Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-01-26
AN IRRITATED TAXPAYER.
Msjesterial Conduct and Profes-
sions.

EpIToRs PUBLIC LEDGER: / have
never been an admirer of Judge Leon
ard, but, as a taxpayer, and, to my re-
greet, creditor of Shelby county to a
small amount, l desire to protest against
the conduct of number of the County
Court. They reject every account,
however just, if it comes from Memphis,
and vote for everything that purports to
come from Raleigh or Germantown.
Representing one-seventh of the wealth
and population of the county, these
'Squires control Observation-Disclosures of
the power of the County Court They
each pocket their ten dollars a day,
voted illegally by themselves to them
selves-altogether three hundred dollars
a day and instead of attending to pub
lie business, they spend nearly all their
time in lowering and in badgerinE the
Judge. l ask every person who has
been in the County Court, and especis.l lily
every person who has any claim against
the county, if all this is not strictly tfu e.
i was grati6ed when recently in open
court Squire Walker said; II can say,
sir, if you refer to me, that l never drew
q cent from the county treasury for my
services or otherwise, and l can prove
it. No, sir, l don't belong to that class
yet" Brave words Noble words I'm
maculate Walker His assertion that
he could prove a universal negation was
rather too much for me to credit, but l
was absolutely astourded when | subse-
quently accidentally ascertained that on
September Is, 1866, Squire Walker did
draw a warrant for Sll7 rs for attend
ance at County Court, and on November
IL, 1866, another warrant for $l29 SO for
thirteen" days attendance at County
Court In the words oil the prophet
Artemus, "Why is this thusly2 Why is
there so much of this thusness 2
Does the Squire forget Is memory fail
ing as ambition to be again County
Judge grows strong2 Can Squire
Walker prove that he never drew
"cent from the county treasury
Never mind aboutth cent, but did he
draw the warrants for ten dollars day Z
All, Walker, Walker, Squire Walker, l
begin to fear that your noble words, that
seemed to gush from fountain of indig-
nant virtue, were buncombe," artful
lodges, and nothing more If such
things are done in the green tree, what
may we expect in the dry2 If Walker,
who votes against paying even for soap
for Jail prisoners, and against paying q
deputy sheriff dollar and half day,
and against paying hundreds of other
inst and long due claims on the county,
can thus pocket his warrants and pub
licly assert that he never got them, never,
never got cent, what may we not ex-
pect from other less squirillos, who
vote themselves ten dollars a
dsv. and earn it by doing nothing, and
worse2 Won't they all, AL assert that
they can prove that they never drew a
cent from the county treasury 1t we
can't trust Walker, who can we trust 2
When our favorite old hound gets far
from the track in a coon hunt, can we
expect the whelps that follow him to be
rieht2 Alas, alas, ours are evil times.
Those 'Squires are the men upon whom
we relied to expose the offenses OF Judge
Leonard. Now we fear that their hub
hub about him was raised to hide some
vet undeveloped illustration OF their
never yet taking a cent from the county
treasury themselves.
Maybe Judge Leonard is bad fellow,
hut these ten-dollar-a-day chaps have not
vet developed the enOrmities they prom
ised to bring to light
The ten dollar 'Squircs we're 70 develop
some awful corruption in the new jail
business, bat it nov comes out that
Judge Leonard was only unwilling 70