Oroville daily Butte record., 1857-08-12
Judge Lewis "Thieyinr Bl,Is :,

w h"Fe hertoiore referred to certain bills
originated by our INSCRIPTIONS but exces.
s~e'y ambitious County Judge. Indeed, SO
very ambitious is this individual 10 serve
the public, that he seems determined to fill
the olnce of County Judge and District
Judge, at one and the same time. These
oilis, are matters of Legislative record, and
particularly interesting to the tax x-payers
and citizens of Butte County, and hence we
propose to refer to them occasionally during
the ensuing three or four weeks.
The first "thevng bilI' OF any magnitude
originated by Judge Lewis, and levied
against the Treasury of Butte county, was
the one pressed upon the attention of the
Legislature of 1856. authorizing the Board
of Supervisors Of this county to purchase
the Bidwell Bridge at sum not exceeding
fJty thousand dollars! This was sometime
before the Judge had completed the Bridge,
il, indeed, it had been commenced at all. A
correspondent of an Orovile paper, ascer-
tained that there was such bill before the
Legislature, and by publishing the fact, in.
terposed to prevent Judge Lewis from OBJ
tanning the Legislative privilege to plumber
the county to the amount of fifty thousand
dOiiarsi
The other bill, appropriating forty thou
sand dollars from the TREASURES of Bate
and Plumas counties for the purpose of
building wagon road to and from Judge
Lewis toll bridge, is now before the people
for their adoption or rejection. 1t was not
submitted to the people, however, with The
consent Of Judge Lewis Besides the evi.
dence of our Members of Assembly, we have
that of other prominent citizens of the
county, to show that Lewis was strenuous iu
his opposition to submitting the bill to
vote of the people. He refused to let the
bill give the Supervisors the privilege of To-
eating the road-it had to be constructed to
such points as he designated. A gentleman
from this county suggested that the bill
should leave it discretionary with the Super
visors to issue the bonds for that purpose, if
they should deem it expedieut-and Lewis
declared the word "may" to be unconstitu-
tional, and the provision was retained re-
quiring that the Supervisors "shalr' issue
bonds" sc. The bill provides ostensibly
for the construction of a road to Honey Lake
Doubtless n wagon road could be made to
the American Valley, but beyond that point
Ii is impracticable. Lewis did not wait for
an examination to be made. lie knew if he
could get the bill through, the money would
be drawn from the tax payers, spent for the
improvement of his property, and at the
same time afford an opportunity for himself
and friends to speculate in county bonds
Is it not 'thieving bill," and was it not
designed as such
Tie ninety thousand dollars demanded
by Judge Lewis, in these two legislative
''plundering bills" was rather too hefty for
the Democracy 1t was in opposition to a
resolution contained in the Democratic plat
form adopted at the last State Convention,
and the Democracy could not nominate him.
He has however managed to shove his way
into the field, and ''from illegal and ex-
trayagant bills that extend their flchng
hand deep into the public crib-the appeal
is now made to the Democratic masses-the
people-in their unterried capacity, a sew
ereign whose verdict is unalterable, and
whose sober judgment is the embodiment of
wisdom itself"