Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1895-03-14

1t In Said That Three Hundred
Mlllion Feet of Pine Have been
Illegally Disposed of-One Firm
Has Control of Forty Million Feet
Of Pine.
st. Paul, March 9.-The Pioneer
Press prints an article this morning
stating that upward Of three hundred
million feet of the best growing young
pine Of the state has been Illegally dis
posed OF on absolutely unreliable est-
mates ,:,nd at abnormally low prices,
when such pine was not in any danger
Of fire or damage from any cause
whatsoever. And as proof that 1t
was not in danger Of loss from ire or
any other cause, that pine still stands
to-day untouched by the axe and held
as safe and cheap speculation by the
persons who obtained possession OF 1t.
Many Of the permits to cut this pine
We're issued in 1892, and were made to
run till 1897, but not one stick was cut,
and the timber stands to-day as safe
and as sound as on the day when 1t
was disposed of.
At the present time the state land
commissioner, r. C. Dunn, states that
there arc outstanding about seventy
five permits to cut pine timber on
state lands. These permits cover some
Cos sections. If there were only 25O,-
600 feet of pine on each section, this
would give 152,OOO,OOO feet of pine
covered by these permits. If 100000
feet per section, which is no doubt
nearer the mark, though probably far
below it, is allowed as the average for
each of these COS sections, it shows
that under these permits 304,OO0OOO
feet of the states pine is to fall under
the axe. In the timber regions Of
Minnesota there are about $50 town.
ships at, present surveyed. This would
give the state some LOO sections Of
school land on which there is, or rather
was, more or less pine, for much Of it
has been cut. Taking that which has
been cut and that covered by the per-
/ mits to cut now outstanding and it
| will be seen that there is mighty little
pine left to the State of Minnesota.
Illegal Sales Made.
The result of the examination Of
state pine lands by the cruisers sent
out by Auditor Dunn show that large
quantities Of the state pine stumpage
has been illegally sold, as it never was.
and is not now in danger Of dcstruc-
ton or Waste, and that in large num-
Der of cases the purchasers have not
complied with the terms Of their per-
NIT, are not cutting the pine, and are.
simply holding it as a, secure invest
ment or for speculative purposes. with
out having invested dollar of their
own money.
Land Examiner II. F. Mcclellan was
the first to return and report. He
started out with Examiners Dedon
and Mckenzie, and went to Virginia,
Tower, Ely, Iron Mountain and other
places i'll the northern part of the
state and examined the condition Of
the state lands adjacent TO those towns
with view to looking into the cutting
of pine on state lands for which per-
nits We're issued. Examiner Mcclellan
says:
'"The sections we went on we care
fully examined as to the liability Of
the timber to damage and as to its be-
ing green and growing. In every in
stance we found that it was green live
timber in no danger Of destruction or
damage, and there is no reason why it
should have been sold. 1 particularly
examined 81 sections in township 81,
range II, on which the stlmpage
owned by the state was sold in 1892
TO f. l.. Murray Of Tower for $175 per.
thousand feet. The states estimate on
which the stumpage was sold was
S.17OO0O feet of the 81 sections, and
the permit covered the logging seasons
Of 1892 and 1898, and 1898 and 1894,
and 1894 and 1895, and 1895 and 1896.
and 1897. Not one stick Of this pine has
been cut, and from my examination
and such information as I obtained it
Will cut from thirty to forty million
1vyI,o 1t
has not been a state land examiner
there to make any estimate, and no
ZIMMERMAN met had ever seen one on
the land"
Cancel the Contracts.
In an interview with State Auditor
Dunn he said:
II shall cancel each and every permit
issued contrary to law. This is very
serious matter, and shall make haste
slowly, not taking any action until
aiter careful examil alton anu due de-
liberation. Each case will be thor
oughly examined into and decided
upon its merits, and when I am salts.
ned that the whole facts of any one
case have been asccrtained by the
states oversecrs I will act. Dromntlv
and decisively, upon it,
III does not seem right to me-" said
-MI: Duhn, ana l think every citizen
WI WI agree with me, that over 100000
0o0 feet OF the states pine should be
held and controlled by the lumher
barons and the pine land spectators
OF Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnasn.
ia, on which they have not paid one
cent. or in which they have not dol
fa invested. A poor farmer on the
frontier who wants to buy forty acras
OF agricultural land from the STATE 10
compelled to pay IL per cent Of the
purchase money and the whole yoiuc
OF the few sticks of hardwood timber.
that may be OH the land in cs.sh at +s,a
I'm, name s OF the sale, and be has to pay 5
per cent Interest on the unpaid balance
OF the purchase money, every wear IN
advance. Why should there be su,s, =
discrimination made by the state in
favor of the pine land baron and tha
lumber SPECTATOR" wv