was one of the best sections
in the reservation. was excellent timber
damage by fire. The reason he did not put
the bidding price higher was that if he had
appraised it at its true value ga per 1,OOOl
some OF those who wanted to bid on it
would have said he was trying to bar them
out.
A. ". Woodcock a resident of Princeton
IN old time lnmberman on Rum river, testi-
%G-42-26. aud that he would have bid 81
per. 1000 had he been afforded an oppor-
tunity to Go so and knew of other lumber
Bassett of minneapolis was sworn and
testified as to the value of logs in Min
neapolis,. but knew nothing as to the value
~ Messrs Bassett, M H and Smith, above
noticed, testified on request Of the auditor.
hudson NJ. Goss. of the firm Of Goss & Son
Of Anoka, testified that he had numbered
He, with Josiah Wilbur, carefully estimated
every forty separately on said section SO in
the month OF April, 1891, in order to bid
on the same intelligently at the sale adver-
tised to occur in PRINCETON in May. The TIM
her was frst-class, large and thrifty, and
all white pine: was uninjured by fire ana
was large and long bodied, going about five
and one-half logs to the 1000. He estimated
the section to- contain on safe estimate
5.475.00O feet. The evidence of the witness
was clear, concise and to the point, and
was in no degree shaken by the rigid cross
examination at the hands of the deputy
state auditor. He said he was ready to bid
81 per 1000, and that he was still willing to
give 81 for what remained Jun cut at the pres
ent date. He testified that> the timber south
of the section. which had been referred to
by Mr.. Dierman as subjecting the timber to
danger by fire, had been cut twelve years
ago. and that there was no danger of fire
FROM that direction, or from any other d.
rect.un that he could see. - I'll
Il. N. COwles. q lumherman and pine land
on ,er and speculator. testified that he had
sold ,tunlpage in section a - 25, immedi-
ately adjoining the section in question, fol
"a per 1000, bank scale and cut clean
mat this timber was hauled eight miles
into tributary of Snake river while that
on section 36 was hauled less than five miles
into Rum river. He had attended the De
cember land sale In 1891, expecting that this
section would be sold and was expecting ia
bid on 1t. He intended to bid 81 per / ,GOC
Z for 1t, On the opinion of his estimator hn