The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1870-02-19
Can suon Things Be2


The pleadings and evidence in
a case before the Fourth District
Court yesterday, form a fit ap-
pendix tothe long array of charges
which high state and municipal
9th Gals are pelting each other
with, of venality and general
moral turpitude. It was the case
OF the administrator of H. d.
Stone, mp to the time of his death
attorney of r. b. Norton, the as
signee of bankruptcy at the Uni.
ted States District Court, Judge
b.. H. Duren presiding.
The administrator sues Casten-
dyk for three hundred and eighty
odd dollars. amount of two prom
lsory notes which Castendyk had
made in favor of H. d. Stone.
lCastendyk, in his answer, denies
any valid or legal consideration
furnished by H. ID. Stone, and
pleads that the latter demanded
the notes as the price of q dis
charge in the Bankruptcy Court
of the United States sitting in this
city; a price which Stone, as the
attorney of E. e. Norton, assigned,
had no right in law or morals to
demand, Stone being forbidden
by law to represent the assignee
.. and the bankrupt at one and the
same time, or to charge all the
parties for services rendered the
assignee; and that Stones remu-
neration was by law a charge ON
the bankrupt's estate, He fur
ther states that Stone, before the
schedules were fled, guaranteed
him his discharge and afterwards
levied on him the notes above
mentioned as a, contribution, in
violation Of the provisions of the
bankrupt law which entitled him,
Castendyk, to a discharge Of right,
on a compliance with the requi-
sites Of that law. Ss Es5.5E , So
.Castendyk was put On the wit
ness stand and swore to the truth
of these allegations. :" T.. e. Nc
Cay, Esq. attorney and counsel
lor at law, was then sworn, who
testified that he had put twenty
or thirty .bankrupts through the
United States Court, the .aggre-
gate amount of black mail paid
by whom to Stone, as attorney
for Norton, was fully $4,000; that
| in one instance. one OF his clients
had forked over $4,000 to Stone
before a discharge could be obs
tanned, for which Stone furnished
a receipt for ten dollars as the,
cost of the entire proceeding. =
At this point the facts elected
in evidence betrayed a turpitude
so reckless and atrocious that
Judge Therad could not repress
the question to witness counsel
and the other attorneys who were
looking on, ''But, gentlemen, how
can you witness such practice and
not bring them to the notice Of
the Judge of that court 90 s+7t
The shrug of the shoulders
which each of the learned gentle
men gave involuntarily at so naive,
Ia question was more eloquent
than burst from Erskine or
Webster. The witness and the
examining counsel, however,
thinking the question more direct
to them, accompanied their shrug
with the simultaneous remark:
sWhat's the user The Judge
would pay no attention to the
charged" s- q
1t may not be supererogatory
to remark here that a fortnight
ago, in this very case. counsel
boldly charged that the practice
in the United States Bankrupt
Court of New Orleans was so
barefaced and relentless course
of bribery that no decent attor-
ney would appear there profess.
sionally.
1t is estimated that upwards of
1908 bankruptcies have been car
ried through that court since the
passage of the present law; so
that if Mr.. McCay's experience
can be taken as a criterion-and
it is generally believed it can
let us put down $500 as the aver
age amount of black mail levied
on each bankrupt, and multiply
that by 1868. The arithmetical
result is over a cool half million
of greenback dollars to be distrib-
uted among the ASST pneeS. the