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N Semi-Annual Report of State Treas nrer is Filed With the Governor iv Today. Receipts and Exenditures of the State for the Past Six Months and 'ft Other Figures. Tax Collectious in the County 3 November and December Ag gregate Over $50,000. As for months ago, when there was a cash bal ance of only 842. The cash in the gen eral fund at the first of the year was a little over 88,000 the law requires shall be made to the governor twice a year. It shows that the receipts of the state for the six months from fees of various state offi cers, insurance taxes, interest on public funds, and from sundry minor sources, credited with 819,000 rynrwUs of lands belonging to le school fund. Other counties report nailer amounts. Bonds held by the irmanent school fund were also re ij deemed during the six months to the total of $7,700, and this amount has re verted back to that fund. The perman ent school fund at the close of the last report was $213,000, in round numbers, and although many school bonds have Hfeeirparefiased during: the period, the present report shows the cash in the fund to be a little over 8251,000. Under the provisions of the law this fund can never be decreased, and can only be invested in state and school bonds, thus creating a perpetual fund for the furth 1 ering of the educational interests of the state. The interest on the amount of the fund invested is quarterly appor tioned to the schools of the Btpte, at so U-OMich per capita for the school children reported, ^he fund is increasing each year and the state board of university and school lands are unable to invest it in the kind of securities they desire, and which are provided by law, to as great an extent as they would like. Un der the last law passed with reference to this fund it may be now invested in farm loans and several thousand dollars it have been so invested. And to se cure more school bonds the board has EMBROIDERIES. Mm WHITE GOODS. istf hi gs* X^HB^OIA i- Sf&t -SSI. •w& this sale -::r B8& reduced the rate of interest asked to 4 per cent. During the six months last past the board has purchased $44,250 in school bonds. The state, has also dis bursed to the school districts of the state dariBg the semi-annual period over 8165,000 from the state tuition fund and 891,000 from the interest and income fund, which arises from interest on per manent school funds invested and fines and penalties imposed through the state, which the law provides shall be covered into the school fund. The receipts from the special'wolf bounty fund, for which a tax was pro vided by the last legislature, were not very heavy for the first month after the taxes were due. The several counties in the state report total collections for this fund to January 1 of 8327.33. It is es timated that the total amonnt raised by this special tax will be from 815,000 to The semi-annual report of State Treasurer Nichols has just been filed with the governor, covering the trans actions of the state treasurer's office for the period from cember 31, 1897. balance of a little over 8370,000 in the jin wolf bounty certificates issued by the several funds in the state treasury, as counties in advance of the collection of against a little over 8369,000 six months ,tbe l°°ka as though some of tfeem ago. The general fund of the state is in a little better shape than it was six time yet June 30,1896 to De- 818,000, if it is all collected. As there are The report shows a estimated to be from 820,000 to would not be paid for some time, as the taxes will not be paid in full for some The expenditures of the state for the six months were the usual payments for the salaries of state officers and olerks, The report of the state treasurer is an maintenance of state institutions, mili itemized one, covering all of the receipts tia, printing, maintenance of the capitol, and disbursements of the. office, which transportation of prisoners snd insane persons, the total of which, including all the incidental expenses of state gov ernment, was 8205,000. The only sum paid out of the ordinary expenses of state, was a payment of 8500 for the reward in the case of the murderer have been 823,000. The receipts from August Normand, for whose arrest and taxes during the semi-annual period were 8229,000 for the general fund, 830, 000 for the bond-interest fund, 8145,000 for the state tuition fund and .835,000 from the interest and income fund. The total receipts from all sources for ttief six months were a little over half a million. The magnificence of the school en dowment of the state is shown in the re I I portfor the six months. Aside from the 1 '8145,000 in taxes collected for the state tuition fund, the reports shows receipts of 374,000 from the sale of lands belong-! ing to tbesjermanent school fund. In Traill country alone 822,000 worth of hool lands were sold and the money rned into thw permanent school fund, alsh county conviction a reward of that amount was offered by the governor, and paid to