New Orleans daily crescent., 1857-08-17

to large amount S955), WHICH, WIN auu,.ea e.
expenditures that were in contemplation and after.
wards made swelled the entire sum to $l05 29l add
to this the expenses of the department and 1t makes
a total Of $1l0 600.
Of 1856 voted the further sum OF $3a0 900 to pay OIL
the contractors and employees and to complete the
work of leveeing Cat Island! The aggregate expen
dture on this work Of folly and Democratic profiga
nv il $I42OO0! And all this to reclaim $l5, ,404
acres Of swamp and overHowed land which the State
sold to rich SPECTATORS at 81 Is per acre. and realized
the sum of l9255-all told!
S. Among the many items of extrayagant and use
less expenditure Of the public mones under Demo-
cratic rule is that of book-making The Democratic
Legislature of ls4s passed law providing for the
revision of the Statutes and Codes. This law pro,
vded for the appointment of three persons, learned
in the law to consolidate and revise the statutes ana
Codes and appropriated for salaries to be paid
from the treasury by nstaments as the work OF re-
| vising progressed to completion.
report was made by the revisors, to the Legisa-
ture of 1850, that they had gone through the WORK
assigned them, and exhibited as the result of their
labors small volume comprising the Statutes OF
general nature etc. and that they had expended for
printing copying clerk hire, stationery, etc. 6so.
They ask to be reimbursed, and for more money:
/ The Legislature authorized them to print cheap
edition of 15O0 copies of the volume they had com.
piled, and to draw for the unexpended balance OF
$l2 900, the original appropriation The whole sum
has been paid to them and all expenses reimbursed;
The cheap edition of the Revised Statutes printed
by the State Printer, and the cost went into the
general account against the State. The work proved
failure After costing the State about $50 900 for
salaries, expenses and printing the work was aban
doned as worthless, and $500 copies OF the cheap
edition (Which proved very dear to the State) were
given away or remain in1he State Library, food for
worms!
The Legislature of 1852, in footing the bill of the
public printer, had to appropriate $4,000 for print
ing and advertising. large item in this bill was
for printing and binding the Revised Statutes"
The Legislature Of 1853, being the first under the
new Constitution, and thoroughly Democratic, the
Ipube printing account sweled to the enormous sum
Of $4,000.
But this is not all. This same Democratic Legisla-
ture Of 1858 passed another law to provide for re-
vision of the statutes of general character. The
law provides that joint committee be appointed,
composed of two members of the Senate and three
from the House, to be appointed by the Speaker OF
each House, to sit in the recess OF the Legislature.
This committee authorized to appoint suitable
person. who under their supervision, was 70 revise
the statutes of general character The result OF
this State commission is the Revised Statutes OF 1856!
4 The Legislature of 1855 enacted law fixing the
compensation of u B. Phillips, Esq., for revising, ar
ranging and making an index to the statutes In OF
general character, at the sum Of $l5,O00! Ihls law
provided that an edition Of not less than ten Thousand
copies be printed and bound at the public expense.
During the same session $4,000 was appropriated
for printing advertising and paying the State printer
for printing the Revised Statutes The entire cost to
the State, for remunerating the committee, paying
expenses compensating the revsor Gu. B. Phillips,
ESQ., of the General Statutes, and footing up the
public printers and book-binders bills, &C., is not
not less than s5o,OOot This work, like its prede-
cessor, is signal failure 1t is not enacted by the
Legislature adopted code of laws and has not
the authority of law 1t is not cited as law in the
Supreme Court. The most that can be made of it is
to serve as an index to hunt up the law!
This precious book, multiplied to the enormous
quantity Of 10000 compactly printed volumes, is
piled up in the State Library, to be sold at SO PEI
volume! But will it sell? 1t is Of no use to the
lawyers COURTS judges or justices, except as an index
to search for the law that is unrepealed or not an
nulled for being unconstitutional!
This is another signal instance of the eXtravagan
expenditure of the peoples money, to the tune Of
! 900 dead loss to the State.
AN AMERICAN
| Member of the Leg gislature.