The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1912-01-27

Governor Chase S. Osborn. in reply
to the attack recently made upon him
by State Tax Commissioner Robert H.
Shields, today issued the following
statement:
The attack upon me made by Robert
H. Shields, chairman of the state tax
commission, was made for the purpose
Of discounting the result and effect Of
an investigation am making Of charg-
es made against him which. if proven
true, would lead to his removal from
Office. There is a Chinese proverb
which says, There is no fence that
does not let the wind through. Mr..
Shields has known for some time that
l have been dissatisfied with his work
on the tax commission. He has used
his position there for the political pres
tige it would give him and the salary.
and the time he has given to the
states service has been incidental. He
is the manager Of The Arcadian Mining
Company, the superintendent of an Ex-
ploring Company, and has other private
business for corporations that has TAX
en- 80 much of his time that he has ne
elected the Tax Commission work.
That is the reason why taxation condi-
tions in Michigan are so unsatisfactory.
For long time the Tax Commission
claimed it had no power of initiative in
the supervision of appraised values in
the various counties of the state. /
contend that they always had the pow
er; but because there was doubt as to
whether they had sufficient power or
not the last legislature extended their
powers almost without limit. This law
to effect Aug. 2, 1911. No attempt
was made to take advantage of it; no
organizing work Of an initiatory char
acter was done until about the time
the tentative report of the Special
Taxation Inquiry Commission was
made. Then the Tax Commission ap-
peared to become unusually active.
Several times during 1911 complaints
against Mr.. Shields have been made to
me as governor. He heard of the in
vestigations that followed; and it was
reported to me that on numerous occa-
sions while drinking he boasted that
the Governor would do nothing in his
case because che had something on the
Governor. learned of this threat
for the first time fortnight ago. I
sought an interview with Mr.. Shields.
which was not brought about until he
came to my Office January 18th. for the
for the purpose of submitting to me
the tentative railroad appraisals. This
was three days before he made his de-
fensive statement. When we conclud-
ed the consideration of that matter !
wished to have very plain talk with
him. I told him of the charges that
had been made against him; that /
wished to be perfectly fair and square
with him; that l was inveftigating
them and if found them to be true
would remove him from office. told
him, furthermore that his irresponsible
threat made against me would only
move me to greater activity; that If he
knew anything about me that the pub
lie did not know wished it published.
/ told him that, while l did nat make
greater claims to perfection than the
average man, my life is an open book,
and so it is.
Among the charges made against
Mr.. Shields is that he has used his Office
to intimidate political opponents. l
have not investigated these charges
sufficiently to come to conclusion as
to their foundation. One specific charge
is that when his friend Mr.. Miller, Of
Houghton, was opposed for the presi-
dency of the village of Houghton BY
Mr.. Bawden, manager for Stone and
Webster, of Boston, who own certain
electric railroad properties in Houghton
county. letter was written to Stone
and Webster advising them to have
Mr.. Bawden withdraw or their proper
ties would be attended to. Mr.. Bawden
did not withdraw and the taxation Of
the Stone and Webster properties was
materially increased. It is not claimed
that the Stone and Webster properties
are overtaxed. The contentisn is that
the increase did not come until after
they had offended Mr.. Shields.
It is further charged that he made