C. W. Thrun, by whom Normand was arrested. The disbursements also in clude, aside from the regular expenses, a sum of 831,000 from the Russian this- tie and French weed fund, refunded to the counties by which it was collected. At the time of the Russian thistle ex citement in the state, commissioners of counties were authorized to levy a tax for the raising of funds to combat the pest. Some of the counties levied a tax an^ others did not, and in the mean time the thistle died out of itself, and there was no use for the funds which have been returned. The balances in the several state funds on the first of the year shows 88, 178.16 in the general fund, 817,781.49 in the bond interest fund, 852,407.63 in the state tuition fund, 8251,229.01 in the permanent school fund, and other small amounts in minor funds. These amounts are divided in various banks through the state. .BTO Vktfu llallt A most beautiful assortment of laces and em broideries. Prices from cent up to 25 cents. Victoria lawn, worth 20 bents, Monday, Indian lawn, worth 18 and 22 cents, choice Nanisook, cheap for 25 cents, this sale Fine hair line Demities and broken checks. Regular price 25c., this sale cambric 36-in. wide, worth 15c,this sale Qg 9-4 sheeting, unbleached, regular price, 18 cents, IS®this sale LIFT''*' 'V •'.* 9-4 sheeting, bleached, regular price, .Great Sacrifice in alL Winter Goods..... 1 jjAsJ tan tray Educate Tour Bowels With Cnscaret*. Candy Cathartic, euro constipation forever. 10c, 35c. If C. C. C. fat', druggists refund money. We know it makes you mad to pay 84.50 for a pair of shoes and then find out that you could have got a pair juBt as good at W. T. Best's for 82.50. Why don't you look around? For Sale. Choice thoronghbred Barred Ply mouth Rock cockerels and pullets, at $1.50 and 82 each. Eggs for hatching 81.50 per setting. W. A. FALCONER. Bismarck, N. D. No-To-Bac tor Fifty Cents. Guaranteed tobacco habit cure, makes weak men strong, blood pure. 60c, (1. All druggist*. 15c 15c 15c 17c 14c 18c 22 cents, BEAT clearing sale all this week in hosiery and underwear, blankets and comforters. W. T. BEST. v* A iiv.' The Supreme Court Affirms the De cision of the Lower Court in Railroad Tax Case. Wells County Wins Its Suit Against the Northern Pacific for De- 5 linquent Tax. Many Thousand Dollars involved by the Decision Handed Down by the Court Monday. Important Decision. The supreme .court today* handed down its decision in the suit of Wells county against the Northern Pacific railroad company, involving the legality of the taxes levied by the county for the years 1887 to 1894, with penalties and interest. The county noticed the sale of the lands of the company under the Wood bill, for the taxes and the company brought suit to restrain the sale. Judge Glaspell decided that the taxes were legal and collectible, and the supreme court affirms his decision, only ordering anew judgment to conform to the rates of penalty and interest laid down in the decision. The case is said to involve about 880,000, and is one of great interest to the county and the company. The syllabus of the decision is ae follows: The decision of this court in Jackson vs. LaMoure county, 1 N. D. 238, and Grandin vs. LaBar, 3 N. D. 446, follow ed on the question of the taxability of idemnity lands of the Northern Pacific Railroad company, before the selection thereof has been approved by the secre tary of the interior. Before that time such lands are not taxable. Place landB are taxable after they have been surveyed in the field al though the plat of survey has not yet been filed in the local land office, the survey-made being thereafter approved as made, and the plat thereof being duly filed in such office. In a proceeding to obtain a tax judg ment under chapter 67 of the laws of 1897, the failure of the county board of equalization to meet at all is not fatal to the tax for the reason that the act gives the taxpayer a full hearing in the very proceeding to enforce the tax as to the fairness of the assessment and the justice of the tax, and confers upon the court the power to reduce the tax if, on such hearing, it appears that the land has been partially, unfairly or unequally So far as matters of form are con cerned that act is a curative law in all cases in which the defects in the tax proceeding have not prejudiced the tax payer. When, however, there is no assess ment or levy, no tax judgment can be rendered. The act does not vest in the courts the power to assess property, or leVy taxes, but merely provides the ma chinery for enforcing and sustaining tax. The taxeB for 1890, having been as sessed by percentages instead of in specific amounts, aB required by the act of 1890 are void, and no tax judgments thereon can be rendered in this proceed ing. (Bartholomew, j, dissenting.) It will not defeat a tax that one of the items of levy of taxeB for general county purposes was stated to be mis cellaneous expenses." A tax lien on real estate, being de clared to be perpetual, no lapse or time will bar a