The Saint Paul globe., 1904-09-17
I'm THE FIELD OF P0L1TIC Sm

Office The Dunn .naanagers, in conl7s
mon with everybody else having al
general knowledge of affairs at the
state capitol knew that j Johnson's ex-
sperts were at work on the stumpage
accounts and the mineral lease rec
ords in the state auditors office for
two months before the reports were
turned over to the governor in JULY:
While the Dunn men publicly treated
the fact as one of no moment and said
that Johnson YVES simply trying to
wreak personal spite against the
former auditor. others who could see
further into the political future busted
themselves in attempting to strangle
| the reports a-borning.
The public examiners however. could
not well turn back, had he chosen to
do SO. There wasse pablic knowledge
| that he was at work on the task of
| delving into the official conduct of the
former state auditor, and failure to-
| make some kind of report would
| have put him in peculiar position
and one demanding an explanation by
| the public whom he Is paid to serve.
Governor Was Appealed To
When the reports reached the gov
ernor another effort was made by the
Republican managers to suppress Their
contents in the interest of party har-
iiioiiy. - lie EOdIfeeTs TO -Gfe- parry IN
| the fall election was pointed out to
Gov. Van SAINT. but he,~ too, was In
delicate position. He had reports in
| his possession costing the state mary
hundreds of dollars, and while they re-.
| fected on the official conduct of more
than one Republican Official shes could
not well do anything but turn them
over to the attorney=general with in
structions to bring actions If the
data was found sufficient to warrant
suits to recover under, the pine land
permits, and the cancellation of the
mineral leases. if these appeared to
have been Illegally obtained.
The attorney general is known to be
investigating certain claims of the
state against men who have profited
by timber trespass as shown in the re-
ports made by the public examiner
butshe refuses ito disclose In what di-
rection he is working.
Attorney General Donahower takes
| the position that no good can come of
publicity until actual suits are COM
menced against the parties, If suits are
necessary to enforce a settlement of
| the claims. Whether he is right or not
the future will unfold, but a report of
| his work is expected to be made to the
governor before his retirement from
office next January. i-,z-'s5ss
State Helpless in Many Cases
Many. of the cases cited by the pub
lie examiner in his last report are
worthless so far as the state having
any. expectation of recovering from the
parties whom the: public examiner says
have profited by the illegal transac-
| tions. The statute of limitations has
run against nearly all the claims. The
| statute in timber treSpass runs for six
years from the actual date of the tres
pass and most of the cases cited are
| in 1894 and 1885,, with the permits hav-
| ing a legal life of two years. 1t is
easily seen that suits for recovery are
barred in these cases, but the culpa-
bility. if the examiners statements OF
FACTS are true, is none the less great
Reports of Films Income
George A. Finn, whom the reports
of the public examiner push into the
public gaze, was chief land clerk under
State Auditor Dunn during practically
| the entire period of his eight years as
state auditor. Mr.. Finn, prior to com
| ing to st. Paul, was Canadian news
paper man. He was connected for
some years with the ST.. Paul Pioneer
| Press in reportorial and later an ed
ltorlal capacity, leaving newspaper
work to accept office under Mr.. Dunn.
| He lives at Merriam Park, and for
| some time has been popularity credited
with having independent means. One
report says that he enjoys an annual
| income of $4,000 from his, properties.
He has been mentioned in connection
with Dunn's private secretaryship,
should his friend and patron become
| governor of the state, but he has pub
licly said that he would take no Office
| In the gift Of the state, though at the
same time declaring that stories of his
| wealth We're untrue.
Isaac G. Patterson, Flinn's partner in
the land and iron business in the Pio-
neer Press building. prior to coming
to st. Paul and taking a position as
I assistant land clerk in the office Of the
state auditor. was a. merchant at MI
| laca. He served in the Spanish Amer
! lean war as captain of a company in the
Fourteenth Minnesota. He is not now
in the city, but is in the northern part
of the state. 1t is his sister, Miss Mabel
Evans, who figures so prominently in
4 the leases of mineral lands which later
| were converted into contracts, accord
| Ing to the Johnson report on minerai
leases. Miss Evans, ssin- her infancy,
was adopted by family named Evans
| at Princeton. She appears as the
! lessee in the famous Virginia silver
case, the contract for which is now
vested in Finn & Patterson, and also
| appears in leases to several other val
liable iron tracts, the fee to which is
/ held by the state rt-Ss