St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-12-16

fies me in making frank and candid
statement of all the circumstances un-
der when | made the sale of pine
stumpage on section So, township AZ,
range 26, TO &. A Smith IL Co.. of Min
neapolis, which sale has been anuulled
by decree of the district court of this
state.
Having acted from desire to protect
your interest. and OF data upon which
had right to rely. ask of you an i'm
martial consideration of this statement
in the matter. | shall endeayor to De as
brief as the Importance of the case will
permit.
The sale of pine timber at public
auction taxes place in September or
October, each year, and for the accom-
mediation OF lumbermen. an adjourned
sale is held in November, or the early
part Of December. Application for
purchase of pine timber is made to this
office, but before any sale is made, an
examiner is sent to estimate and APP
praise the timber, to ascertain its gem
eral character and condition., and also
to find out as to its liability to loss or
damage by fire, tresSpass, etc. These
reports are submitted to the governor,
treasurer aud land commissioner for
of SAID timber as being necessary to
protect the state from loss. The de-
scriptlonS Of land, together with the
estimate and appraisal, are then put on
the reg ular sales record, to be sold at
public auction>to the highest bidder, the
date. of sale having been advertised for
sixty days prior thereto.
Section S. town AZ, range &c, the tract
III question, together with S42 other
tracts estimated and appraised. was on
the sales record when | took charge of
the Office. At a regularly advertised
sale held OH Sept 26, 1891, sold 1875
tracts of pine timber. and at the ad-
journed sale OH Dec. following |
sold 124 tracts. All OF these except
SlXty-eight tracts, were estimated and
appraised by my predecessor, The
average price for timber sold, and sub
seQuently cut, at these two sales was
SIG per thousand feet. The memoran-
dunn of the judges states that no proper
estimate or appraisal was made on sec
ton So, town AZ. range &c. prior to sale,
and this is one of the reasons why the
sale was Cancelled. 1t would seem to
follow then, that if this section was not
properly estimated and appraised not
one of the tracts above mentioned were,
and the timber sold in 1891, and ever
since, has been disposed of contrary to
law. That being SO, why should not
every tract so sold be cancelled and the
sales declared null and void? OF record,
section SO, town ~. range &c was esti-
mated at 100000 feet and appraised at
Sl.75 per thousand. | had right to as
sumo that my predecessor had complied
with the law prior to putting the land
on the sales record, and the mere fact
that the examiners return is lost, or
cannot be found i'll the office, is not very
conclusive evidence that the law had
not been complied with.
Maintaining then. as | do, that the
section in question was properly esti-
mated and appraised, The question
arises: Is the state auditor, under any
circumstances, authorized to sell pine
stumpage at private sale?
Chapter 1863, of the General Laws of
1885, did not amend or repeal any prior
law governing the sale of pine timber.
L construed 1t to be an addition to the
laws already i'll force. l hold that sec
ton 2 of said chapter authorizes the
auditor to sell at private sale when the
interest of the state demands it. Sec
ton reads as follows:
"I1e shall take such measures as will
protect the said timber from damage or
loss by fire, trespass, or otherwise, and
make such regulations for the care. con-
troll, sale and disposition of the timber
lands of the state, o: the timber thereon.
as will best protect the interests of the
state"
On account of surrounding circum-
stances, section SO, town AZ. range %,
was liable to destruction bv fire. 1t has
been on the sales record since 1889, and
nnnnnhtn6IU llnQn off i,I in
auction several times, but no bid has
ever been received for it. Some time in
January, 1892, G. A. Smith, of the firm
OF G. A. Smith x Co., of Minneapolis,
came TO this office and desired to pur-
chase this section. He stated that he
was cutting on section % Corner of 36)
that the timber was all cut on the
south side of the section; that the
timber in the immediate neighborhood
would be cut during the winter, TINS
rendering this section liable TO destruc-
ton by fire. L requested Mr.. Smith to
address me letter on the subject in
order that | might have something of
record wherein to base my action. This
he did, and offered TO pcy S1.75 per NJ,
the appraised value. In answer to this
l wrote him as follows:
STATE LAND OFFICE, ST. PAUL, Jan.
%, 1S92.-C. A. Smith IL Co., Minneapo-
lis, MINI. Dear Sirs: Your favor of
the 22d received and contents noted.
In reply will say that l would like to
accommodate you, but cannot see how
can at the price you name. Section Sc.
1927 was sold at $2.l0 per NJ. to Mr..
Sauntry. without any opposition, and |
understand this section is a fair O. e.
While the estimate is not large, l have
no doubt it will cut double the amount
of the estimate. do not make it rule
to sell any stumpage at private sale
only in cases where it is an advantage
and benefit to the state to do so. As
you are cutting OH sec. 20, next to it,
and it will likely burn next spring, il
(sec. 36) Will be in danger of fire, and
will let you have it at 1926 per NJ, and