St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-11-02
SENATOR DORHELLY TALKS
REVEALING SOME OF THE PINE LAND
CORRUPTION.
OF EVIDENCE FOUND.

The legislative Committee Is
Making Great Progress in
Winding the Coils OF Fact
About Pine Land Robbers
Unimpeachable Witnesses Con.
viction Is Sure.
The pine lands investigation commit
tee resumed its sitting yesterday morn
ing at 9 O'clock, and continued until
about the middle of the afternoon. Like
all other sessions it, was executive, for
reasons already published. In all about
ten witnesses have been examined at
the present meeting. Last evening an
other session was held, but no testi-
mony Was taken, that already in the
hands of he committee being conSid-
cred. 1t is probable that the committee
will convene this morning, and will
finish, for the present, at about noon.
Senator DoDneliy last night. in speak
ing with a GLOBE reporter, said:
Tine testimony so far taken, and we
are but on the Threshold, reveals very
surprising details. 1t goes 10 confirm
the theories of frauds and rObberies Oh
a gigantic scale. In some cases it shows
Wholesale larcenies from the public
lands in large amounts without any pre-
tex of title or ownership or lease, or
even permits to cut logs. Logs have
been coolly logged off by prominent
lumbermen and ncreport has ever been
made, In one case the testimony
proves that the state received pay for
only 100000 feet Of lumber. while the
information we have, shown by scaling
and meaSurment, proves the mount
actually taken to have been over 6,000,-
600 feet. These frauds do not appear to
be confined to any particular To-
cality either. The school fund
has been shamefully robbed for many
years past. The committee has taken
steps for a still more diligent investiga-
ton i'll the near future, and we hope 70
be able to turn over to the governor and
attorney general plenty Of evidence to
secure prosecutions and for the recov-
cry of large sums due the state. In adj
dition to this, our Investigations have
forced many men to pay over large
amounts of money which the state
would probably have never otherwise
received.
1.-The law of the state requires all
parties cutting logs on state lands to
make their report and to settle before
May / in each year. No logs cal be
removed bearing tie StaIe stamp, Mill.
until the same are fully settled for with
the state auditor. In one ease the COM
mittee had information that a large
number of logs had been cut on school
sections and lie report had been made
to the state auditor. They thereupOn
ordered n of their experts to scale
the StumpS and tops and to ascertain
how much lumber had been taken
from the section in question.
He started out On Sept. Z.
Three days afterwards he was
visited while at work by two men,
and three days later on, on Sept. Is, a
lumberman reported nearly a million
feet taken from that section, for which
he paid to the state ove $1,000. 1t is
the belief of the committee that if the
expert had not been set at work on that
section the state would never have re-
ceived a single penny of that money.
We believe the work of the committee
will III this way force and intimidate
the thieves and plunderers. and thereby
save the state hundreds Of thousands of
dollars"