The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-30
MouNTAN IRON INVESTIGATING
COMMITTEE Will LOOK INTO
THE MATTER.
Finn AND LAND RECORDS
ARE THE CHIEF AMUSEMENT OF
AN EDIFYING Executive
SESSION.
HAYTER's ANTi-CLoUGH III,
House Does Not Care If David NJ
Does Succeed CushInan X. Davis
as Senator.

The Mountain Iron Mine investiga-
ton is Cn in good earnest, and no mis-
take The joint committee of the leg.is-
lature named to unearth the details
of the acts which lost to the state the
valuable iron property, held it's first
real session yesterday afternoon at the
capitol, lasting from 3 to G., O'clock.
Closeted during this period in the rail-
road committee room of the senate, the
members went over all the documentary
evidence, the giSt of which Mr. DON
nelly gave two weeks ago, and decided
that the evidence thus far adduced,
warranted very fully, all the allega-
tons contained in the abstract of the
matter prepared in the office of the
state auditor. Mr.. Donnelly had asked
George Finn, state land clerk in the
auditors office, to attend the session
with the records of the case in his
possession, and after he had outlined
the case quite fully, going over the de-
tails carefully, Mr.. Finn was question:
ed by the members of the committee
regarding the material points.
The original records were closely
examined. and the opinion was express
ed that the evidence already at hand
formed very substantial basis for the
investigation which is ito follow. Chair
man Donnelly traced from the begin
ming, when the state acquired posses
SIGN CT the land inJquestfon under an
act of congress passed in 1857, granting
to the state, sections Is and So in every
township Of public lands, and granting
as a substitute for such lands as may
be disposed of, lands equivalent there
to, down through each stage until Feb
S, 1884. when there was made out in the
public land office, and forwarded to the
Duluth land Office by w. w. Braden,
the then state auditor and ,ex-officio
land commissioner, in accordance with
the above mentioned and other subse-
qUent acts of congress, the indemnity
school land selection list, which was
designated No. 9, and which contained
a large number of acres of deficiencies
i'll lieu Of which were selected a guam
tity of then vacant public lands which,
as it subsequently developed, contain
ed the much-talked-of Mountain Iron
bers of the entire accuracy Of each step
as the examination of the documents
progressed Mr. Donnelly next related
the connection which the register OF
the land Office at Duluth, J. r. Carey,
had in the matter, ard quoted from Il
number of authorities as to the doubt
full legality of the action taken, which
relinquished the states right to hold
the land or have its equivalent placed
to the credit of the school fund of the
state. -
The period, some years later, when
the excitement, incident to the discov-
cry Of iron in the vicinity, attracted a.
number of settlers to this section, was
gone over, the claims made to the re-
ceiver Of the land Office at Duluth, G.
p McGinnis, the correspondence which
passed between him and the state
auditor, and between the latter and
the land office at Washington, were
duly inspected and commented upon,
and the chairman summed UP all that
had been developed, and held, as be-
FORE that the state auditor erred in
relinQuiShing the states claim to land,
claimed by or inuring to it, and that
the power to execute such relinquiSh-
ment is not conferred ON the state
auditor, but upon the governor, who is
designated, in every state law relating
to the public or granted lands in Min
neSota, as the only official having
power to execute deeds Of conveyance
or REIMBURSEMENT, patents, or in fact
any document which sewers from the
state land held, claimed or inuring to
it under the several. acts of congress.
The governor not having executed
any deed of conveyance or relinquish-
ment covering the selected lands which
were substituted for those lands in list
No. 8, Mr.. Donnelly@ strongly asserted
that the states vested rights in the
immensely valuable. iron property had
never legally been relinquished on the
part of the state. That part of the evil
dence to be found in the records of the
Duluth land office could necessarily be
gone over at second hand, and so for
the purpose of having no possible loop
hole for mistake the chairman named
a subcommittee, which will shortly
visit the Zenith City, examine thee
dence there and possibly hear several
witnesses. The committee consists of
Messrs. Donnelly, Staples and Jacob
son. of the house, and Senators Young
and Sheehan. The committee will con-
vene again Monday afternoon at 2:30
The session yesterday was executive.