St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-22
THE POSITION TAKEN BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

left in the hands of the governor. Let
1t be shown for what purpose.
Two Weeks hater
the representative of road which had
not quite TILED its grant company
which had the legal right to select its
own lands, right which was not in
cluded i'll che grant OF the Great North
ern, presented to the auditor deed to
a list OF land which he had selected in
order to comply with the statute re-
quiring his grant to be filled before Jan.
l, 1895. This deed was properly certi-
fed to by the land commissioner in the
usual manner.
In the regular course of business this
deed was laid before the governor for
his official signature. After consider
able delay the deeds were signed with the
exception of several torty-acre tracts.
Why did he except these forties? The
statute confers no discretionary powers
upon him; nothing is lett to his judg-
ment. These several hundred acres
were included in the list of selections
made by the Great Northern, and the
Great Northern had left its list of selec-
tiOns with the governor in order that he
might hold out any certificates covering
the tracts they had iawlessly pre-
empted. The governor had instructed
his clerk to compare this deed with the
Great Northern list and strike out any
thing which conflicted with the Great
Northern selections.
But Auditor Blermann had club in
soak for the company and the governor
who loved it so we'll, and he simply let
the matter pass for the time being. For
months he had kept his office force busy
making out a list of the lands which he
proposed to give
The Great Northern.
1t Is not necessary to state that these
selections were not made from the s75
an acre class.
The GLOBE was for long time un-
able to get possession of any of the
correspondence covering this matter,
but after patiently waiting for weeks its
labor was completely rewarded last
Saturday. While Auditor Biermann
was personally engaged in conducting
the land sale in the assembly room at the
capitol the reporter sauntered into the
Office and asked a clerk if he could be
permitted to look at the letter file. The
clerk at first objected, put the reporter
replied in all Indifferent tone that he
had understood that 1t was the boast of
this Office that its affairs were always
open to the inspection of the public,
and he supposed that official correspond
ence was as much the affair of the pub
lie as any other detail of business, and
while it was of no special Importance he
would like to see it. The clerk still
hesitated, but finally passed over the
book, and from this official source the
entire correspondence was carefully
copied. 1t shows for itself and explains
the whole situation as clearly as any
words can. Here is the first letter from
the auditor to the governor:
Biermann,s First Letter.
STATE OF MINNESOTA, AUDIToR's
OFFICE. ST. PAUL, Sept. 26. 1884,
Hon. Knute Nelson, Governor of Min
nesota-Sir: have the'honor to trans
init, herewith, for your official sigma
ture. Deed No. %. embracing 27l, ,565 81
acres of land patented to the State of
Minnesota by virtue of the swamp land
grant approved March IL. 1860, and
selected for the minneapolis & st. Cloud
Railway company (now. the Great
Northern) in accordance with the state
laws pertaining to such selections.
Special Laws of 1869, chapter Sc, al
though in form an amendment to
| Special Laws of 1865. .chapter3, in itself
| complete act, making float" grant
company in aid of its Hinckley branch
of ten sections to the mile, without any
Limitation as to the locality where tile
land shall be selected. The right of Sc
lection, not being given to the railway
company. belongs to the state, which
may fill the grant out of any of its
swamp lands. % Mimi, 1O4.