The Saint Paul globe., 1905-03-28
STATE SUES HOLDERS
OF VIRGINIA SILVER
Attorney General Attempts to
Cancel Famous Mineral
Property Contract

Charging fraud in the manner In
which certain parties connected with
the auditors Office during the last adj
ministration secured a contract for the
famous Virginia silver" mineral prop
erty in st. Louis cc,,-4y, Atty. Gen. r.
t. Young yesterday began suit to have
the contract Cancelled. Several million
dollars is said to be involved.
George c. Finn land clerk, and I. c.
Patterson, assistant land clerk. under
former Auditor Dunn, are two of the
defendants TO the suit The others are
Mabel Evans, in whose name the prop-
erty was secured, and Coryate S. VIII
son and II. Z. Baker. The last two are
said to have purchased a half interest
In the mining property.
The suit is brought in the name of
the state OF Minnesota, and seeks to
have Cancelled the contract by which
the mineral land is held. The papers
were served yesterday. and the case
Will be tried in ST Louis county.
Judge Douglas assisting the attorney
general. The purpose is to secure a
public sale of the land, the proceeds of
which will go to the state school fund.
State Auditor Iverson said yesterday
that he had not been advised of the
suit.
Calls II Breach of Duty
Atty. Gen. Young says that he be-
lieves that the manner In which the
contract for the land was secured was
breach of duty by the public officials.
and for this reason thinks II can be set
aside.
Among those who had tried to secure
q loo m
Smith. Superior mining man. He has
brought suit in the United States court
to have the Mabel Evans lease vacated
to him. but this suit in no way aids or
interferes with the suit of Smith, saws
the attorney general.
In most scathing interview, given
out yesterday, the attorney general de-
nounced the two men who were con-
nected with the auditors office and
who are now said TO have a large inter
est in the mining claim. He charges
that George c. Finn and /. C. Patter-
son. land clerk and assistant land
clerk, were specializing in the state
mineral lands. which they always took
in the name of Mabel Evans, a sister
tract, containing about thirty five
acres, the attorney general says:
Attorney General Talks
owned by the state. being worth any
where from one to several millions of
dollars. a lease which would, IL sold
at public auction. bring very large sum
in addition to the % cents a ton Royalty
reserved under the state law.
The ore is claimed to be worth IS cents
ton. in the ground. There had been
! several applicants for lease upon this
tract. but applicants had always been
advised by Finn that the title was I'm lit-
igation and the tract was not subject 10
lease. -
In the meantime the lease was secretly
procured by Finn and Patterson in the
name of Mabel Evans for the minimum
sum provided by law. which was SOS. This
lease was afterwards followed by a CON
tract whereby the state sold the ore 10
Mabel Evans at 25 cents ton leaving a
net profit of at least so cents ton on
several million tons Of ore to Mabel
Evans and the persons connected with her
in the transaction. There were other an
plicants at the time this original lease
lease should have been sold at public auc-
tion, bringing large sums OF money into
| the treasury for the school fund.
We believe this 10 be q breach Of dirty
by the public officials. and that the whole
transaction was void for that reason. This
suit will not aid the claim of Pearl n
Smith In the United States district court
The result We are seeking is to secure
| the public sale of this valuable property
| so that the school fund may get the hens
mt instead of any individual securing q
vast fortune at the expense OF the state.
Mining Land Has History
The Virginia silver" mining land
has played a most important part in
| the political history of the state. Las,
| fall while the campaign ragged fiercely
1t was discussed freely on the stump. II
being claimed that r. c. Dunn. a can
didate, had knowledge of the deal in
which Mabel Evans secured possession
|