Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1906-10-26

public sentiment has not been forgot
ten, said the governor, ''and it will
be remembered that one of the chief
issues of that campaign was the
charge that the law hsd been violated
by 'blic servants in the settlement of
the states just claim against men
who, without the authority of the law
had taken the states lands, timber
and mineral rights. One of the first
official acts WAS to demand COM
plete transcript ef tie charges made.
In an official communication of Feb.
l, 1906. made inquiry as to the
status of all suits and asked the at.
torney general whether his depart
ment was fully equipped to handle tho
suits for the recovery Of the state s
money. The attorney general ad-
vlsed me that the current business of
his Office was sufficient to keep his
force busy. ard that for the prepara.
tton and t1ial of tue cases referred to
additional counsel would be reQuir-
ed." On Feb. y. 1905. this correspon-
denoe with . complete .transcriIt was
submitted to the legislature in q
special message. Pursuant to this
: Recommendation s:u the appointment of
addition c,unsel was made. Suits
were instituted and the courts of the
state have handed down decisions in
which the constitutionsllty of the law
is upheld. He cited cases now pend
ing which would bring In a half mil
lion dollars into the state treasury and
nearly $50, 600 have already passed
into the easury through these pro-
csedings.
Under the direction of the timber
board examinations were made" said
the governor, 'and the revelstions
were startling. In Hubbard county
alone, on less than half dozen sec
tlons, there are discrepancies nf mil
lions of feet of lumber. The timber
board has been sctive in the proeecu-
tion of these companies and premise
you if am reelected to the Office of
governor it shall be my constant pur-
pose to reclaim every dollar which
has been unlawfully taken from the
public domain. Today, because of
our action, there are no timber tres.
passes.
Upon my suggestion" said Gov
ernor johnson, and as a result of q
conference with me tho railroad and
warehouse commission issued an order
citing all the railroad companies In
the state to appear before them and
show cause why there should not be q
general reduction Of commodity rates
tor the transportation of grain, coal
and other staples. Az a result Of
this order the railroads Voluntarily
made reduction upon the rates for
grain. A hearing for the proposed
reduction of commodity rates is still
pending"
The governor went into the lnsur.
ance question at length and told of
the conditions he had found in q big
life company doing business in this
state. He told of his work in con-
nestion with the remedying of the
evils that have been found to exist
in soRe of our local and national in
surance companies. He cited the case
of the Northwestern Life Insurance
Company of Minneapolis. which was
re-organized and reckless off1ce:s were
jailed for mslfeasance of Office.
The activities we're extended further
and 1t was on the recommendation OF
the governor that President Roosevelt
called the memorable conference in
Chicaao. The results of that great
meeting are well known.
Il had the pleasure to be president
of that meeting in Chicago. and l
have no hesitsncy IN saying that In
the work of insurance reform through
out the United States. Minnesota has
played most conspicuous and effec
tive part
The governor spoke briefly ef the
interest the administration had taken
in the subject of taxation. ''Publlc
service companies, which have hither-
to borne a small proportion of taxes
for sustaining the state and municipal
government, said the governor,
''have had their valuations very ma
terislly raised. More than S2,c0O, 600
was added to the assessed valuation of
the Twin City Rapid Transit compa-
ny. In like manner gas companies
ell =ctrci light companies and other cor.
porations were treated in the same
manner.
The Goyerno; % aIu ~ then spoke Of the
raise of $32. 0o0. 600 in the valuation
of the iron mining industries Of the
state, which brought Into the treasu-
ry a million dollars in additional
taxes every year. he said, &c before
the meeting of the equalization I
received a visit from representatives
Of the United Seotes Steel Company,
who asked that the valuation Of their
properties be left as in previous years
at $38, COO, 600. I demurred to this
and finally said that If the county
boards would raise the valuation to
$50. O0O, 900, which was higher, but
not as it should be, I would acquiesce.
subjectto the action of tho state board.
The county board accordingly raised
the valuation to 500, 600, 600 and I ex-
planned this to the board. But that
body had one member who could not
see it that way and he at once made
q motion to raise the valuation SO, :
600. 600. and he introduced facts that
induced the board to pass the motion
unanimously. thus adding half . mil
lion dollars in taxes to tho funds Of
the state and reducing other taxes in
proportion. That mans spirit ID
with the people and his work on the