The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-16

leases, with comparatively little revenue
to the state and at the low royalty price
of % cents per ton when they become
available and are operated.
Would 1t not be well to suggest to the
legislature the advisability of providing a
method by which these contracts for min
| ing on state land could be sold at public
auction, and that the minimum price Of
25z cents.per ton royalty should be largely
increased Respectfully submitted for
IS. T. johnson. Public Examiner.
TELLS OF HUNDREDS
OF PECULIAR PERMITS
Hon. s. r. Van SAINT: In further
response to the instructions of the
legislature in adopting the report of
their committee, who referred the vari-
Gus subjects to this department and
| recommended that .the public exam
| lner investigate thoroughly into these
accounts" I beg to submit herewith
the facts ascertained to date:
The state legislature, in 1898, created
the pine land investigating committee,
which, after investigation, declared that
many of the existing permits to cut TIM
Der from state lands were irregularly is
| used and should be Cancelled, and they
recommending to the legislature a very
stringent law.
This bill was passed. and on June l.
1885, 1T became a law, being Chapter 1853
of the General Laws of 1895, which, by
its terms cancelled all existing timber
estimates and prohibits the extension of
any expiring permit to cut state timber
for longer period than one year, and
then only by the consent and signature
OF the governor, state treasurer and audi
tor, all Endorsed thereon. 1t also limited
two logging seasons.
1t has only been within the last few
the time any permit could be granted to
years that the state could realize any con-
siderable cash from its pine and mineral
lands, and it was the evident intent of
machinery with which to care for this
increasing responsibility. The records
snow that many express provisions of law
have been set aside and legal safeguards
ignored; this has resulted in losses to
which your attention was called by de-
partment reports, under dates of March
10, April 20 and May 80 last, to which
your further consideration is hereby in
yited
Refers to Fraudulent Permits
On Jan. 1, 1895. there were some hun
dreds of open accounts with individuals
and firms who had, in one way and an
other, bought or claimed to have bought
timber of the state. Many of these con-
tracts the legislature of 1895, by the
adoption of the report of the "pine land
investigating committee, declared to
have have been issued fraudulently, and the
conditions required by law to make their
| issuance legal. The estimates, upon
which these so-called permits were Is
sued, were made the same way, under
the same conditions and by the same men
as were the estimates so clearly proven
before the committee to be fraudulent
and which the new law, recommended by
the committee and passed by the legisla-
-ture of 1895, declared should not be used
any further.
The records do not show that any of
these fraudulent permits were Cancelled or
that ditip6nCa aYQrpiSpd m
force the few beneficial conditions they
contained, or to protect the states inter-
est in any way.
The law before 1895, as now, required
that al! purchasers of state timber should
give a bond as guarantee that they would
pay for all timber standing on the land
out waste. The records show that the
timber has not been cut clean and that
there has been great waste, in direct
violation of contract, and do not show any
or bond, or to collect for damage caused
the state by such violation of contract
Records Full of Gases
The records are full of cases where
these failures to cancel fraudulent and
expired contracts or enforce their terms
records show the estimates upon which
the permits were based to have been very
unreliable. often estima ting but a few
hundred thousand feet of logs on a sec
ton, when in fact there were as many
millions; this makes it impossible to es-
innate the loss that the state has sus-
the 161 the details of which are set forth
in schedules and 2, hereto attached.
These cases, like a great many others,
We're open accounts Jan; l, 1925. and al
lowed to run indefinitely, without can
collation. or apparent effort to enforce or
protect the states rights.
Work Under Expired Permits
1t Is with the records for the period
of 1Ss5-1s02, inclusive, that this paper
deals. The facts hereinafter set forth, in
schedules Nos / and 2, show that permits
to cut state timber, issued from 1883 to
1884. inclusive, were allowed to run and
that timber was cut hereunder for sew
eral years after their expiration and after
the new law of 1895 had taken effect; the
prices of pine timber materially increased
and that no Endorsement of extension by
the governor, state treasurer and auditor,
as required by law, was made thereon;
also that quantities of timber were cut,
for which the state received no payment,
nor do the records show any attempt to
collect for 1t, or to ascertain the identity
of or to punish those who may have taken
1t Illegally or with fraudulent intent
This report deals only with sample
lot OF such cases as were open contracts
on Jan. l, 1895, and only such cases as
were safely within the statute Of limjta-
tlon and which show direct money loss
which were contracts with persons who
were and still are perfectly responsible.
They contracted to pay the state for all
timber that stood on the land at the time
the permit was issued. The law calls for
annual settlements with permit holders,
and, at the end of the life of the permit
for full payment of all timber that was
on the land when the permit was issued.
no matter whether 1t had been taken off
by the purchaser or not All timber left
on the ground when the permit expired,
although to be paid for by the purchaser
IS nevertheless the property of the state.
The records do not show that any at
tempt has ever been made to enforce this
law which was enacted for the purpose of
compelling the purchaser to cut the tim
Der clean, to be careful not to waste It.
and to take the poor as well as the good
If any was allowed to be left, it would
always be the poorest. The law has all
ways required that permit holders should
| give good and sufficient bonds guaran-
teeing that they would fully comply with
the terms of the contract and provisions
| of law.
Yet In all of the hundreds of contract
violations, shown by the record, not one
| case Is shown where any legal steps have
been taken to enforce the terms of the
contracts upon either principal or bonds
! men.
Schedule No. will show you how the
| loss to the state is proven in a sample
/ lot Of l02 cases, each case covering a
| section.
If the cruisers estimates were as much
| too low IN those 161 sections, mentioned
! show them to have universally been where
! the timber was all actually measured.
| then the loss to the state from the various
causes herein and heretofore mention ed