The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-06

dozens Of times, and there is not a
case on the records that / cannot ex-
plain. Regarding the man MitchelLs
testimony, had never heard Of it be-
fore: His reports are all on file in the
AUDITORS office. as are the reports Of all
other state cruisers.
Explains AkeIey Case.
They make much out of the III. G.
Akeley case, a case that has been
handled altogether by State Auditor
iVerson. Akeley bought his logs from a
score or more of small operators, and
1t would have been folly for the state
10 nave tried to collect from them.
I want to say right here that 7
nave never made any attempt to cover
up anything in the auditors Office. 1t
would have been an easy matter to
reduce the estimates if there had been
any desire to make a showing, but
never a figure was altered. I made the
pest settlement possible in each case.
and was willing to let the settlements
stand upon the records The books in
the auditors office win show nearly
100 cases of trespass, ranging from 81
TO $4,000, and every cent is accounted
Tor. Barring two or three unsettled
cases, and the Buchanan case referred
to is one of them, the attorney general
Will not be able to collect a dollar on
them.
Comparisons are odious 1t is said.
but to compare treSpass prices during
the past two years with those of for
ner years is ridiculous, as the value of
pine stumpage has increased from 100
TO 2O0 per cent in the past two or three
years, and I am perfectly willing to
compare records with Mr.. Iverson, and
my record will not suffer by the COM
parison.
This whole thing is for political eff
rect, and has been held back purposely
until short time before the state con-
Ventlon. Gov. Van SAINT is well aware
or this. He turned the report over to
the attorney general for considerations
and then demanded that it should be
given to the press. If the governor
really had the interests of the state
at heart and believed and money could
be recovered for the state, he was not
helping the attorney general any by
giving publicity to the report before it
mad been examined by the attorney
general
'"The fact of the matter Is, the only
motive Gov. Van SAINT had in view
was to injure me in the matter and to
further the candidacy of l.. w. Collins
His conduct is neither manly nor
courteous. So far as Johnson is con-
cerned 1 would not believe him under
oath, and have said so repeatedly. He
has squandered thousands of dollars Of
the states money for the sole purpose
of injuring me, and to help Judge Col
Inns. The public will easily see through
1t all.
Defies the Governor.
Il bid defiance to Gov. Van SAINT and
his henchmen. Their report will not
fnjure me in the least, and it certainly
will not assist the candidacy of Judge
Collins.
IF / deem 1t worth while may an
swer the report in detail and show up
the falsehoods it contains, provided
can ever get a copy of the report.
Through Mr.. Flynn / demanded copy
of the report today, but was refused.
There is nothing in the report but
what had expected. 1t was concocted
for the sole purpose Of helping Judge
Collins, and he and his managers are
largely responsible for it.
IT have saved the state of Minnesota
more money than all of it's other Off
Gals combined; 1 collected fifteen times
more trespass money during my admin
istration than had been collected in all
the previous history Of the state. My
record is an open book, and on that
record am perfectly willing to stand"