The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-10-18

in Mr.. BuckmanS presence. One
morning q cannot give the date) those
two gentlemen called at my Office, Mr.
Buchanan remarking, that he had some
business with Mr.. Dunn stepped in
to call on me and pay a istff respects. Mr.
Dunn then stated that Mr. Buckman,s
men+that is his logging: creW4llad by
mistake cut some timber D1ltstate land in
certain section; that rsBuckman had
soon as he discovered it, and had now
come in to adjust the matter without suit
Mr.. Dunn asked me what 1 thought about
the propriety of doing so. I answered
that under the law this matter was wholly
in his hands, and suggested that he con
fer with the attorney general added,
however. that, on general principles
always favored an amicable adjustment
that if fair settlement Gould be made
/ thought. it very desirable, That Is the
last and the only thing thatI have heard
or known about the Buchanan timber Tres
pass until the appearance of the public
examiners report.
DUNN TOO RECKLESS
Recklessness Is the marked character
Istic of Mr. Dunn's official conduct. and
this, in my Judgment, units hin, for the
high office of governor. In tt1e pamphlet
issued by his committee entitled Zion,
r. C. Dunn's Record as State Auditor"
forward In behalf of his candidacy the fol-
lowing. read from page 90:
sFhe litigation over the swamp land
grant of the Duluth & Iron Range Rail-
road company is well known to most citi-
zens of the state, but 1t is not SO well
known that at the time Judge Lochren
filed his decree affirming the validity of
the company's grant that there was In
which the court declared the company
was rightfully entitled, and that included
in that list was some 43, 000. acres of state
institutions lands on which are located at
c VIC val III h i,.o,,
When the attention of Mr.. Dunn was
drawn to this fact the time for appealing
the case had gone by, and the state was
threatened with a loss which would have
not been less than So, 000, 000. But by the
use of considerable diplomacy and firm
ness the Duluth 81 Iron Range railroad
people We're induced to consent to the de-
cree being. amended, SO as to exclude all
the state institutions lands, which Judge
Lochren very promptly did when the
proper application was made by the at
torneys for the railroad company
Let us examine the facts in regard to
this claim
On Feb. 10, 1866, long before any grant
of lands had been made to the Duluth &
lature of the state of Minnesota granted
100000 acres of swamp land for the sup
port of the insane asylums, the institu-
tions for the deaf, dumb and blind at Fari-
bault and for the support Of the state
prison, also 375, 900 acres for the support
of the normal schools then and thereafter
to be established in the state. Under this
grant by the legislature Mr. Dunn's pre-
decessors in Office had selected lands from
time TO. time, among which were the 49,
600 acres referred to by Mr. Dunn, and
which are located in st. Louis county and
along the iron range. The selection of
office of the state auditor, and they were
the property of the state in, trust for
those institutions as much as our school
lands are the property of the state in
trust for our schools.
BIG SWAMP LAND GRANT
On March 8, 1876, the legislature of
the state of Minnesota, desiring to pro-
cure the construction of a railroad from
duluth to some point on the iron range,
granted to the Duluth & Iron Range Rail
road company from the swamp lands To-
Gated in the counties of st. Louis, Lake
and Cook counties ten sections to the
mile of road built +" to be selected within
ten miles on each side of the road, and,
if there should not be enough swamp
lands unsold and unappropriated within
each ten-mile section of the road as COM
pleted, then the company had the priyi-
lege of locating the deficiency on any of
the swamp lands belonging to or to accrue
to the state, not otherwise disposed of,
within the counties named.
This was the language of the act, and
l quote it as construed by the supreme
court of this state in 40 Minnesota, on page
Ito.
Under this grant the st. Paul & Du-
luth Railroad company built 94.8 miles of
railway and became entitled to sos, 720
acres of swamp land. Prior to 1897 the
state had decided to the Duluth e. Iron
in part satisfaction of the grant The
company had also selected some 1870, 600
acres of swamp land, which had not been
decided by the state. This selection by the
company included the same Landslide
$4,000 acres which have heretofore re-
ferred to and which had been previously
selected by the state for the state institu-
lions.
STARTED TO BUST GRANT
This was the condition of affairs when
Mr.. Dunn started out to bust the Duluth
& Iron Range railroad grant. In his re-
port to the legislature that convened in
January. 1897, Mr.. Dunn. urged in the
strongest language that he be. authorized
to institute suits to procure the cancella-
tion of the grant The attorney general, in
an official opinion which is on record.
had. already advised that the grant was
valid and could not be set aside. But Mr..
Dunn took issue with him: end closed
with this appeal to the legislature:
Il would most respectfully urge the
state legislature to take such action as
may lead to the settlement of the whole
question Of the validity of the swamp land
grant to the Duluth & Iron Range Rail-
road company by the court
trust this matter will receive early con-
sideration at the hands OF the state legis-
lature.', 9iy
In pursuance of this recommendation
and Mr.. Dunn's persistent agitation of this
question in the newspapers, the legislature
appropriated $4,000 to carry on the in
yestigation and litigation in regard to the
Duluth & Iron Range railroad grant The
legislature also appropriated "a 900 to en-
able the auditor to properly look after the
state institutions lands. All this money was
made payable ON Mr.. Dunn's vouchers.
The attorney general who had already
given his adverse opinion, did not feel
justified in bringing the suits alone. Out
side counsel were employed to assist in
carrying on the litigation. Suits were
brought by the state in the state courts.
also by the railroad company in the federal
courts. The several suits were finally re-
moved to the United States circuit court
and all tried together before Judge Loeb
rem. All the data for trying these eases
were furnished by Mr.. Dunn. The lists of
land, both those which had been decided to
the company and those which had been Sc
lected but not decided. came from his Of
fee. He was one of the principal wit
nesses in the case. It was to all intents
and purposes his suit. Through his negli-
gence, however the attention of the attor-
neys or of the court was potscalled to the
fact that the list of some 100000 acres of
land selected by the company but not
decided by the state, contained AZ, 900 acres
of land already selected for the state in
stitutions and held by the state in trust
for them.
DECISION Is FILED
On the Sth day of January 1900. Judge
Lochren filed his decision in which he
held the grant valid, and decided that the
company was entitled to the lands already
decided to it and also to all lands con-
(This latter list, as I have already ex-
planned contained the a, 900 acres be-