Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-04-29
FIREWORKS GALORE IN THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE
ALLEGED fraudulent SALE Of STATE SCHOOL LANDS
EAttorneys Clash, the Lie is Passed and Excitement
Enough for the Most Enthusiastic.
coNTRovE RSY REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL
COLLINS REFUSES CROSS EXAMINED BY oPPos'-
TON ATTORNEY AFEIDAv1 BY THE SCORE WERE INTRO
SESSION..

It is probable that few public in
yestigations of the kind conducted
nv the state board of university ana
school lands into the charges made
bv D. B. Collins, formerly Of Candc
and now of Fargo, as to illegal sales
of school land in Towner county IN
the autumn of 1901, have been char
acterized by as much informality and
belligerency as was that held in the
private Office of the governor yes
terday morning. Collins, the COM
planning witness, was plainly bellig-
erent. He declared that fraud had
been practiced in the school land
sale in question and that parcel OF
land, which is the one about which
the controversy revolves, had been
held up from the sale and sold the
next day at what was in effect a
private sale, to D. w. McCanna, a
well-known resident of Towner
county, who was also present at the
meeting, and sat two chairs away
from Collins. At one time in the
course Of his heated declarations,
Collins declared that "the Cando
crowds by which he meant to in
clue Lord and Thompson and Nc
Gamma, had sought to ruin him be-
cause he insisted on opening up the
matter of the sale, and he turned
to .McCanna and vehemently dared
him or any of "the Cando crowd to
have him (Collins) arrested, and
bring the whole matter into court.
McCanna apparently paid not much
ntk t0 do oroS
ly listening to the testimony, occa-
sionally conculting with his attor-
ney, Scott Rex, who was at the hear
ing to represent Lord and Thomp-
son in addition to McCanna, these
seeming to be the men whom Collins
charges with fraud in connection
with the sale in question.
Attorney McEnroe, who appeared
before the board representing Col
Inns, also seemed to participate in
the spirit Of belligerency, and he
and Governor Burke, who presided
at the meeting, had several lively
and heated tilts. One of these was
provoked by the suggestion of At
torney McEnroe that Governor Burke
was acting as attorney in the case,
which statement was rather warmly
resented by the governor. This came
about when Mr.. McEnroe asked
whether members of the board had
any inquiries to make regarding
phase of the evidence The govern
or and Attorney McEnroe looked at
each other with some warmth across
the table, at opposite ends of which
they sat. II was under the impress
sion that you were acting as attor-
ney in the case," said Mr.. McEnroe.
IF that is your impression, you are
very much mistaken, Ma. McEnroe,"
declared the governor with some
warmth. Attorney Rex then inter-
posed ind said he was there to rep
resent the parties already named,
and there was a temporary lull.
At the opening of the investigation
Mr.. McEnroe objected to the sitting
of State Auditor Brightbill as
member of the inquiring board, be-
cause of the fact that he had been
county auditor of Towner county and
served as clerk of the sale in ques-
tion back in 1901. This brought
forth some discussion Mr.. Bright
bill said he was entirely willing not
to sit if the members of the board
SO desired: Mr.. McEnroe said there
was no intention of rejecting in any
way on Mr.. Brightbill, but it was
feelt he might not desire to sit and
inquire into the case, in view of his
connection with the sale as clerk.
It was agreed that there was no pre-
cedent covering this particular point,
and Mr.. Brightbill finally said he
would continue to sit and takee part
in the investigation, as he felt that
no previous action of his had in
any way biased or prejudiceed his
judgment or would do so.
Mr. McEnroe then read two letters,
one from Amos w. Blanchard and
another from George McComb, the
tenor of which was that there had
been some question raised as to the
placing of all the parcels of land on
at public sale, and as to an under
standing that certain parcels of land
had not been sold. An affidavit OF
7. Nelson ely of Grand Forks was
also presented, stating that he had
gone to this sale to bid for some
land, and that he was advised by the
commissioner in charge of the sale
Clat ceTIdln pdIcel udu uoI DeeA
and would not be placed on sale,
and that because of this information
he (Kelly) had gone to Nelson coun-
ty and bought land, thinking he
could not get the piece he wanted.
Mr.. Kelly did not describe the land
accurately, but did so by placing it
with reference to other land. This
was the only affidavit presented.
Mr.. McEnroe then presented two
copies of the treasurer's receipts for
land, one of them marked void, and
in the name Of Harry Thompson,