The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1902-10-24
SOLD IT FOR A SONG.
state Land Board Simply Gave Away
Valuable Timber.

Democratic state platform adontea a,
the Pocatello convention contains tn.
Following concerning the state lanf
board:
| I'VE invite a careful examination h,
every voter of the conduct of the hns.
mess of the state land board durin,
the last six years and also during tn.
nrst six years Of our statehood and VS.
also respectfully invite a rigid COM
parison OF the conduct of all business
OF such land board under Democra tic
administration with that of the pre-
cedfng Republican administrations. !"
Under this invitation, no offense
should be taken if we make the ex-
animation requested and give our find
ings to the public.
The duties of the state land board
! consists of selecting and filing upon
the lands donated to us by the general
government and disposing of the same
as provided by law.
Our state constitution contains a
wise provision which limits the
amount OF land that may be sold to
any one purchaser, also the amount of
land which may be disposed of during
any one year, but, unfortunately,
there Is no constitutional limit as to
the prices for which timber growing
on said land may be sold.
When we were admitted into the TN
lon of states we received as a dona-
ton from the general government So
600 acres Of land for the support Of a
university, 100000 acres for a school
or schools Of science, 100000 acres for
normal schools, 5000 acres for the
insane asylum, $4,000 acres for the
penitentiary. and 10000 acres for 9TH
err purposes. making a total Of 500, 900
acres in all.
During the first two years of state
hood. while Governor Wiley was the
chairman Of the state land board, the
selections made for the different in
situations were made largely in the
arid lands of south Idaho, but during
the four years that Governor McCon-
nell was chairman Of the state land
board the selections were almost ex-
clusively made in the pine lands of the
north. we now having within our Dor
ders the only large tract of virgin
white pine land left in the United
States.
During the first six years Of the So
called Republican administration none
of the lands selected were sold and
none of the timber disposed of. AL
though at one time a small portion of
the timber on selected lands was adj
vertised for sale. but owing to the
low appraisement it was withdrawn
During the last six years. however,
frno &C. 90
but the sales did not embrace all the
timber on the land white pine and yell
low pine in most instances being sold
and the cedar. tamarac, telegraph and
telephone poles were thrown in. Thus,
while the purchaser paid for a given
number of thousands of feet, they
received practically as a gift, as much
more.
1t is not probable that the state
land board entered into collision with
the representatives Of the large timber
syndicates that have secured a foot
hold in this state. It being more char
liable to believe that they were ignor-
ant OF the methods Of arriving at the
value Of the timber. For instance, one
lot of timber was sold to bankers in
lewiston for $3.50 per thousand stump
age. while, only few days later. an
other lot Of equally as good, II not
superior. timber sold for 81 per thous-
and feet. Why this haste In disposing
Of our heritage is hard to explain or
by what mathematical course Of rea-
soning the timber was appraised at the
price for which 1t was Sold The val
ue of timber can only be estimated by
first ascertaining the price of the
manufactured produce lumber, from
which deduct the cost Of cutting logs,
the cost Of swamping, hauling and
skidding, the cost of loading on cars
and the freight on the logs from the
tramway to the mill. where 1t Is nec-
essary to convey the logs to the mill
on cara. But the greater portion Of
the white pine timber In North Idaho
will find an outlet down the rivers and
streams to the places Of manufacture.
But. for the sake Of argument. adj
hitting that 1t must be brought to the
mill on cars. We will take the expense
incident to that method and see what
the cost Of manufactured lumber will
be. taking the log from the stump
where the stumpage II paid. Cut
ting the logs. 81 per thousand;
swamping. hauling and slkidding, $1.6l
per thousand: loading on cars, 50 cents
per thousand: freight on cars. any dis.
lance under 50 miles. 81, making q total
Of a per thousand. Logs are bought
at log measure. while lumber ID sold
At actual measure, the difference be.
ing approximately So 1-3 per. cent
which 10 gain to the owner Of thu
mill. the logs making that much more
lumber than II paid for them at thu
stump. For instance. q saw mill with
| the capacity Of 1900 feet. log meas
ure. turns out 10000 feet Of lumber
measure. or an excess suflcient to pa,
the running expenses Of the mill Con
seQuently. the price paid for stump
age, the price paid for cutting and
hauling to the mill. with the interes
and commission, constitute the cost o
the lumber. Now the market value o
lumber at Occur d'Alene City On tn
nth ultimo was as follows:
Occur d'Alene Lumber Company, Ltd
Manufacturers Of
Lumber, Lath and Shingles.
4 lAA