New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-03-02
NEW ORLEANS REPUBLICAN,, WEDNESDAY,, MARCH 2 1870

! @. State what time you were there.
A. About thirteen months.
Q. In 1859!
A. I went there in February year ago.
Q. What salary did you receive?
A. One hundred and fifty dollars montf
in warrants.
Q. Did you ever receive any extra com
pensation?
A. No, sir, neither directly nor indirectly,
from any source whatever.
TESTIMONY OF J. N. WEYMOUTH.
J. NJ. Weymouth, witness for the prosecu.
ton, was called and duly swern by the
Secretary.
Examination in chief by Manager Lowell:
Question. State your name and occupa.
tion.
Answer. J. NJ. Weymouth; am an &C.
countsnt at the present time.
@. Have you been employed by q
committee of the Legislature during the
| present session?
| A. have.
Q. For what purpose2
! A. For the purpose of examining the
Auditors and Treasurer's books.
Q. State the condition you found the
Auditors Office in.
A. 1 found it in considerable
confusion. The books we're not posted
up, and the vouchers were out of
| place, and some Of them lost, or supposed
to be; they could not be found.
| Q. How long have You been examining the
! books?
A. Altogether, it has been more than
thirty days.
dition in which you found the books and
papers.
A. Well, in the first place, 1 fonnd thai
! the books were not written up to date, or
| those that were written up the columns
we're not footed up; additions had not been
made. A great many appropriations had
been overdrawn. l found also that the
| vouchers for warrants that had been given
were not on file, or, at least. could not be
| that certificates had been given
for bills, and then those GER
tifcates filed as vouchers when warrants
! were issued; and when l called for the
| original bill for which certificates we're
given, in some instances they were found,
| in others not; the excuse was that the
papers had been moved to this building and
burst open and vouchers thrown out and
papers lost or confused in such q manner
| that they could not be found.
@. Did you examine into the printing ap-
| preparation account?
A. l did.
@. State how you found the vouchers in
| that account.
A. l found but very few of the original
vouchers-that is, the bills that were fur.
nished by the publishers. Certificates of in.
debtedness were generally issued for these
at first, and then when warrants were issued
the certificates of Indebtedness were filed az
vouchers.
Q. Did you call on the Auditor to FARMS
you with the original vouchers
A. I did.
@. Did he furnish them?
A. He furnished some; not all of them
that required.
@. What pl oportion did he furnish?
A. Well, did not ask for all of them; it
Was only for certain portion of them that
had relation to few of the newspapers, and
| found that there was considerable diff
Guilty in obtaining the original vouchers so
that / could examine them, and did
not make any further demand for vouchers.
O. Did you examine into the vouchers
upon which veteran pension warrants were
issued?
A. do not know that there were
any vouchers attached to them. do not
know that examined into them.
@. There must have been some authority
upon which the warrants were issued?
A. l did not examine those vouchers;
examined the warrants; they were issued in
favor of pensioners.
Q. Was that record kept up complete?
A. Yes, the record wac.
@. Did you examine into the settlement
with the tax collectors?
A. Yes, gave that my attention.
Q. How did you find that?
A. found that the law in very few ms.
tances had been complied with in settling
with the tax collectors. The law requires
that the delinquent list, for instance,
shall give description of the property upon
which the tax was levied; also, that there
shall be appended an affidavit sworn, to be-
fore, "a Justice OF the peace, or some other
officer, i'll which cases, in almost every in
stance, this was omitted; there has been no
affidavit requiredS The law requires that
the tax collectors shall make their returns
in December. also, but up to the present
time do not suppose that more than one
half the collectors have made their returns.
Q. Then you were unable to make an ex-
animation of those?
A. OF course, was unable to make an
examination into those matters of which
there had been no return. The law, | be-
leve, however, requires the Auditor to hold
these tax collectors to a strict account; if
they do not comply with the conditions of
the law to report them to the Executive.
Q. How many clerks were there in the
Office,
A. There were sixteen when first went
there to report.
Q. Was the Office well arranged and sys.
tematized, 50 that all the clerks had regu.
lar duty to perform?
A. Well, not according to my judgment
different persons may have different views
of organization or method; but the methods
was one objection that could suggest that
would seem to be an obstacle in the
way Of keeping up the accounts.
there is one record known as the book of
receipts and expenditures. 1t is kept like
a cash book; ali the receipts are on the left
hand page, and all the expenditures on the
right hand page, and the whole business of
the office is put into that one book, and thBt
is all written out in detail. As only one
man can write on one book, but one clerk
can be employed in keeping that book, and
there is more, think, than one clerk can
very well do unless he works after hours.
The consequence is, that that book is two
months behind hand-it is not written up. /
think that is default of the system.
O. You have been there thirty days?
A. More than thirty.
Q. Have you been able to make such |
report as the committee desred2
A. Icould not make report of the bust |
ness that was not written up. The books |
were not footed up, and 1 could not very
we'll verify the additions in those books that |
had not been footed up. Then, again, the |
Auditor. Mr.. Wickliffe, has been required by |
the court to make certain statement, and |
required the use of the books in order to |
make Chat statement, and was anxious not !
to interfere with his arrangement. Then, |
Auditor Graham has been trying to get out !
the annual report, and for like reasons l |
have tried to be as little in the way as pos.
sible.
@. When Mr.. Wickliffe was there, did you /
have any conversation with him in regard |
to the manner in which his office was con-
ducted-the confusion of the books and |
papers!