Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-11-10
NORTHERN VIZ.
CONSIN DEMAND
JUSTICE
An Able Explanation of the
Dietz Family Troubles by G..
D. Jones.

Wausau, Wis, Oct. 26th, 1910.
Milwaukee Sentinel:
Central and northern Wisconsin
demand justice We have been out
rageously misrepresented in the John
F. Dietz matter, and probably a ma
jority of the people of our state be-
lieVe Dietz has been so exasperated
by wrongs inflicted on him by corpor
ations, so thWarted and buffeted by
the courts of this part of the state
IN his efforts to obtain justice again
these corporations, that he has been
in a large measure justified for TAX
ing matters into his own hands in
defiance of the courts and the law.
This Is Not The Case.
First: Dietz never had a Difficult
ty of any kind with any lumber or
logging corporation in Wisconsin
prior to his offenses of 1904 So far
as is known he has never had a case
in court, and it is certain he has
never suffered the least injustice from
our courts. His Justification for his
lawlessness is wholly fictitious
Second: The so-caued Cameron
Dam was built in aid of the naviga-
ton Of ThOrnapple River in 1877. It
was lawfully used for log driving pur
poses each year for twenty-seven
years. In October, 1900, Dietz' wife
purchased one hundred and sixty ac-
res Of land upon which one end Of the
dam abuts, for $280.00 or $1.75 per
acre. The records in Sawyer County
clearly showed at that time that the
lands so bought were subject to the
rights of the river improvement com
pany to use and maintain this dam in
aid Of navigation, and to flow the land
necessary therefor, and to enter up
on such land for log driving purposes.
Also the long and continued use Of
these improvements for these pUr-
poses was matter Of common know
ledge.
Third: The Deitz family did not
move TO the land until February, 1904.
That winter between six and seven
million feet Of pine saw logs were
put into the Thornapple river above
the dam, and it was known they
would be driven down to the Chip
/ pewa that spring as had been done
/ each year for the proceeding twenty
seven years. Without previous warn
ing, the log drivers that spring were
! met at this dam by Deitz, and were
/ told they could not use that highway
/ for driving those logs until he, Dietz,
/ was paid substantially the sum of
I SO, 10000. $8,00000 of this claim
was made up by a charge Of ten cents
/ per thousand feet on eighty million
F feet of logs Dietz claimed had been
! driven through that dam during the
/ preceding twenty seven years. O.
| course this demand was not granted
and when their further progress was
resisted by Dietz and his guns, the
parties upon whom it was made soug
the protection Of our courts, as they
should have done. This Is The Elk
tent Of Their Offending.
Fourth: From the first Dietz re
fused to submit his clanais to the
courts, and also refused to submit
them to any arbitration Why? Clear
ly because he knew they were in
equitable and unlawful.
| Fifth: It is true that for years
Dietz defied the courts and eyadel
arrest. This is not to our credit, OF
to the credit Of our state. 1t wa.
not due, however, to sympathetic
public sentiment In his community