The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-10-01

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be destroyed by fire or windfan and
gave him my ultinatum to deposit $13,-
600 with the state treasurer and give an
additional bond of SIC, 900 within ten days
or I would cancel the permit and let
him litigate If he so desired. The result
Of the matter was that my terms were
complied with. and to make long story
short, the state received pay for thirty
seven million feet of logs, more than five
times the amount Of the estimate. The
land in question belonged to the un1ver-
sity and
Hon. John $. Pillsbury Personally
Thanked Me
for the admirable manner" he said, in
which 1 had guarded the interests of the
state and the university. 1 cite this in
stance simply to show that there was no
neglect of duty on my part as far as the
permits issued by my predecessors were
concerned.
My efficient deputy, the present state
auditor, who was thoroughly posted on
the affairs of the office, having served
under Mr.. Braden and also acted as
deputy state treasurer for four years,
the stumpage clerk, Mr.. Molander, and
myself worked increasingly for months
to bring order out Of chaos and get the
stumpage records of the office in decent
shape Prior to 1895 timber permits were
issued Unfortunately and the permit
holder was not required to make any ad-
vance payment He simply held an OPP
ton on state timber, and he might or
might not cut the same. AS a matter OF
fact, scores Of permits were issued to
men who never intended to cut the tim
Der. They simply bid to keep others
from getting the timber, and they coulo
do so with impunity without the expendl-
ture Of a dollar on their part.
Both Gov Van SAINT and Public Ex-
aminer Johnson think, or pretend to
think, that Hon. S. G. Iversop, the pres
ent State auditor. is honest and efficient
in which view I heartily concur. But
these gentlemen seem to forget that MIR.
Iverson was my deputy for eight years
and had immediate supervision Of all the
details Of the office and that he person
ally handled many of the trespass Settle
ments and was consulted In almost every
instance. If Mr.. Iverson is honest ana
efficient now, is 1t not reasonable to pre-
sumo that he was equally honest ana
efficient during the eight years he served
as deputy auditor? Will Mr.. Johnson or
Gov. Van SAINT please point to a single
trespass case of any Importance that was
settled by me without advising and con-
sulting with Mr.. lverson?
As to Mineral Leases.
First and foremost I want to say
that I am not now and never have
been, directly or indirectly, inter-
ested in any mineral lease or: con-
tract, either during my term of
office as state auditor or since, to the
extent of fve-cent piece There Is
nothing in the law governing the 1eas-
ing Of state lands for prospecting pur-
poses that prevents any one from secur-
ing lease, provided he pays the an1oun n,
fixed by law The law provides that all
applications for mineral leases must be
accompanied by the cash; that is to say,
S25 must be paid for each one hundred
and sixty acre tract or less. The pros
pecting lease gives the holder the rlght
to prospect for ore for period or Twelve
months, and at the expiration OF tna1
time he must take out fifty year con-
tract at the rate Of one hundred dollars
per year, and when railroad eets "1'"-
in a certain distance of the land COW
cred by the contract, after a period OF
five wears, five thousand tons OF ore
must be mined or an amount equivalent
to the royalty on five thousand TONS
that is to say, $3.50, must be palo INTO
the state treasury annually. one man
money is just as good as anotners 70
the state. Probably nine-tenths OF the
leases issued are dropped at the exp1ra-
ton of the year. Taking out mineral
lease is like buying lottery ticket.
The knowledge obtained by any clerk
IN the auditors Office with reference to
the value of any piece of mineral land IS
practically worthless. The only way to
discover whether there is ore on the
land is by drilling or test-pitting.
The law provides that where two or
more parties apply for lease on the
same piece Of land at the same time
the lease must be auctfoned OH TO the
highest bidder. That provision OF the
law was strictly complied with during
the eight years I served as auditor.
defv any living man to prove to the con-
trary, If there was no competition the
first applicant who paid his twenty-five
dollars received the lease.
The law fixes a specific amount that
shall be paid, for a mineral lease and
a specific amount that shall be PAID LOT
mineral contract, and tn governor
the janitor or the messenger BOY mas
just as good as right to take OUT a a, MN I'm
eral lease as any one else. 1t is all the
# IS preposter6us for any one TO
assert that the state can be robbed or
injured in any manner by the issuance
Of mineral leases to any person so long
al the terms OF the law are complied
with. If ore is discovered the holder
of the contract must pay to the state
twenty-five cents per ton royalty, ana
7 know Of no possible way In which
the state could be defrauded.
The Mabel Evans Lease.
Mr.. Johnson's report particularly re-
fers to lot 1, section 6. town 5819, range
II. upon which Miss Mabel Evans Sc
cured a lease This tract Of swamp land
contains SO 65-1OO acres. I selected it
and set it apart for the benefit of the
state institutions land fund Immediately
the swamp land list was fled in the
state land Office In order to prevent some
railroad company from filing on it, as
owing to the situation of the land it
probably contains body of iron ore,
but apparently no one seemed to think
much of the mineral possibilities OF the
tract, or else those who knew Of them
were sure Of being able to deprive the
state Of this land by means of con-
test, for, as have before stated. it lay
without any application for q year. Any
one could have applied for lease dur
in: that year and obtained the same.
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