remedy to enforce such lien against the land. It follows that no limitation statute can be invoked as a defense to a proceeding under the law of 1897 to foreclose a tax lien. Certain questions decided relating to penalties and interest on taxes levied prior to the act of 1890, and also on taxes levied subsequently to that act but prior to the' time when the revised codeB took effect. ,, Following the decision of the federal supreme court in McHenry vs. Alford, (decided January 3,1898, are not yet officially reported,) held that the taxes against the land grant of the Northern Pacific railroad company assessed in 1887 and 1888, are illegal, and hence that no tax judgments therefor can be rendered. The opinion in the case is written by Judge Corliss and all of the judges conour except on one proposition where Judge Bartholomew dissents, as noted in the syllabus. The decision in effect affirms the decision of the lower court and the legality of all the taxes except 1890, and npbn the place lands for the years 1887 and 1888 in conformity with a recent decision of the supreme court of the United States. The amount said to be involved is from 850,000 to 860,000, and as Attorney J. E. John son of Fargo, who represented the county, is to get half the amount col lected, the fee for him-will be a healthy one. The court orders anew judgment en tered to conform to the rates of penalty and interest laid down. Of this feature the courr says: We will now take up each year separ ately and determine what penalties and interest were due March 8,1897. Under the law in force in 1887 (section 1610, 1611, Compiled Laws 1887) a penalty of five per cent must be added with inter est from the first Monday of February 1888, at the rate of ten per cent annum and also in addition one psr cent per month to be added on the iirst of each month. The interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum vrill stop on January 1,1896, amount of penalty and interest on taxes for 1889, is 90^ per cent. Under sec tion 66 of Chapter 132 Laws of 1890, penalties on taxes for 1891 are ten per cent. The act of 1833 does not relate to back taxes. It is prospective in its operation. All that could be collected under Chapter 66 of. Revenue law of 1890 is the ten per cent penalty therein named. Under the act of 1893 the total amount of penalties and interests for taxes for 1892 is 51 per cent. Under the same act the total amount of penalty and interest for taxes for 1893 is 39 per cent, and on taxeB for 1894 is 27 per cent. n* to ll For Sale. My household furniture and house and lot on First street. MRS. E. C. CHASE. by the passage of the law allowing the funds to be loaned on farm lands hav ing an appraised value of 87.50 an acre. At the last meeting of the board jnst! "Jie.L!?epu& drawn for about 816,000 in loans making a/)n which will bring the total amount up to AIKNNNN ISJIIO. The members of the board of univer sity and school lands, notwithstanding the statements of too willing critics, are placing farm loans as rapidly as can be done, with a due regard for the kind of securities that are offered. There area good many formalities that have to be gone through with, and some quite ex tensive investigations that have to be conducted before farm loans can be placed. This work is being done as rapidly as possible and in the course of the next few months a good many thous and dollars will be paid out to the farm ers of the state in loans, in addition to what has already been expended. It will be necessary for the board however, to reserve a certain amount of the cash in the permanent fund with which to purchase Bohool bonds. For if the board findB •teuton tnis feature not being found in the Revised Codes. But the interest at one per cent a month payable on the first of each month, continues to the! eighth of March, 1897, the feature of the old law as to this rate of interest having been continued in force by the Revised Codes. Total penalty and interest on taxes for 1887,192 per cent.! Under Chapter 119, Laws of-1889, (the! interest feature of this law being con-' tinued under sections 1238 and 2683. Revised Codes the total amount of penalties apd interest on taxes for 1888 up to March 8. 1897, is 102 per cent. 'Under Chapter 145, Laws of 1890, total. itself without cash to purchase whatever bonds are offered by school districts, the rate of interest will at once be advanced by speculators. At present owiog to the action of the board in reducing the rate of interest, school districts are enabled to secure funds at 4 per cent interest. There is a great interest taken by per sons who have had experience in the busi ness of making land loans in the result of the experiment of the state in placing loans at a low rate of interest on farm lands. It is claimed that private specu lators have been unable to make the scheme pay, and the experience of the state in the matter will be watched with interest. CASTORIA For Infanta and Children. n*fu- liallt A. CORRESPONDENT of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, writing