St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-10

source payment of the SlO.3S taxed C. J.
McDermott. in District No. l, aud not
stricken Off?''
81 could not say as to that without
examining my books.''
Twill you examine your books before
the close of this investigation so that
you may report on that poini?"
Mr.. Johns here stipulated for the ad
mission that SO far as the county auditor
is advised the personal tax in question
has never been paid, and, this admission
being accepted. Mr. Nelson was allowed
to 20. and X. L. O'Conner, clerk of the
district court. took the witness stand.
"a Mr.. OCOnner, it seems. was in Europe
during the period of the transactions IN
question, and stated that his deputy, j.
Nj. Redding. was the witness to talk
upon the matter.
s Paul Lavallee, county commissioned,
was called to the stand.
6s Who were the other members of the
committee on taxes besides yourself?
was the first question put to Mr.. La
yallee by MIR. Edgerton.
% '"MesSrs. Seng and McCarron."
sh"Did the full board 20 over that tax
list with your committee?'
MIR. Lavallee's recollection of the
matter was that it had been referre d to
his committee by the full board. Asked
as to what became of the list afterwards,
the witness testified that the committee
went over it. marking such names as
they deemed 1T best to strike off as nom
collectible. 81 put my initials in red
ink to the ones | thought ought to go,
and l told Messrs. Seng and McCarron
that L would indorse any action of
theirs in the same way" Mr.. Lavallee
identified the marking in red ink as his
own. and when asked il he, as chair.
man of the tax committee of the board
of county commissioners. had ever
authorized the names of G.. j. McDer-
mott. McDermott & Kinsella, T. j.
O'Leary and Andrew Lauer to be
stricken from the tax list, he calmly re-
marked that he had initiated all names
that he had sanctioned, and he saw no
such marking opposite the names re-
ferred to.
AT this point Mr.. Johns interrupted
with an admission. He offered to admit
in order to save time that these names
were stricken off by Mr.. Burns, who
had placed his initials. j. Il. B., OPP
posite each name erased in blue at that
time.
80 far as you know, did Mr.. Burns
have any authority to strike the names
off the list?"
MIR. Johns objected to the question,
and said that as to that they would
appeal to tue records of the county
commissioners. Mr.. Edgerton per-
sisted in wanting an answer to his
question, and Mr.. Johns as vigorously
opposed him. Showing copy of the
official paper, he said that the leaving
off those names appeared as the action
of the board of county commissioners.
Mr.. EdgertOn claimed that if there
was a record it was a false one and
never authorized. The record was sent
for, aud Referee Yates overruled the
objection.
Mr.. Lavallee said that it was only
about three weeks ago, and when his
attention was called to the matter by
Mr.. Reardon, that he learned that Nc
Dermott's name had been stricken off,
and when, in his cross-examination. Mr..
Johns asked him how such names as
Finch. Van SIyke; d. Aberle q Co., and
others came to have been marked off
with MIR. Burns blue pencil, he said
that all he knew about it was that this
marking was done after the lists left
the hands OF the county commissioners.
Mr.. Johns-HOw does it happen that,
If you passed upon the minutes of the
meetings you did not know that all of
these names with the initials of Mr..
Burns opposite were not stricken off I'M
til three weeks ago?"
Mr.. Lavallee replied that about twice
out of three times the minutes were not
read at the meetings.
81 Mr.. Johns said that Mr.. Lavallee
knew all about the striking off the
names eferred to, and that he would
very soon have to tell all he knew about
the matter.
Mr., Gates, not being able to see the
necessity of discussing other names than
those m entioned in the charges,
sustained an objection offered by Mr..
Edgerton to questions put by Mr.. Johns,
and which the witness had before an
sw cred.
After dinner j. M. Redding, deputy
SiOih VI thO olotllSb COQlls tOOh lHc
stand. He said in reply to the direct
questions of Mr.. Edgerton:
When the revised list was received
+ from the county auditor 1 discovered
the initials ''P. A. L." which are those
of County Commissioner Lavallee,
written opposite some of the names in
red ink, and knew that they meant that
the names were those of uncollectible
parties. l observed also various names
erased with blue pencil with no
initials signed to them. 1t is the Gus
tom for the county commissioners to
make eraSureS OF names i'll red ink,
with the initials of the chairman of the
tax committee of the board signed. But
l didn't understand what the blue
pencil erasureS meant. So / took the
list to County Auditor Burns. and
showed him the names erased in blue.
He replied that he had made those
erasures. | told him l would like him
to attach his initials to the erasures, and
he complied with my request. Sc
cured the signatures of MIR. Burns SO as
to hold the district clerks ofhce free
from any blame in the matter.
MIR. Redding was asked about few
eraSureS In black, and replied that he
knew nothing about them. He said that
he called Mr.. Burns attention to those
erasureS also, but Burns said that he
did not know anything about them; all
the erasures that he had anything to do
with were those in blue. My reason for
seeing Burns was because the eraSureS
were made without any apparent au-
th0rity. | left the list with him a day
or two, and when it came back to me his
initials were appended.
County Commissioner Seng was the
next witness. i was member of the
tax committee of the board. 1 went
over the revised list with Lavallee. We
were authorized by the board to make
such erasureS as we deemed were neceS-
sary. The board to my knowledge
never gave any one else authority to
make erasures of names on the list.
'Ghe first l heard of the eraSures
that were not made by the board was
when l read of it in the newspapers
two or three weeks ago. In reply to the
questions from MIR. Johns the witness
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