The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-26
Bed Wing News

Dunn reply to mis- critics is dec
| iafatlon that in certain large aspects
/ ne does not know right from wrong.
furthermore, Sam johnson has spo-
| ken untruth with malice. And. still
/ further. johnson rode on pass and
| charged the state mileage.
30 Tar as matters are in dispute be-
tween these two distinguished Repub-
tsitcahs We have no opinion to offer. We
are wiling to admit that Sam Johnson
| IS ai BOD Dunn says he is, and if it
VIII accommodate the Republicans we
VIII concede that he is all that and
more, TOO. Anything to be obliging
Inere IS JohnSon's charge that Dunn
allowed pine land to be cut reeklessly
with and without permits, and that he
| mace no attempt to prevent the rob-
| perry OF the state school fund There
| rs Dunn's answer that he used all care
and dlllgence with the means at his
nana and did lot better than anybody
/ before him. And there is VERSIONS
/ memorandum quoting records in a
number ofScases cited by Johnson
VERSIONS statement purports to offer
complete defense for Dunn in the
| cases quoted Wen admit we don't
Know whether it does or not. and SO far
as We are concerned we dismiss those
accusations without prejudice
line reslduum of the pine land cases,
aItef all allowances are made for Dunn
ana MS statement is taken at it's face
Vafue, is that he settled cases without
| regard to law frequently and that he
| ooesn mind saying he did better than
/ the law could have done. That we
understand, is his own view of it, 1t
also appears that he improved on the
InetnodS IN vogue before his time and
Ihat ms methods We're too easy going
for his successor
! we are bound to say that if John
| sons report is to have no weight and
Dunn's contradiction is taken as pure
| truth there is not much in the nine
! iand charges, except that Dunn char
acterlst1cally disobeyed the law when
/ ne thought he knew better than the
| law.
But the facts in regard to the min
erai leases are undisputed. They are
connrmed by the records and ad-
mltted as correct by Dunn.
Leases were issued to dummy
begging the ladys pardon-who was
sister of one of his clerks. They aft
erWards passed into the hands of
George Finn and I. C. Patterson, both
employed in the land department of
the auditors office. Dunn says he
dldn,t always know who We're the
leSsees, signing without paying any at
tention to the names and that it
Wouldn't have made any difference if
he had known.
The lands were for lease to the first
conner. Ii there was rivalry in the
application, the leases were to be sold
at auction Afterwards the leases
were subject to a royalty fixed by law.
1t was no matter to the state who held
them and it was nothing to him either
way one mans money was as good
as anothers.
1t is not good defense. 1t is i'm
proper on the face of it for the audi
TOR or his attaches to be interested in
properties Of the state held in, trust.
1t happens also that it is against the
law
Dunn says no harm was done Very
well, let us take his word for it that
the state lost no money by it and could
not lose. Take his word for that, and
the fact remains that it was highly
improper and Dunn sees no improprie-
ty.z 1t was Illegal and Dunn sees
nothing wrong in Breach of law nv
| members of his official family.
In his plain, blunt way, interests
and friendships We're always more to
BOD Dunn than the law he was sworn
to obey.
In certain large aspects, we said. he
declares he does not know right from
wrong. As auditor he did not: as gov
ernor he would not
mat is taking Dunn's word for it
that no harm was done to the chill
dren,s Inheritance and that no adyan-
tage of inside Information was OBJ
tanned by those who had first access
to the records. z''nt'