of the relative importance of the several Indian chief tains who participated in the Custer massacre, gives an interesting analysis of the characters of Sitting Bull, Gall, Rain-in-the-Face and Grass, the discus ion being provoked by the recent pro posal to purchase a picture of Sitting Bull and the consequent statement that Bull was not an important factor of the battle of the Little Big Horn. While the writer admits that Sitting Bull was not a warrior such as Gall, and may not have fired a shot in the battle, he as cribes to him that influence over the Indians of the tribe, as a medicine man that wrought them to the necessary pitch for a bloody and desperate battle, and that power of stirring the hearts of the Indians to bloodthirstiness and savagery. It was in this that the vic ious influence ot Sitting Bull is stated to have lain, and the writer of the arti cle expresses the belief that this vicious influence alone made Sitting Bull a prime factor in the massacre. Gall is admitted to have been probably the leader of the Indians on the field of bat tle, and Rain-in-the-Face is described as a cruel and heartless savage, a typi cal warrior, without the elements of leadership possessed by Gall. The character of Gall as painted is the most admirable of any of the Indians, and several interesting little reminiscenees of the chieftain are given, among them several which date from the taking of Gall to the exposition at New Orleans in 1885 by Farmer Wallace.' v£::-'?v CONSISTENCY. According to Washington Advices It Doesn't Seem to Be Exactly In Johnson's Line. He Misrepresents the Facts in Relation to the Bismarck Postoffice to the Postmaster General. It's Claimed He Offered to Accept An "Old Gang" Editor in Place of Mrs. Patterson. WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 26. One of the North Dakota contingent now in the city in speaking of the Bismarck post office matter said: "In a recent interview Congressman Johnson says 'the time has arrived to state the facts in relation to the Bis marck postoffice,' and then goes on to Land Loans Extensive. The question of a place to invest the cash in the permanent school fund of ... the state appears to have been solved 1!! defeated for United States senator certain dispatches bearing upon his candidacy were intercepted at Bismarck and now Mrs. Patterson has appointed the, witIi a total of 840,000 so far expended in to the Bismarck postoffice. Mr. John these loans. There are now in course son urged the president to withdraw the of preparation applications for loans ^eKraph operator who was guilty of divulging private completed, orders were made approving messages. As the deputy in question applications for loans aggregating 822,- was not in Bismarck or the state until 000. There have been already orders a year after Mr. Johnson's tight, all will ?°^?80 ^at nnn .'"i has come to state the facts in relation Dam® ttxe, Mrs. Patterson and subsitute 1submittin8 1 a Jwt of a dozen or fifteen nameB from which to select. The 8150,000, or a little over. In the past,: fact that the name of M. H. Jewell, with the restrictions that have been editor of the BO called gang organ at placed by the law over the loaning ot Bismarck, and who, of course, was not these funds, the cash in the permanent school fund has flowed in faster than it has flowed out. But with such inroads aB are being made by the farm loans, this condition will not prevail in the future to any great extent. There was in the permanent school fund on the first of the year 8250,000 in cash. With the farm loanB applied for and the bonds being purchased, this amount will be materially increased in the course of another six months. a condidate, was iirst on this list is an act the consistency and virtue of which the congressman's constituents in North Dakota among the better element will fail to appreciate." When Congressman Johnson became the champion of the kickers, bolters and mugwumps who make up the controll ing element in the contingent that op posed the appointment of Mrs. Patter son as postmaster of Bismarck, he de liberately insulted the republican organ ization of North Dakota, from national committeeman down the|whole line of intelligent citizens who are responsible for party order and who plan the party campaigns against the common enemy. It was this organization that make it possible for Mr. Johnson to hold a seat in the national house of representatives, for if the republican majority for 1896 had been 3,000 less than it was, John son would have been defeated, as he ran over 2,000 voteB da tntf behind the ticket. Mrs. Patterson was indorsed by the same party organization in Burleigh fcounty that hustled for voces and carried torches for Johnson a little more than a year ago. She was the choice of Bis marck republicans for postmaster as Mr. Johnson was their choice for con gress. And now Mr. Johnson enemies of the party in Bismarck and elsewhere in their attempts to thwart the party will and disrupt the organiza