Mountain Democrat., 1857-11-07

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Auditors Ollicc, II Dorado County, California.
C"l"na, 10th January, 10.
Treasurer of Eld"iado County will rlrd>c
nav 10 {. y. Nutcwarc or hcarcr-Auditor 5
81, ices Twtntv-hrcr hundred and twenty
seven -" D"ilarS, out Ot Tie General Fund.
c. y. NOTEWARE,
Auditor of FL Dorado CuutN.
"That afterwards, ON the - da' "t -
one Miles Jrwrtt became the purchaser. holder
and nw iirr uf said warrants. for IL valuable CON
sidrraiiuu and without notice nt the nature Of
tie >rf,i ices for which it WAS issued, "r the r.r
cuin>iinr,S under which the same was issued
further than is impaired by the records ut the
Board and the face of the warrant.
"hwrtt now seeks to intervene, and insists
that the warrant il Il legal charge against thc
county: and allow tire ntrrl ,mtl"n upon ihc
20 ground that the attorneys for Hhf'.'S and In.
f,rr.n"r are anxious tO settle the whole CON
iru,crsy IN this proceeding and are not dc>-
rnls Of raising the question as To whether the
Intervention can be allowed in such It case.
THE first question ! will examine is who
thcr tie services claimed To have been render
r,l hI the Auditor, aud for which the warrant
was drawn, are n legal charge against The
county. Unless they were, the Board had no
authority To- authorize its issuance or I" allow
she clailn for their jurisdiction in this respect
is limited tn the allowance of such accounts
u,ly aS are Ic.sW rIdry.f against the county
See section ., y. 80, Statutes "f ! so. TIN"
County Auditor accepts his Office at The hands
ut the people without any contract with the
government, express or implied, that he is to
receive anv compensation for his Scrvic other
than such fees as the latter in its wisdom may
think proper to allow. When lie accepts the
office, if the law then or afterwards requires
him To perform services for which no cOmptn-
sAtion is allowed, it becomes his duty to do so
as long as he holds the office; and il he can
not afford it, he can soon remedy the difficulty
and get rid If the burden by rcSigning. But
he cannot insist upon an implied contract that
hc shall bc paid rs much as his services are
worth. bat the statute puts this question to
rest il there was ever any doubt ABOUT it,
Section IL. Act 1858. \. 81, declares that the
County Auditor shall receive the following fcCe,
VIZ For making duplicate Of taxes OF copies
thereof required, per fUli", thirty ccntA For
filing Treasurer's receipt and issuing license,
10 BE- paid by the party, fifty cents The iSt
section of the act declares: That no other fees
thull be charged than those specially set forth
herein, nor shall any fees be charged for any
other services than those mentioned in this
Act by section SO Of the same Act il amy
officer shall take more Or other fees than are
herein allowed he is liable u fine and impris.
onmcnt. Section ~ declares that--'Otccrs
whose fees are set forth in this Act shall not be
entitled to charge or receive any other fees not
herein enumerated, unless specially provided
by law
k"TheSc sections were intended to prevent
officers from charging what were known as
Constructive Fees, and to correct practice
that had grown into an intolcrabc evil. This
consideration taken in connection with the
manifest import of the sections, and the fact
that officers Of this kind are compensated alone
in the way Of fees, make it too apparent To re-
Iuire argument tO show that services rendered
by the Auditor in issuing county warrants are
not legal charge against the County, and
that the DOar,l exceeded its jurisdiction in ma
king the allowance.
!" This being so, il is equally clear, in my
Judgment, that the County cannot be made la
blc because the warrant has gone into the
hands of IL third person or an innocent purcha-
ser, as the Mterr'h"r styles himself. The
claim never had legal eXistcnce-ncvcr was Il
charge against the COuntv-and cannot be
made so by an understandable exercise of ju-
rlsdcton ON the part of the Board, or by its
transfer by the holder to the interrtR0r. The
latter took It with all these risks, and occu-
pies no better position than if he had dealt in
paper issued by an ordinary agent who had
iranscended his authority. Any other doc
trlnc would place the County completely at the
mercy of the Board. All they would have 10
do would be TO audit claim, however unfoun-
ded ana Tor any amount, cause q warrant to be
issued payable TO bearer, who transfers to q
Third person without notice, and the operation
Is complete and the County irrevOcably bound.
TTsuch doctrine, l can never give my con-
sent.
1.-THE view have taken of the case, renders
it unnecessary for me to comment upon the
manner in which the allowance was made. 1t
is, to say the least, very questionable whether
the Board had the power to delegate to the
claimant, rs was done in this, the prcrogativc
Of computing for himself the amount of his
claim and, without even report to the Board,
to draw warrant upon the Treasurer for the
amount, in his own favor. Such proceedings,
if not absolutely void, are exceedingly danger
GUS and ought not to be encouraged. As was
remarked i'll the argument of this cause On II
former occasion, it was fortunate for the coun-
~, in the event of the action of the Board be-
ing sustained, that the Auditor was an honest
man.
For the above reasons, am Of the opinion
that the Board, in the allowance Of said claim,
exceeded its jurisdiction and that the order OF
allowance, or resolution, is illegal and vOid-
that the warrant issued by tho Auditor is, also,
illegal and void and ought not to be enforced
against the County or paid by the Treasurer ;
and that the said Reed and his successors in
Office should be pcrpetually enjoined from pay
ing said warrant or any part thereof; and that
the said Miles Jewett should be required to sur.
render said warrant to be cancelled; that the
Board Of Supervisors should be required to set
aside said order of allowance or resolution. and
mat the ReLdtOIS recover of the Defendants
thelr costs and charges herein expended, and
uIe ClerE will enter Judgment and decree ac-
cOrdngly. j. N. HOWELL,
District Judge.
,h rWn examination Of the recorded proceedings oI