The Princeton union., 1893-04-20

ostensibly taken from the school land the
amount really taken therefrom was :, ,3O5.
$50 feet. The witness notified the state
land department afterwards sent for him
and said to him that he had rescaled the
land and found his statements correct, and
paid said witness 500 as a present from
the state for his valuable information.
Books Badly Mixed.
Your committee is constrained to say that
when it became necessary to ascertain cer-
tain facts from the state auditor, they
found the books and accounts in such a
state that the information could not be OBJ
tanned until Il certain clerk was brought in
to explain matters. 1t seems to them that
the books and accounts should be rescued
from their present condition Of confusion.
upon the present state auditor. The con-.
fusion began long before he assumed the
duties of his Office. s z f #{ II.
to the conclusion that the school fund Of
this state has been robbed by these and
similar arts Of millions Of dollars of its
a comparatively few isolated cases, but if
we apply the same ration of fraud to all
the tn the school lands in the pine region the loss
will not go so far as to say that the state
officers were a direct party to these frauds
and az 81 shared e in the punder, although some
can certainly hold them responsible for
great neglect Of duty; nor do these wrongs
seem to have been confined to any one
penetrated. The lumbermen @ nvssusaa9n aeem hfe fo
hi1;1e haye b banded nd themselves together Tie
given to facilitate the state in ary researches
that were, attempted to be made, and in
Iact lnnedlments We're thrown in the way
directly that offers Of money We're made to
him MN to INDUCE him not to make honest esti-
mates mates for o. the state at auditor and your com.
corruption has surrounded the the entire a6 bust .
ness. 1t is q horrible part cf this whole
matter aatt that, that men Of large wealth and high
plunder the little children of the state of
their ,patrimony. It would have been bad
enough II the ignorant and vicious had re-
sorted to such practices, but when the
Pillars of the Churches.
pillars of the churches and the ornaments of
society have joined in the work, it seems
to evidence the rottenness of our whole
social conditions. -
pine lands alo1 e, but it appears that the
state has been p1undered of it's hard wood
timber to large amounts, although there is
justify the state auditor in selling lieaes Single
suck or the oak, ash. elm, Eastwood, etc.,
esseI except with the he land at public sale. In some
although the officers of the state must have
well understood that when the land was
so stripped and nothing left but the stumps
that it would be very difficult to sell it for
agricultural lands.
Your. committee is informed by high legal
authority that there is no law which author
belonging to. this state; and they understand
that the price of oak is rapidly advancing
in consequence Of the demand for it for
Mississippi river to the Pacific coast there ere
are no large supplies Of oak timber except
in this state; and that it is in the interest
sho9 e be bfae a all oaked M and nTa
tected from depreciation. The evidence
shows, that oak timber on state lands has
recently been sold for 81 per NJ, while
We find that the most cunning and inge-
price would be offered for the stump
age-which had probably been estimated
the state officers-which could not properly
be paid by any person not being in the ring
and not knowing the true amount. This
guilty Of the fraud made up for the loss
on what he paid for by the vast amount he
stole or what he did not pay for.
University Lands.
i, as to school lands applies with equal force
to the university lands. That great insti-
tuition, which is the head of the public
been plundered in an equally outrageous
manner: ma The COMMITTEES proposes during I9y|
more fully into this branch Of the subject.
It appears that the timber has. been sold in
many, cases at prices ranging from 81 to $;
nd an
titles that where the state scale showed but
100000 feet cut upon a tract Of land,
twelve times that amount had really been
taken from the land. and the state univer-
Stance is given where section 81 town 81,
a. was sold to an an 1dydua at
that it was worth $3.50 per thousand.
Swamp Lands.
We pass now to the subject Of swamp
lands. These seem to have been also a pro
life field Of fraud. The evidence shows that
with the railroad companies under which
they send men to examine the state swamp
lands, and when they find tracts that are
plication to the railroad companies, and the
companies then apply to. the state
for f2apt the FROM land the as state paHt ef soon he
they get title to the land they turn it ove1
to these lumbermen at an agreed price pe1
acre. The tracts Of land thus selected az
really not swamp land except in technica
sense for pine does not grow in swamps. II
this way the very, choicest part Of the tim
Der lands of the state are culled out for thu
the hands Of the state. Not satisfied will
| this ingenious scheme these men go still
| further. 1t is in evidence that they DO no
place their deeds on record, and the title tt
| the land appears to still remain in the rail
| road company, and the land thus escape;
| taxation. These lands are some Of then
! covered with a magnificent growth Of pin.
| timber. In some cases a forty acre trac
| will have on. it from s., Go to $4,000 wortl
of pine. OSe witness testities that it i
useless to attempt to contest the right o
| the purchaser, because the state officers ap
| pear to be in sympathy with the lumber
! men. Your committee on this point are no
| able to speak authoritatively, but trust tn
matter will be a subject of future 1nvesti
! cation.
United States Government Land.
| There is mass of evidence before you
F., committee as to the fraudulent manner il
which pine land has been obtained from th
United States government, and much NOR
evidence could have been obtained on thi
subject; but your committee did not fee
that it had any authority to inquire int
matters outside of the state lands. TIL
evidence shows, however, that shantie
worth SIS each We're made Of a few sticks
with fragments Of broken glass or bottle
stuck through holes as an excuse for win
dows, and few grains Of corn and bean
were planted with a stick in the ground
so that the claimants would be able t
swear they had a lawful residence and gal
den. BY these shameful devices the Unite
States government has Deen cheated out q
millions Of acres under the pre- -emption an
homestead laws. while the parties who wen
through this pretense Of residence sol
out for from 5000 to $500 each to som
: wealthy lumberman who had emDlOved the1