The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-25

istration of public affairs under all cir
cumstances.
Thus it IS tnat the first public ar
raignment of the county auditor is made
by an official body after a deliberate in
vestigation of the circumstances Of the
entire case.
Mr. Johnson still processes his innO-
cence. In referring TO the report he said
that it made him leel badly and he re-
garded the roast" as unfair, for the
reason that he had been given no OD-
portunity for a hearing.
Ihose who have seen the case aired for
the past six we, ks or more may feel con-
strained to express some surprise at this
kind of a remark.
1t Is the same report" said he. as
that made by Gen. Pope to the governor.
The governor found that no money had
been lost to the county or paid to tho
wrong man, and that one Of the deputies
had conducted business in an Irregular
manner. II is certainly not claimed that
L have been guilty of any maIfeasance.
The only money ever lost by the county
was through Bourne. a deputy ariitor.
ana this was long before my term OF
office"
Here is the report in full:
1t appears that the county auditor
mas not been complying with the laws
"'4-~AA ttA = Oii Altt Statute DOUk. nor with
the usual business methods watch ara
necessary to the proper conduct of evely
The statutes provide that warrants
must De entered IN book provided for
the purpose at the time of issue on
May 4, 1901, no entries had been made in
~ 1as book since April 10. 1901 Section
I56, G. s. 1884 provides that r.Crfr,l-t
warrants returned by the treasurer shall
be Cancelled by the auditor on his register
IIhHIedIately, and at the close Of the dav
TiialI Tadrds pe cledited to the treasure I'm the
records. On May 4. 1901 no entries had
Deen made since April 10, 1901
CANCELLATION OFtCERTlFICATEs.
Section 1857, General Statutes 1.gr INF
certlhcates must be surreufer.d or Az
only recorded an assignment must be
executed, acknowledged and recorded be-
IOre the warrant shall be drawn Tba
county auditor delivered warrant 621S
payable TO James SchOonmaker. attorney,
issued April -, 1901, before the Ger. .ihcates
5sS5 SIe 5S2s Ssyeaed Sp( Qn on auditor warrants
Gates, four are on hand, but are recorded
IN the oihce Of the register of deeds i'm
the name of a. G. Creston and not as
paid for.
''On warrants 6l52. 6l5s, April % 1901
Tor twelve certificates. three are on hand
Pqt not cancelled; nine cannot be found
ION warrant 6l53, for three certificates
Two are on mani, but not Cancelled: one
cannot De found All were paid for
ON warrant 6.153 for fourteen certfd-
Gates, four are on hand. but nor ON
celed, ten cannot be found All were
paid for.
%on warrant e.l5a. for five certificates,
all are on hand but not Cancelled All
were paid for
''On warrant 6,2ls. for eighteen certid-
Gates, all are on hand but not Cancelled.
All were paid for. None Of the above
certificates We're endorsed TO the county
by the party to whom they were issued.
ana the countys 8 claim 10 them may DO
questioned. There is no evidence thar tha
missing certificates were ever delivere,i
TO the county auditor.
BURNS, DUCIUs EFT AL.
1T appears that in all cases. petitions
were properly sworn to and certificates
assigned and Cancelled, except whe.e
James II. Burns was Interested II w.
pears that where he had w T. Cassidy.
Carl Ducius or Walter d. Davis mako
application for HIM, the facts were not a.
stated, and apparently no effort mad ueeu
made TO prove them. Some Of the GER
tihcates We're not delivered AMI are not
now in the possession of the county audi
tor. The balance were not properly as
signed and cane eled The deputies i1 the
county auditors Office knew that these
llvered them and made inquiries from
time to time as to their progress and
knew when the warrants were ready. One
warrant was paid to Harry Weiss when
the application was made by W T. Cassi-
dy. Weiss did not present written autnor-
ity from Cassidy, but Burns told ths
deputy TO pay 1t to Weiss, and il was
paid.
LAW DIRECTLY VIOLATED.
1T appears that # has been the prac--
tice in the county auditors Office 20 make
out warrants before the certificates have
been delivered. and leave them in thu
book until called for This IS in direct
violation Of the law The public eya-of-
ner issued MS Instructions in 1899 tD an
county auditors AMI delivered copy 70
the auditor Of Ramsey county. instruct
ing him TO number consecutively all ap-
plicatiOns. Vouchers for these auDIica-
tons, and warrants for the same must
all bear the same number and be filed
away together. u has also been the
practice in the county auditors Office TO
throw these certificates into a drawer 10
be bundled up at the end OF the month.
These certificates are the real voucher in
cases Of redemption OF tax sale
1T appears that the auditor has not a
proper check upon the county treasurer
The list of taxes is given by the county
auditor to the treasurer. who marks paid
against such items as are paid before
tho expiration Of the time allowed by
law. The list is then returned to tha
auditor, but no effort is made 20 see that
the total amount received by the treas
urer corresponds with the amount mark
ed paid. There Is no check from one Of
flee TO the other. There are no special
instructions in the statutes covering this,
but the general duties Of the auditor as
bookkeeper for the county require II,
"It appears that about Dec. q 1859.
James H Burns made Application in the
name Of Gustav Willius FOR the purchase
OF the states right TO lots 1-13 MAYS
Transfer Factor and Warehouse addt-
ito, ten acres acquired through the fall
ure TO pay taxes. The taxes amounted
to s1.2lf2s. The offer was 500 to pur-
Continued on Fourth Page.