New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-03-04

r A. Certainly.
Cross-exsmined by the managers:
| Q. How long have you been in the Audit
A. From June. 1869. 3
@. From June till when!
A. Until January 81. think; do not re-
Q. January, 1870?
| Q.Mere you one of the regular clerks in
! the office?
A. think so.
Q. How did you receive your pay
A. In warrants, sir.
@. How much month?
A. $3.50.
Q. In warrants?
Q. What was your business in the office?
A. First, the same as every clerk; had to
make warrants.
Q. A good many clerks we're engaged in
| making warrants?
A. Certainly, sir.
Q. That was the principal business car
A. Well, making warrants and keeping
books.
@. Do you make warrants out Of books?
A. do not understand what you mean.
Q. Did you make warrants?
A. Certainly.
q. What Is W8rrantI
A. It isl do not know. If understand
it correctly, think it is an order on the
Treasurer to pay debt of the State.
@. An order by whom?
A. By the Auditor of Public Accounts.
@. Do you give these orders!
A. If gave these warrants myself
Q. You say warrant is an order Of the
Auditor on the State Treasurer?
A. think so.
Q. Did you make these, or did the
Auditor!
A. Certainly, issued-I wrote the war.
rants. but did not sign them.
Q. You did not sign them?
@. Then you did not make thems
A. Sometimes.
Q. la it warrant until the Auditor
signs it?
Q. You were simply a clerk to fill up the
warrants?
A. Yes.
Q. And prepare them for the signature Of
the Auditor?
| A. Certainly.
Q. But they were not valid warrants I'M
til you had presented them to the Auditor
and obtained his signature?
| A. do not think so.
| O. After all, the Auditor is the responsible
party for the character and the amount OF
the variants he not?
| A. think so; do not know.
(Mr. Semmes, of counsel: OF course he
ISL
Q. You testified that you had made war
rants; wish to give you an opportunity to
correct that testimony.
| A. Well; I am not very well acquainted
with the English language?
Q When you had charge of this particu-
lar department, did you draw warrants
| for pensions for veterans Of 1914 and 1915?
A. Yes.
Q. How many such did you probably is.
A. can not exactly remember.
Q. Was it many?
A. AS many as veterans came in the
Office.
Q. How many probably did you issue in
the course of your services in the Office?
A. About 600, sir.
@. Did they come there themselves, these
old and feeble veterans?
A. Not every one.
@. Who presented them?
A. Their attorneys.
Q. Who were some of these attorneys?
A. do not remember, sir.
Q. Can you not mention one?
A. can find plenty.
Q. Name one or two, them
A. do not remember exactly, but, I can
find plenty.
Q. Are you familiar with the pension law,
under which these pensions were issuedy
A. think SO, sir.
@. Did you carefully compare the vouchers
| in each case with the law2
A. Not in the beginning, because did not
know anything about it IN the beginning.
| @, In the beginning you did not make
| this minute examination?
A. No, l was new in the office.
Q. So. at that time you probably filled up
| good many warrants, without knowing
| whether the applicants had complied with
the requirements of the law?
A. do not know.
Q. That may have been the case, and then
you submitted these warrants for the sigma.
ture of the Auditor?
A. Well, you go very fast-I think, too
fast for me.
Q. Did he, or not sign the warrants2
A. vas simply clerk, and l did what
the chief clerk told me.
@. And you had nothing to do, except to
follow the directions of the chief clerk?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who was the chief clerk.
A. Mr.. Lagroue.
Q. When you filed up these warrants did
you submit them to Mr.. Lagroue, or to the
Auditor?
A. Yes, or to one of the clerks; Mr..
Llorens, who mad charge of this depart
ment.
Q Then you did not carry the warrants
| to the Auditor?
"A. Sometimes did, and sometimes to the
chief clerk.
Q. Generally you carried them to the
| chief clerk?
A. Yes.
Q. Then he did not always ask you as to
w hot not the vouchpra Wpra correct
or did he ask you invariably?
A. Very often he did, and he told me gen.
orally not to issue warrants, unless the
vouchers were according to the law.
@. When the warrants we're submitted to
the Auditor, were not the vouchers also
submitted?
A. Yes.
Q. And he could see for himself whether
the law had been complied with or not?
A. Ifthe Auditor of Public Accounts had
to read all these documents, he could do
nothing else.
Q. am not asking you that ask
whether the Auditor could not for himself
see whether the vouchers had been drawn
in conformity with the provisions of the
law, or not?
A. Repeat that question, if you please.
@. When a warrant was filled up and pre-.
sented to the Auditor, with each blank war
rant, there would be presented at the same
time a voucher, upon which the warrant
| was drawn?
A. Yes, sir.
@. Then the vouchers showed for them
selves whether they were drawn in conform.
ity with the law or not?
A. think 80.
Mr.. Manager McMillen: Well. these vouch-
ers are before the court, and the court can
judge whether they are drawn in conformity