The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-24


do we then find II In the year 1857 the
court levied the sum Of Oil ,693.s5 - .
depositum to meet the contingent and nm
ascsrtsined expenses Of the county and
that they placed that snug little sum In the
hands Of hr. John A. Hutchison, who was
then sheriff, for safe keeping until II should
be called for by the court to meet the
contingent expenses Of the county. II
such an act was illegal and unsurpation
OF power on the part Of the court, why
did not Mr.. Hutchison protest against II !
Why did he not sound the tocsin Of alarm
and let the people know what the court
was doing? Why did he not petition for
supersedeas and take the matter mp before
the Judgef Why did he receive and hold
that large sum for the court If it was levied
by power illegal and usurped
But this is not all. If you will add the
difference between the currency OF 1857
and the present currency you will find that
that gentleman held In his hands for that
year the sum of l5,591 80 over and above
the amount levied for specific purposes,
which is just about the amount which he
so loudly complains of. ] will not stop
here. find that the court levied depo-
situm in 1858 of s9, ,622.22; in 1859, q, $780,
90: in 1860, $9,419.91-all of which sums
were placed in the hands Of Mr.. Hutchison
as depositum to meet the contingent and
unspecified expenses Of the county. If you
will add up the whole amount delivered to
and held by him during the four years
which he so faithfully served the county az
its sheriff for objects not specified in the
levies made during his term Of office, You
will find that II makes the sum Of $39, ,096.22,
nearly 100000 year in good currency
but II you will add on to the amount OF
$39, ,096.22 the difference between the cur
rency then In circulation and the present
currency you will find that the sum held
by him for objects not specified in the levics
during the four years he served as sheriff
to be S52, ,l2S 20, which sum divided by four
will make the sum held by him each year
s13,O32.07 during which time there was nc
courthouse to rebuild no poor-house to
erect; no bridges to rebuild; and no pau
pers from the Freedmen's Bureau to pro.
vide for out of those depositums.
Twill not stop with the famous year Of
1857, in which the court levied d&positun
of Gil, ,693.22 in currency equal to gold
which when compared with the present
currency makes the amount, as / before
stated, Of S15,591 .S0-and, by the way, !
find that my friends Jacob S. Atlee and
Thomas Nuckols were justices of the peace
at that time, and assisted in laying the levy
for the amount, as above stated. now find
their names on the petition asking for the
supersedeas, and in their petition decla.
ring that such thing was never done be.
fore.
now commence with the year 1852, the
first year in which the court organized
under the new Constitution; and from that
time down to year 1862, making in all ter
years, l find that the whole amount levied
to meet the unspecifed expenses Of the
county was Gill, ,696.34. Now, if you will
add the difference in the currency in cir
culation during those ten years and the
present currency you will find that 1t runs
up to the sum of $l4S, ,92S.45; then divide
this sum by ten, and you will find that the
sum held as depositum over and above
the ascertained and the specified sub
jects levied for to be Sl4,892.34 fol
each of the ten years mentioned. Ye
these petitioners state in their pc
tition that "such thing has not taksI
place since the formation Of the county.
Furthermore, during all these lont
years the sheriff, clerk, and attorne!
received from the court much larger sums
when the difference in the currency il
taken into consideration, than the sum!
which the petitioners complain of as illegal
In looking over the allowances, that made
to Mr.. Hutchison for his ex-officio service!
for the last two years of his term as sheriff
was $500 in good m0ney-equal when VIZ
consider the difference in the currency u
S45O-and ut the same time he was receiv
ing commissions on double the amount o
revenue now received by the sheriff; that
too, when he had an office furnished hin
for himself and jailor, and a room o.
kitchen for his cook, free of charge where
rs the present sheriff has to furnish hi
own office and kitchen for his cook Il
cook for the inmates Of the Jail ont Of tht
$500 allowed him by the court. The ques
tion naturally arises, "If this appropra
tion to the sheriff is illegal now, why wa
it not illegal whilst Mr.. Hutchison wa
sheriff." But / have clearly proved tha
if was illegal during the time Mr.. Hutchi
son was sheriff, it was not illegal at TIT
time that the court made the last allow
ance, because the act Of Assembly alread.
cited by me settles that point beyond con
troversy.
come now to o more pleasant part Q
the task have undertaken, and that is 4
explain to the taxpayers Of Henric
county the objects for which the levy s.
much complained of was made. Although
you may not find every object or item spe
Gifted on the face Of the levy itself, man!
of them had been made the subjects Of re
cord at previous terms Of the court; ant
although this may not come up to the stric
technicalities Of the law, as insisted Oh b.
the petitioners, yet it goes far to show tha
the court was not actuated by sreckles
disregard Of all the sacred rights Of tn
Taxpayers Of the county, and that we di'
not levy the sum Of $4,000 over and abov
the ascertained expenses Of the county, +
be held as depositum for remote contin
gencies, but to meet pressing and presen
emergencies /; and the reasons why they d
not appear on the face Of the levy are
First, because it has never been the prac
tice of the court since the formation Of tn
county to be as specific about these mat
ters as those gentlemen contend for.
In the second place,it was not in on
power at that time TO specify the amoun
necessary for each particular object; W
had to make an aggregate estimate Of q
the expenses for which We had substantia
reasons to believe 1t would be requisite :
provide for. After having thus made th
estimate, we laid the levy, and In doing .
we felt some veneration for old time-ho
nored customs, rules, and practices; an
| ss wa now look In the sires of 1884 we fee