The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-11
JOHNSON CTS A(tRBIC
VERBAL CONFLICT BETWEEN HIM
AND AUDITOR DUNN GROWS
ACRIMONIOUS
CASSIDY CAN'T BE coRRALLED
He Is Likely Ito Be rs Big Mystery
as the sEan Who Struck
~ Billy. Pat"
s-tersOn,

Public Examiner Pope did not make his
report in the tan certificate case yestaf-
day, but expects to have it fled with
Gov. Van SAINT to6ay.- He has been en-
gagged in looking still further fato the
case which apparently expands as ne
| investigation proceeds. From tie state
ments OF Gen. Pope and State Audito'
Dunn there has been a system of this
spec ulating % with county funds III
progress for some time around the Ram
sey county, COURT Eolse and ii c ref Il
Sitting and amvestigat Oh of facts in t i.
case will serve to end this unsafe p c.
t1ce the state officials a-e Will & to so
slow in accommodating the INFO m tion ;9r
the report.
The report of the public examine
might have been ready yesterday eut
for six other applications for rebatements
which bobbed up with the nam, wv. t.
Cassidy attached to the m. These az
plications are being Investigated. but a
no one seems able to identity NV. Z.
Cassidy the matter will probably re-
main mystery. 1t is thought that Cas-
sidy might have teGn connected VITA
Attorney Schoonmaker. who, rs attorney,
received the warrants for the replacement
of taxes on the Ryan homs stead. Four
Of these Cassidy applications Were ap-
proved and two were still with the state
auditor. No warrants were Grawn Tor
those approved
JOHNSON WRITES LETTERS.
The only positive Development in the
case yesterday seems to have been the
acrimonious letter which County AGditof
Johnson wrote to State Auditor Dunn in
answer to the latter's communication
the day before, in which he called for
the applications that bad te- n tram
mitted to his office from the county
auditor and in which he informed Mr..
Johnson of his thorough disgust with the
latter's methods of doing busine S.
The Johnson letter is in full as follows:
'T am in receipt of yours of the 9th
inst, requesting ME to return to YOU GER
tain applications for refundnlent for fur-
ther consideration, which applications
you have already carefully {?) passed
upon after having duly consulted with
the attorney general 81, as required by
law.
Permit me to say that I shall refuse
to return the applications, as you re-
quest, but will duly consider them, and
if | find that your recommendation and
approval can be depended on / shall pay
them; if not.d3 shall reject them. / am
disguised with your custom of approving
matters of this kind one day, and them
if some one goes up to your Office and
gives you a little con talk, you will send
down. get the PUBLICATIONS. returned and
then reverse yourself as plenty of APP
Pt1NeNS%N|4'@9
after YOU must give the applications the
consideration they require to be correct,
and when once returned to this, office,
with your approval or disa pproyal, they
WIFI not be returned to suit the Vaeilla-
lions of your whimsical mind
zFurthermoEs, permit me to say. with
reference to that portion of your letter
wherein you say that you are Disguised
with my official action in recommending
refundments to Your Office of a question
able character. that you must have been
full of dope, .4fOrgI will give $500 If you
will produce a single instance where I
ever recommended any refundment to
1.-THE greenest- clerk in my Office knows
that applications foPl refundment are pre-
scented to and approved BY the board of
county commissioners, without any sub
mission to me whatever and If that body
approves them they are then subm tilted
to you, and if you, after consulting with
are sent to my office, with the indorse-
ment of all such .appFovals stamped
thereon, when, according to law. the
county auditor shall draw an order for
the sum so ordered to be refunded.
Now, if you have been negligent in
any of your duties (Which do not as
it to this Office, and. furthermore, if you
will tie your ears over the top Of your
head and keep your big fur cap we'll
pulled down you may be able to keep
people from recognizing you for the
DIN ass you have shown yourself to be
when you write to the newspapers about
refundments !"
DUNN ISN'T WORRIED.
Mr. Dunn had not received the John
son philippe up to a late hour yesterday
afternoon He had Eean advised of It's
contents however, AMI simply laughed,
saying that he thought it would be more
becoming in the auditor Of Ramsey coun-
ty to clay a little low" after the blundef
that has been made by his Office. 1T
will be useless for Johnson to waste bis
ire and ink on me- said Auditor Dunn
che can't excite me or make one Of these
hairs in my bald head stand up"
The double responsibility that re-ted
upon County Auditor Johnson, as county
auditor and clerk Of the board of county
commissioners. in the mind of both
Auditor Dunn and Examiner Pope, ought
to have made him careful enough to have
prevented this serious error. AS TO the
weight of responsibility resting upon the
state auditor, the latter says it does not,
and offers a plausible explanation for
his position The law, as it has been
stated before, requires that all such ap-
plications for tax rebatements shall be
certified to as to ,ther legality by the
board OF county commissioners of which
the county auditor is clerk and by the
county auditor; 1t further requi,es the
certificates of the state auditor before
the money can be released. Mr.. Dunn
placed his signature on the a, plication,
taking it for granted that the county
auditor and board of county commi sion
ers had certified to facts For the state
auditor to have doubted the veracity Of
the county officials certificate and UNDER
taken a personal inve stigation to asces-
tain the actual facts in the case, would
have establishedsa precedent which never
could be followed out as it would BE-
-gl,-1s
attention to the fact that there are
eighty-one other counties in the state
aside from Ramsey end that it is OUT of
the question toYgexpect or argue that he
as state auditor should go to each one
of these counties. each time such an ap-
plication as this comes in, to find cut
whether or not the liw has been COM
piled with by the county officers. 1t Is
absolutely essential he says, for the
state auditor to depend upon the cath
of the county officials.