Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-11-06
OBSERVATIONS;
(By a Cornfleld Philosopher.)
X-THE LAND AND TIMBER
FRAUDS.

x-THE LAND AND TIMBER
FRAUDS.
The legislature elected in 1892 un.
der the influence of The Farmers |
Alliance, while not entirely controll-
ed by that organization, has much to
it's credit Among other things, a spe-
cial Investigating committee appointed
by this body revealed and laid bare
some Of the gigantic frauds perpe.
trated in land and timber deals by
which the State suffered to the ex.
tent of hundreds of thousands of dol
lars. Much of this grating was car
ried on under the forms of law, but
some Of it was criminal in its nature
for which no adequate punishment
had been provided or not enforced.
1gnatius DOnnelly was moving spirit
in this movement and member of
the committee. Some brief quota
lions from their report may be of in
terest. The committee said, among
other things, ut is impossible to tell
how many million dollars have been
stolen from the School fund for we
have not had time to cover either the
period of the past or anything like
the whole period of the State. The
evidence before your committee shows
that the State received in many, If
not a majority Of cases, but a little
over one quarter of what was justly
due. This great fraud was accomplish
ed by false returns of the quantity of
timber and by low prices placed upon
the same" But how could the buyers
falsify and get away with it when
State agents inspected and checked
up the job, and who placed the low
prices on the timber but complaisant
and accommodating public officials?
Let me give just one illustration
of the way the timber was handled.
The lumber on Section 36, of Town
1873, Range "a, which is located in the
Northern part of Todd county just
South of Aldrich, was estimated, so
witness testified, at six hundred thou
sand feet of pine and four hundred
thousand feet of oak The witness
himself said he would have been will
ing to give $4,000 for this timber. The
records show that only $1,000 was
| ever received for the oak at the rate
of $500 per thousand, and for the
pine-nothing at all. It would be in
| teresting to learn the name of the
lucky CD fellow who got this stump
age.
One more case will be given. On
section 16, which is School land
of Twp. 81, Range Is, 4th, located
just south of Grand Rapids in Itasca
county, one and a half million feet
of lumber were cut, worth then more
than 100000, and for this the State
received less than $4,000. Another
School section, No. 36 in Twp. AZ,
Range 26, in Aitkin county, just south
of Lawler, contained nearly five mil
lion feet of choice pine was sold for
! $4,000, when at the low price of $500
per thousand it was worth $15, 900.
Just think of Fifteen Thousand
dollars worth of State property sold
| to greedy lumbermen by faithless
State officials for $780,
| The sO-called Internal Improveme nt
land shared the same fate as the
School Section, If not worse. But &C.
cording to this committees report the
early boosters of the enterprising city
of Grand Rapids, which is located on
school section, take the cake. They
formed a pool, appointed one Of their
men to do all the bidding, run off OF
terrorized all would-be bidders from the
outside, and bought the town site OF
an accommodating State auditor for an
average of about $500 per acre when
it was well worth 800.
The committee alleged that there
was no law at all authorizing the sale
| oP h ND ctv he
land, but it was sold, nevertheless
and in large quantities. The Uni
versity lands suffered the same fate
the estimated quantity on many tracts
being less than one-tenth of the rea
output and the price much less than
it's real value. The Swamp LAND
frauds will be made the subject Of
special article, the matter being toe
important to be covered by mere
mention The committee also tolG
how fraudulent homestead entries
had been made on government lane
at. the instance and for the benefit Of
enterprising CD and. not over-scrupu
lOus lumbermen.
Tax Frauds.
Not satisfied with getting this stump
age from the State at their own prices
big lumber companies did not scruplt
to resort to the most ingenious meth
DDS to escape taxation, especially OF
the saw logs A law was passed pro
viding that logs should be assessed
where the principal mill Of the owner
is located. Specific instances of tai
frauds in Itasca county are too length!
to be noted here, but they implicated
some of the then big lumber compan
les of the city of Minneapolis.
I The Remedy.
= The committee recommend that :
} commission be created with ampl'
{ power to carry on the work and tina
) the legislature be convened in extr;
I session-the regular session beinl
I about to expire by limitation-''to en-
) act laws and to take such steps as ma,
be necessary to protect the interest
of the commonwealth" The repor
) was signed by the entire committee
consisting of Senators Henry Keller
Chairman; Ignatius Donnelly, Joh1
J Day Smith, w. S. Dedon and S. w
{ Leavitt. This report was submitted
: and adopted on April 10th, 1898 an
so far as the record discloses, no full
I Their action was taken, but as the leg
) islature adjourned on the 18th, it ma,
I have been for lack of time.
Il But, as might be expected, the re
) port stirred up hornets nest amon
I the beneficiaries of the alleged frauds
{ and the politicians. Donnelly and hi
) committee were denounced withOu
I stint as men of ''little character,
{ "cheap political shysters," "aSgang Q
rat head reformers," and no doubt