The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-19
JOHNSON'S STUMPAGE
REPORTS QUESTIONED

Supplementary to the foregoing there
was given out by Mr.. Dunn a state
ment by State Auditor S. 6. Iverson in
which the charges made by Examiner
Johnson as to pine stumpage are met
as to individual cases and the face of
the official record is given. The matter
is technical; the original report Of
johnson as to these stumpage irregu-
larfties was not printed in detail be-
cause it did not convey specific infor-
nation to the general public. The
seriatim abstract certified by Auditor
Iverson includes comment in nearly
every case made as a part of the de-
tense Of Mr.. Dunn and consists of $500
words. It is omitted as being too vo-
luminous for newspaper use.
The Iverson portion of the Dunn de-
Tense is covered as the basis for argu-
ment in the following comment by Mr..
Dunn:
This statement has been made under
the direct and personal supervision of the
checked every item and statement and is
absolutely correct. as shown by the books
and records of the state auditors office.
1t shows that the statements made by
the public examiner are false and untrue
and that his assumptions and conclu-
SlonS are unwarranted and misleading III
every particular. 1t also shows that the
public examiner is entirely ignorant of
the timber business in general and the
states timber business in particular as is
shown by the false construction he places
upon terms in common use in the lumber
iduStry.
For instance, he pretends to believe,
and would have the public understand
used by timber cruisers to designate tim
Der which has never been cut, means
that much timber has been cut or par
TALLY cut. He also pretends to believe
and attempts to convey the impression,
that when state cruiser. after making
an examination of state timber land, re-
this means that the timber on the state
land has been cut on the east and south,
when as fact such a report means what
it says, namely, that timber on the lands
adjoining the state land on the east and
south, had been cut 1t is stated by en-
ployes in the state auditors office that
the meanings of these terms We're ex-
planned to the public examiners assist
ants but that they disregarded all IN
formation and explanation.
: Any citizen of ordinary intelligence is
invited to take the certified statement of
State Auditor S. G. Iverson and com
pare it. item by item, with the published
report of the public examiner, and by
so doing can satisfy himself of the utter
falSity of the statements made by the
public examiner.
For the benefit of citizens who have not
the time to make complete comparison
as suggested. attention is drawn to
few cases illustrative of the falsehood
and Misrepresentation of the public ex-
aminer's report. The items can be iden-
ment and in the public examiners report
by the description of the land which pre-
-cedes each item.
Take the first item in the public ex-
aminer's report which says that $17,225
for pine cut on section 16-55-22 was not
paid. State Auditor Iverson certifies that
ury ON Aug. IS, 1884, and that the pine
land investigating committee reported the
collection OF this money to the state leg
islature. fling its Export with the gov
Secs 33-5S-19 and 36-59-19, the second
item in the public examiners report and
the second and third items in the state
auditors statement, is also cited to show
the falsity of the public examiners state
ments. He alleges that no effort was
made to collect the balance of the money
due the state for timber cut from this
land. The state auditor certifies that the
cutting was done before State Auditor
Dunn assumed Office, for the most part,
and that the timber had been shipped out
of the state State Auditor Iverson also
certifies that Mr.. Dunn placed the COL
lection of the money for this trespass in
the hands of the proper state officials,
namely, the state treasurer and the at
torney general, and that they followed
the timber to Cleveland, Ohio, and that
the attorney general collected $1,000,
WQlcn was Idfned- INTO the StdIe treas
uTy, but was unable to collect any more,
as the trespasser was a bankrupt and his
bondsmen were financially irresponsible.
Section 1858. The public examiner.
among other misleading and false state
merts, says Cruiser Mckenzie reported
that the section had been cut south and
west and that no payment had been
made because of this cutting. State Audi
tor Iverson certifies that Cruiser Me-
Kenzie reported that the timber was be-
ing cut on the lands adjoining this sec
ton of state land and that there had not
been any cutting on the state land.
Section 16-52-12. Public examiner re-
ports that Cruiser Mckenzie made an
estimate of the timber on this land and
reported that there had been cutting done