The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-28
TAX INQUIRY BEGINS
Continued From First Page.

Continued From First Page.
you tell us what that was for?''
For my private affairs"
How was the check made out2'
For cash"
WHO drew the money!"
81 did,
Where did you draw it?"
AT the German Exchange bank
Now, will you please tell us, Mr..
Burns, what you did with that money!"
No sir that is not any Of your bust
ness"
CT any part Of il? o"
No, sir; 1 will say that none of it
went to any county, state or city Of
fetal"
Il didn't ask you that" retorted SOM
THAT is what you are driving at
though"
How do you know what 1 am driving
at, Mr.. Burns?'
81 am no fool"
Mr.. Somerby was compelled to abandon
this line of investigation without gaining
what he was after, and light as to the
disposition of thai $50
OTHERS WE'RE BUYING.
On cross examination by Attorney Zoll-
man, Burns named over long list of
prominent men, who he said were engage
ed In buying these tax certificates as well
as himself. In the list were Nichols &
Dean, H. P. Farwell, w. o. Deneck
United States Savings & Loan, through
Its agent, T. l.. Blood, J. C. Jensen, cash
Ter of the Citizens bank; and Frank
Oaks, agent for the Citizens bank, and
Charles Clifford. All of these men have
held five or six times as much as he ever
has, Burns said
According to the statement of Mr.
Burns, he contracted to buy the l. ghtner
certificates and the mortgage on the
property month prior to the filing of
the petitions for the warrants Regard
ing the L'ghtner purchase, Burns sa d it
was not an assignment of the mortgage
by Ltghtner to Ducius He executed the
sale on April "a, it was acknowledged
the 25th and the deposit was made on
April rs. He said that he paid part of the
purchase price on April "a to cover part
OF the mortgage. The certificates, taxes
and interest all amounted to some
thing like $1,000. At this juncture Gov
Van SAINT came very near letting a cat
out Of the well, by saying: 'Well,
guess there is no question that there was
an assignment from lLightner to Duc.us,
is there?"
instantly Auditor johnson arose and
rushed over to the governor, and in sub
dued tones assured him of the necessity
Of keeping quiet on things of that char
acter Johnson insisted that there was
quite question as to such an assign
ment and others ch:med in with yes
Mr.. Burns" asked Somerby, '1f dur
ing this investigationait is shown that on
every other refundment the petition was
verified, except in your case what would
you think Of your method of doing bust
ness?"
An e,,ae;,,a .,--,. NO. o.,,,o., 80
Burns said that in all applicat ons made
for abatement of taxes, he had followed
the prescribed form approved by former
Attorney General Chflds.s
SURPRISING SIDE STEP.
Here the examination took a side dart,
and Somerby asked Burns:
How do you account for the fact that
since no one in the county auditor office
knew Of your dealings that Grswold9 or
any one else could have acted on your ad-
vice as to the making out of a certain
warrant in favor of Attorney. .Weiss2',
81 don't know
t'Weissr name was notrin the petition?'
"No."
''And yet they drew that particular
warrant in your name for Weiss as at
torney for Cassidy"
Eyes"
Ducius, did Ducius know it?'
yes"
''Who told him?"
at did"
AUDITOR JOHNSON TESTIFIES.
Auditor Johnson was then subjected to
a brief examination. He testified as to
the number of men employed in his
office, saying that during the month of
April the number was larger on account
of additional duties Griswold and Drum
mond, he said, are his deputies. Johnson
said he was absent from his office from
April Is Or 10 until May 8, the time dur
ing which Gen. Popes investigation be-
gan.
AS to the duties of himself and depu-
ties, Mr.. Johnson said it was his duty
to look after the tax sales and general
executive work. He attends to the work,
but not the meetings of the boards Of
abatement and Of equalization. The cleri-
cal work Is done by Mr.. Drummond. Mr.
GrisWold, chief deputy, has charge Of the
office during the auditors absence. Drum
mond keeps the warrant book, draws all
warrants and they are signed by Girls
void.
Mr.. Johnson testified that he did not
know of the tax refundments made by
the county in April last, and that his
dClSHlloH was LiSI cdlleu TO LulS CrdnSdc-
ton by Gen. Pope's investigation. He
said that unless there was something
questionable about a refundment case 1t
would never come to his attention, as his
deputies attend to this character of bust
ness. In the natural procedure of an
application for a refundment, it Is first
sent to the clerk of the board of county
commissioners, and the board refers 1T
to the tax committee, where it is either
approved or disappreved, and thence it
goes to the state auditor and attorney
general for their inspection If they 90
prove the application, the refundment is
made, and the party gets the money
on the warrant, which is then issued.
KNEW THE WAY OUT.