New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-03-02

| A.
Q. Or for Withholding money?
@. Or as Tax Collector?
: A. No, sir.
Q. You are State Tax Collector?
t A. No. sir.
, Q. As Sheriff are you not Tax Collector
A. No, sir.
= Q. The law was changed in 1869, takin
that away from the Sheritfs; but were 20
not Tax Collector prior to 1863.
A. Yes.
Q. Then you were Tax Collector-hav
you settled your accounts with the State?
r A.. No.
, Q. Then you are defaulter to the State
A. No, sir; could not make settlement
@. Is not your account behindhand?
. A. could not make settlement, tn
: Auditor would not.
Q. What Auditor?
, A. Mr.. Wickliffe.
Q. Why would be not?
A. He wanted the delinquent list and tn
collections.
@. Then, as the matter now stands, 20,
| have not settled, and you stand as de-
faulter on the books of the Auditors office
A. am ready to settle at any time.
Y. Is not a process UeT'6dl in the hands o
the District Attorney, in your parish, agains
you?
A. I think so.
The testimony of this witness was closed
and he was excused from further attendant.
| by consent of counsel.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN 8. WALTON.
John s. Walton, witness for the prose
cution, was called, and duly sworn by thu
Secretary.
Examination in chief by Manager Lowell
Question. State your name and residence
Answer. John S. Walton, and l reside a
No. 527 Chartres street
Q. Are you q member of the Board O.
Health?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Have you ever had any transactions
with the Auditor, in the settlement of an
appropriation made to the board
A. went to see him once, about getting
a warrant changed from large9into smaller
ones, and had an interview with him.
O. State what the conversation was.
A. Az near as remember, called on him
and stated to him that there was consid-
cradle difficulty about selling snch large
warrant, and that it was almost impossible.
| and asked him if he could not give me
smaller ones, and he declined doing co..
| tried to persuade him to do so, representing
that it was tor the interest of the State, and
that the warrants were to be used for the pur-
poses of the Board of Health. He expressed
great deal of indifference, and refused to
| do it, and our negotiation amounted to
nothing.
Q. Was there ever any other negotiation
with him?
A. was not personally concerned in any.
l had no other interview with him. Other
matters came before the board, which only
knew at second hand.
Q. Do you know of any one having made
any representation to the Board of Health?
A. 1t was reported to the board that q
Counsel for respondent objects to hearsay
evidence.
Witness: / know nothing of my own
knowledge. We tried great many ways to
get the warrant changed.
@. What was the amount of the warrant?
A. Twenty thousand dollars.
Q. What kind of warrants did you ask
the Auditor to give?
A. To give smaller warrants, SO as to be
able to dispose of them in the market. His
objection was, principally, to the trouble Of
making them.
@. What kind of warrants did he propose
to give?
A. He declined, when saw him, to give
any at all. When 1 urged him to consider
the interest of the State, and to try to
relieve US, he said if the State would not
make her money good, let her suffer for it,
He spoke in very con.emptuous terms about
the State credit and | could not do any,
thing with him. We had considerable negoti-
atoms in the board about the matter, and
proposition was made to US to pay a consld-
Grafton to have the warrant cut up, and as
member of the board, | refused to lend
myself to anything of the kind or vote that
the board should do so.
Q. Who made the proposition
A. do not know the person who made it,
but it was conveyed to the board in such
shape that we deliberated about it. l can
only surmise who made it; know pretty
well who it was, but not well enough to
state it under oath. We finally got the
warrants cut up into five thousand dollar
warrants without paying anything for it.
Question by counsel for respondent:
1t was cut uD, then, in five thousand
dollar warrants?
A. But it did not relieve us much.
TESTIMONY OF DR.. W. e. HIRE.
W. 81. Hire, a witness tor the prosecution,
was called and duly sworn by the Secretary.
Q. State your full name.
A. William Henry Hire.
Q. Where do live?
A. At the Marine Hospital-that is a por-
ton of the Charity Hospital.
Q. What position do you hold therein the
Charity Hospital?
A. Secretary and treasurer.
Q. Did you have any official transaction
with Mr.. Wickliffe as Auditor?
A. The Legislature gave $4,000 for that
iusIltutiou, anu IL was my QuCy as an O1ncer
to receive that money.
Q. State what transaction you had, in re-
gard to the issuance of warrants, with the |
Auditor.
A. When I first went there, I went with !
an order for the amount. He gave me. in |
the first instance, $4,000, cut up into $500 |
When went there the second |
time, he said that he could not give nae less |
than $10,0 warrants, unless | gave him |
nQnf T fol him. hot r
could not do that, as l was only Secretary |
and Treasurer of the board. communi. |
Gated with some members of the board, and |
they were indignant at the offer. after
wards took a $4,000 warrant, and then took |
6l0, 900 warrants. Afterwards, / found q
great deal of difficulty in getting rid of a
S1O. 900 warrant, and / tried to do all I
)nes, and he said he would do it for three
per cent, and gave him $780, and he e4-
changed, and gave me small warrants for
he SIC, 900 warrants.
Q. Was this $500 paid in warrants or in
money?
A. In treasury notes. Subsequently, when
found SO much difficulty in getting any
Meeting with Mr.. Mushaway. I arranged
With him, in the presence of Mr.. Wilson, to
i've him $500 to procure for me smaller
instead of $4,000 warrant.
which the Auditor was to have given nae.
@. Was this $500 in money?
A. Yes; gave check on the Merchants
Sank.
Q. That was another transaction?
A. Yes.
Q. Who is Mr.. Mushaway?
A. believe him to be connected with the
auditors Office.
Q. When was this transaction?
A. 1t was somewhere between the nine
zenith and twenty-fourth OF June.
Q. That was the first transaction
A. The first.
@. When was the second2