TAX LANDS AND FORESTRY. 115 



on the land from the rig.* We simply give these few instances but can 

 give you more information on this point if you wish it. 



That this practice seems to be general and that it is extremely doubt- 

 ful if any considerable percentage of the lands are actually examined 

 by the appraisers of the State Land Office, can be further seen by the 

 report of the appraised value of the lands in Cheboygan county and the 

 condition and values as they actually exist. 



The N W 14 of the S W i^ of 27-35-1-E, was appraised bv the State 

 at $2.50 per acre; the S W % of the S W 14 at |1.25 per acre; and the 

 N W 14 of the N W % at $1.50 per acre. These three forties are situ- 

 ated close to the main road and the value placed on them is probably 

 all they are worth, for they are a cold, wet, quicksand soil and of no 

 value for farming. 



As an opposite case, we wish to call your attention to the value 

 placed by the appraisers on the N W % of the S E i/4, S E % of the 

 N E 14, the S W 14 of the N E % and the S W % of the N W i^, the 

 N W 14 of the S W 14 of section 22 of the same town, and which were 

 appraised at $1.00 per acre, the 200 acres being sold to Chas. Fultz on 

 Sept. 8, 1904, for $276. These five forties had a total stand of 1,025,- 

 000 feet of No. 1 saw log timber, besides the wood and bark, the total 

 value being $4,436. This land was sold by the owner on Feb. 21, 1908, 

 at $4,000. It is simply ridiculous to believe that any man could have 

 examined this land and placed such a value on it, unless with intent 

 to defraud the State. 1 



The S W 14 of the N E i^ of 27-34-1-E, was appraised at $10.50 per 

 acre. The value of the timber is $1,495. The S E i/4 of the N E 14, same 

 description, was appraised at $6.00 per acre, value of the standing tim- 

 ber $1,495. The N W % of the N E 14 was appraised at $1.50 per 

 acre, timber worth $1,150, and the N E i^ of the N E i^ appraised at 

 • $2.50 per acre, had a timber value of $1,415, so that on this , quarter 

 section we have forties valued at from $60 to $420, with practically 

 the same timber value. 



Further details of this can be gathered from the itemized report. 



"Another matter which was forcibly brought to our attention while 

 making these investigations, was the fact that certain dealers and 

 speculators are apparently able to at any time obtain any State lands 

 they may desire. We come to this conclusion because we find that 

 certain dealers have sold State lands from days to months before they 

 had acquired a title from the State, and unless they felt sure of their 

 ability to get what they wanted, when they wanted it, it is reasonable 

 to suppose that they would not have ma.de those sales." 



We find that John L. Bolan, of Chicago, purchased of the State 

 Land Office, under date of Aug. 26, 1904, the S W % of the S W % of 

 13-i0-16, at $1.00 per acre. He had already, on Aug. 15, sold the W 1/2 

 of this description to Chas. P. Schmidt at $12.00 per acre. This same 

 man, on Aug. 25, 1904, purchased the S E i^ of the N E 14 of 21-10-15, 



*H. O. Sheldon, now clerk of the Board of Stsite Auditors, having in charge the printing of this re- 

 port, objected to this passage relating to these appraisals made by him, in the absence of mention of 

 other facts which he himself states as follows : 



"You have not mentioned the character of the land, nor how easy it is to drive over it with a team. 



This work was thoroughly done, and the distance from Vogel Centre to McBain is only 8 



miles, not 20." 