tion to which he owes everything for his past successes. But this is not the only grave mistake that Mr. Johnson has made. When he stated to the postmaster general and later in an iuterview that hereafter, with Mrs. Patterson in the Bismarck post office, mail to and from Bismarck would be sent by express, he deliberately at tacked a public official whose honesty iB not questioned by a single person who knows her. Mrs. Patterson is under oath to perform the duties {of her office according to law and the instructions. She is also under bond to render an ac counting for every cent that comes of ficially into her hands. By intimating that certain mail would hereafter be sent by express, he desired to have it understood that Mrs. Patterson was cap able of the illegal act of opening letters. This is a serious accusation to make against an official whose integrity stands unimpeached before the world and it was no less an aspersion upon the presi dent and his postmaster general who made the appointment and| upon the senate that confirmed it. It would be a charitable construction to put upon Mr. Johnson's loose talk to say that Col. Plummer's "wild ass of the prairies" is still at large, if it were not for the serious fact that Mr. Johnson is our representative in congress and our people are entitled to think of him aB the last person to defame a lady—an in nocent and upright resident of his own state. When he stoops to thiB spring comes. level of coarse criticism, perhaps we should par don his repudiation of his party's organ ization on the common ground that some people haven't the mental and moral faculty to enable them to be decent. THERR is much apprehenion at Grand Forks over the failure of the commis sioners of Polk county, Minnesota, to appropriate money to build the ap proach to the bridge across the river be tween East Grand Forks and Grand Forks proper. The approach to the bridge was destroyed by fire recently, and there has been much agitation of the matter of rebuilding it. Of course Grand Forks does not feel the depriva tion so greatly now, as the bibulously inclined ct»n make pilgrimages to the oases on the east Bide across the ice. But when summer comes again, if the bridge be not built, then there is certain to be great drought in the Tegion of the Win shipian city, and thousands of dusty throats will cry unavailingly 'for a means to get across the river and there will be no means. We truBt this mat ter may be satisfactorily settled before WOOL Our New Factory Pan Woolen Yams, Flannels iP Blankets Send your wool to us for Custom Work or E* Change. The best wool market in the North west. Our 1896 yea* oook with samples, price Hit and shipping instructions free to any address 6RAHD FORKS WOOLEN MILLS GRAND FORKS, N. D. Seventeen Years in Over 300,000 Cures Is the record of the Keeley Treatment for liquor and all drug addictions. To be had In Nort Dakota only at wo untk IU $ xiui 1 uuij av The Keeley Institute, Fargo. Write for literature or any Information ^desired. KEELEY INSTITUTE, Fargo, N. D. F. C. CORSETS MAKE American Beauties CORRECT SHAPES. ARTISTIC EFFECTS. All Lengths. On Each Box. joinB the NEWEST MODELS. FANCY PLAIN. KALAMAZOO SOLE MANUFACTURERS. SOLD BY W. T. BEST, Bismarck. OUR ^ARRANT Money refunded after four weeks' trial if not satisfactory. Reminder of Olden Times. St. Paul Globe: J. E. Kramiss, a former resident of the Dakotas during the territorial days, was in the city yes day. Mr. Kramiss is at present in the stock business in Iowa, having interests at a number of points on the Chicago Great Western railway. He snid yes terday:" Oh, yes, we used to have lively times out in the Dakotas in an early day. Between the hot political cam paigns and the Indians we were kept on the qui vive most of the time. I will never forget the contest over the selec tion of a site for the territorial capital. It was along in the '80,s, and the legisla ture had provided for a commission to select the site. The law read that the commission should organize in Yank ton, which was at the time the capital. It was no secret that the commission were in favor of removing the capital, and the people of Yankton knew it. The commission went down to Sioux City, and after a few days' stay, secured a special train and went back through Yankton, passing through the city at about forty miles an hour. While pass ing through the city the commission or ganized and thus complied with the law. Nearly every man in Yankton was a deputy sheriff, and United States Mar shall Dan Maratta, with the citizens, tried to stop the train, but could do nothing as the switches had been spiked and the traiu pussed through Yankton and came to St. Paul, where the com mission drew up the papers removing the capital to Bismarck. I tell you those were hot times. The:e came near being an insurrection among the few people then in the territory. But things are different out there now, and the 4 state is now covered with a network of •, railroads, and 'Injuns' are scarce." Mri1* "N kT4 1