St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-15

The report of the committee to lnVes-
tigate the ALLEGED frauds upon the state
growing out of the sale and cutting OF
pine timber, has been printed. and 1t Is
expected will be submitted to the leg!s-
lature today or tomorrow. The com"
mittee has had 5000 copies Of the report
printed in pamphlet form.
The purpose Of this investigation, as
outlined at the time of the appointment
of TIE committee, was to Investigate all
legged frauds, prosecute actions against
derelict or trespassing lumbermen and
recommend legislation looking to the
correction of existing evils. The report
was made public at the time Of its com
pletion by the newspapers, liberal eX-
tracts from it appearing in the daily
press. Since that time there has Deeh
great deal of comment upon tie re-
port, its findings, its general bearing
and its recommendations.
One branch of the report, which was
divided into chapters, dealing with va
rious aspects of the business, was de-
voted exclusively to financial matters,
and was sub-headed, Results OF the
Work of the Committee"
Under this caption the report contains
the following tabulated
Statement of Alleged Facts:
The following cash was already collected:
It8sCa Lumber company. .......' S-V'V, o.UU w
Staples Il Mulyey 9'010'o2 '60 30
T. X. Foley. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. '.oVq,JI
$50, ,5o6. %
IN addition there are now suits pending III
the courts rs follows:
ItasCa Lumber company, four SUITS "a, ~
aggrCgatAg. ...........-..- e. So9i -of'0o
Shevlin-Carpenter company, two No
suits. aggrcgating ......-........ 4l,J9c.o6
S Reynolds one suit aggregating.. 5,GCU.U5
T H. Shealin. one suit, aggregaung. % ~ -
+ G. WebbeT, one suit, aEEregaung. i'ItI' 4U
Powers x Dwyer, one sultaggregal- ooo NJ
-. 49,. QOOOUO
Total. Observation-Disclosures. 'Sl3'' -o4' %
Atthe time the publication was made
the GLOBE called attention to the fact
that this statement was not true i'll any
essential particular, and since that time
it has made thorough and searching in
quiries, and has established beyond a
question Of doubt that instead of the
amount claimed 10 have been saved to
the state. there is an actual net cash
loss to the state amounting to many
thousands of dollars.
This statement is not based upon ru-
nor or the assertions of interested par
ties; neither is it, like the report of the
committee, based upon estimates"
The facts and figures which follow are
taken in every instance except i'll cases
where other authorities are quoted.
In order 10 treat the report inteIli-
gently, it is necessary to take each item
separately. The first item, that of S20,-
600, alleged to have been collected from
the Itasca lumber company, is the most
important. This timber was cut on sec
tion 1G>55-22 and section 36-5G-2G. The
permit was issued by Auditor Bradcn
TO the Itasca company. the contract
price being 81. 10 per 1000 feet a small
amount of this was cut by II. T. Brown
without Il permit, and presumably by
mistake, and was paid for at the rate of
S3. .25 per 1000. In the fall of 1898 the
auditor wrote the company, asking
what timber they expected to cut that
winter, the company replying that they
would cut all Of 16-55-22. During the
winter the auditor sent Scaler to the
premises, who reported that the cut
would amount to 6,5C0,0 600 feet. In May
the surveyor general reported that $780,
600 had been cut. The auditor pursued
the matter further and found that a
mistake had been made, growing out of
the fact that the company's mark had
been used on the logs instead Of that of
the state, and the superintendent was
Immediately notified. He readily recog
nized the correctness Of the auditors
view, and notified that official that as
soon as he, the auditor, could secure a
scale the
Company Would Settle
the bill. The scale was Immediately
ordered and made as soon as possible,
showing the cutting on % to foot
up an amount of lumber valued under
the contract at s23, ZOO. On section
S6-5G-26 the amount was 81, 500, making
a total of $25.5O0 as the amount for
which the superintendent of the com.
pany had authorized the auditor to
draw. About the time the scale bill