The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-04-04
TREMENDOUS
ROBBERY.
Millions of Dollars Stolen From
the School Fund.
The Unborn Generations Stripped
of Their Heritage.

The Unborn Generations Stripped
of Their Heritage.
How the Republican Party has
Governed the State.
The revelations made by the lie gis-
lative Pine Land Committee are sim
ply appalling.
We quote the following from the
Minneapolis Tribune of March Both:
''St. Paul, March 3O.-The pine Land
investigation committee was in ses-
sion here all day, receiving the re-
ports of a subcommittee appointed
to collect evidence and Institute
suits against the lumbermen, who, it
is alleged, have possessed themselves
wrOngfully of the state pine. The
committee, as usual, declined to give
out any information, but The Tri-
bune reporter interviewed several Of
the members, and one of them made
the following statement: From the
the suits already instituted the state
expects to recover abOut$ 500, 900 from
the defendants. In every suit
brought there has been an offer made
by the lumber firm to compromise in
the matter but in each case the state
has declined to consider the offer. and
preferred to leave the matter to the
courts
Have you brought all the suits
you intended"
mo, we have several other cases
which we are working upon"
What has been the effect of the
investigation and the suits COM
menced, so far as you have learned?"
II can say, without eXaggera tiOn,
that the effect has been tremendous.
The system of failing to account for
pine logs cut on state school lands
has. we believe, entirely ceased. OF
course we know that it is rather late
in the day for the state to step in
now to protect it's pine lands. We
are going back, however, score of
years ago, and whereverwe find proof
that the pine has been misapprOpri
ated we will institute suits to re-
cover We have come across cases
where from 100000 to l4,0O0,0O feet
of pine have been cut from school
lands for which the state has not re-
ceived one cent. In some of these
cases it may be difficult to prove who
took the timber, but where we can
trace the logs we can measure the
stuff and sue the parties, and this
will be done every time. The COM
mittee will be able to show, in it's re-
port, that steps had been taken in
time to protect the school lands, their
sale at fair prices would have result
ed in placing in the state school fund
a sum which, if invested at per
cent, would be sufficient to have re-
+ nj. >f ~.
of the burden Of the school tax"
Has the committee exhausted
it's appropriation yet?'
ahead as long as the money lasts.
The members of the committee are
not indulging in junketing.'
The suits already commenced by
the committee are as follows:
l. The State versus the Shevlin
Carpenter & Co. In this case the state
seized two and half million feet of
logs, in boom in Minneapolis. The
logs are worth S25 200 and that is the
amount sued for.
. The State versus the ltaSca
Lumber Co., for short returns on two
was eight million feet short; the 9TH
er one and half millions short.
The Total amount sued for is $14,
800.
). The State versus T. r. Foley, of
Aitken Co. In this case there was
no permit. 1t was a wilful treSpaSS
and unlawful seizure of the states
property. Two million feet were TAX
en-. The amount sued for is $14, ,O0O
4. The State versus the Shelvin Car
penter Co. In this case the defend
ants cut two and half million feet
off single section, in the winter Of
1928. and reported but one million
three hundred thousand feet: leaving
1.2OO. 900 unaccOunted for.
Put these four suits together and
we have claims of $l35, 900, and this Is
not one-tenh Of the cases rereoled by the
Investigation. and on ,ohich suits ,ciU
probably be brought. Mr.. George w.
Day, of Minneapolis. pine land ex-
aminer, has written the committee
that he will work for his expenses,
during the spring months: and take
his chances of the next Legislature
paying him: and that he believes he
will show robbery of fifty million feet
Of pine timber In q ter square miles OF
te,1ftory...
And remember that the investiga-
tion is confined to the last three or
four years, as the old cuttings are so
burned over that it is impossible to
scale the StumpS.
The probabilities are that the State
School Fund has been pl,tndered OF an
amount as great as its entire present. fund!
Think of the awful robberies inflict-
ed on the countless generations that
are to come after us! The people of
Minnesota today would not need pay a
cent of the tax for the support of the
schools, if this robbery had been shut