The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1909-03-13
Row On Over The
State Tax Lands.
CHARGES AND COUNTER CHARGES
BEING MADE IN coNNEcTIoN
WITH MATTER.
Land for I5c An Acre.
The Investigating Committee Claims
Firm is Buying 100000 Acres
at That Average Price.

Charges, insinuations and bitter feel
ing are beginning to have place in
the investigation of the present system
of handling state tax lands and the sub
ject promises to arouse the biggest
fight Of the session. Members of the
house investigating committee charge
there is move on foot to gobble up all
the valuable state tax lands before they
can be withdrawn from sale. intimate
the spectators are having assistance
at Lansing and declare that the state
will be robbed Of millions Of dollars if
the scheme is not thwarted. On the
other hand it is charged that this hue
and cry about Saving the state s
lands" is simply raised for the purpose
of inducing the legislature to act when
the owners at present of large, blocks of
cheap lands figure there will be an in
creased demand for their land and a
consequent increase in its value. The
opponents of the reforestation plan de-
clare that certain men who have large
tracts of land see in it scheme to get
rid of paying taxes on their property
while Others who want to establish
huge game preserves see a way to do
so without paying any taxes on the
property.
Representative of the land depart
ment and the auditor generals depart
ment were subpoenaed to appear before
the investigating committee of the leg
islature yesterday afternoon, because
of the tip which Chairman Maxey of the
committee received in letter to the
effect that the Grimmer Land Co., of
Saginaw, ascertaining that move was
on foot to withdraw all state tax lands
from sale, had filed applications for 4
large quantity of land lying in Chip
pewa, Mackinac, Gogebic and School
craft counties, with view to getting
possession before it was withdrawn
from sale. The records of the depart
ments showed this to be fact, the
committee members stating that in all
the Grimmer concern has applied for
title to approximately 100, 900 acres for
which it had deposited $l2, 898.88 or at
a rate of less than Is cents an acre
which seems pretty cheap for even the
poorest sections of old Mother Earth,
but the committee claims that included
in the list is land that is very valuable,
some of it with valuable timber stand
ing and some of it containing valuable
deposits. The committee was
also informed that the auditor general
has not ceased entirely from the sale of
tax lands and there was something of
a row over this situation. AS result
the senate will be asked to pass with
out fail next Wednesday the bill with
from sale all tax and tax
homestead lands pending re-appraisal
that being the first day on which the
bill may be taken up at that end of the
capitol
Members of the committee are con-
excited over the situation and
some threats are being made. Chair
man Maxey is quite bitter over the
matter. He says it has been proposed
to him that an investigation be made
of the land department next week and
then the matter dropped. II am not
in favor of that" said he. II don't
believe any investigation worth while
can be made in day or so; ! favor
adopting the report of the forestry in
quiry commission as ours. That is full
Of facts and figures and covers the
whole ground and / know there is a
mass Of information yet in the hands Of
the commission which is even more
scandalous. The state must act and
act at once, II anything is to be ac-
! know they are making
charges against me but / don't care.
/ do own some lands, what
has that got to do with this question?
This matter ought to be pushed through.
The senate should pass that bill at
once and then we could know that no
lands viii be sold until we can decide
what Is best to do. Nov the depart