Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-11-17

Z Farettsrille. 0haernelr -

THOSE RAILROAD FEES.
The FayettsvillesO bseyvef saws: =
E. II. Ewing, WI. Cooper and w. B.
Reese, attorneys for the State in the sale of
delinquent railroads, have been awarded.
by the State Railroad Commissioners, If
teen utousaHd dollars each, for services
rendered in that capacity! The amount OF
state bonds issued to meet the payment is
seueRty-ttoo uouSGsad dollars, we are told,
or twenty-four thousand dollars apiece
Inc allowance viii appear to plain, work
ing people extravagantly extortionate--a
imposition upon the tax payers Of the
State-and the Court approving it ought TO
be held to rigid accountability 1t is
hoped that the Nashville papers viii dare to
speak out, if the facts are as represented.
On the same subject we find in the Nc
Minnville Neao Era the following:
THE PEOPLES MONEY.
A correspondent of the UNION AND
AMERICAN mentions that he has heard that
the Chancellor had decreed to three attor-
neys of the State in the different railroad
cases that had been before them, the sum OF
seoelty-tloo thousand dollars in the bonds
Of the State; that is, tsCentg-fouT thousand
dollars to each one of the attorneys; and
then asks if his information is correct.
Should this be true, as suggested BY the cor.
respondent, it viii show an extraordinary
liberality on the part of the Chancellor with
the peoples money, and such an one as the
courts will not certainly sustain. Let the
facts come.
In the Knoxville Press and Herald we
find the following: fttk
$4,000 FEES
| In the absence of business Yesterday our
citizens found time TO talk over the late de-
cree OF a Nashville Chancellor, giving the
three attorneys employed by the State to
''protect" its interests in the sale of the ode
linquent railroads" the enormous sum of
! $4,000 in State bonds for six months
| services. But one opinion was expressed
on all sides, and that was that 1t was an i'm
position on the people of the State to charge
them such a sum for the amount of work
done, and that if the decree is allowed to
stand, the taxpayers win hold somebody
responsible for the wrong perpetrated upon
them. u = 9
In the same paper We find the following:
SOME PROBLEMS NOT IN EUCLID. -
Ifthe services of three States Attorneys
in the Delinquent Railroad cases are
worth 81, 900 in State bonds, what is the
value Of the services of five Railroad Com
missioners?
If the services of three States Attorneys
in the delinquent Railroad" cases for six
months work are worth $4,000 in State
bonds, what is the value of the services OF
six Supreme Court Judges, for one year?
If one State Attorney in the delinquent
Railroad" cases is entitled TO 1000 in
State bonds for six months services, what
is the value of the services Of the Attorney
General Of the Supreme Court for one
year?
If the State of Tennessee sells railroads
at one-third and one-fourth of what it cost
to build them and then pays three States
Attorneys $4,000 in bonds for protecting
its interest, how are the ''intereSts" of the
people protected?
And this:
Twenty-fou thousand dollars in State
bonds is fifteen thousand dollars in currency
to the States Attorneys. But it is $4,000
to the people of Tennessee.
The Williamson Journal says:
A few days since Messrs. Ewing, Cooper,
4 eAho ANCNoC oAPlAOu " SllduIcHOI VI lllt
! Court in which the suit was tried for an order
otreference to ascertain what would be rea-
| sonable compensation for their services.
| Proofhas been taken, and report made that
! $4,000 each, or $4,000 for all of them,
would be moderate charge for their servi-
ces. Chancellor East has not yet acted up
| on the report; but the attorneys in the
meantime have received from the Clerk and
I MacFar OO0 -, l.
we learn, they have disposed of for S4j,-
! 600 in greenbacks, which they have equally
/ between themselves. They claim that the
/ statute fixing the fee at $1,000 is void and
! imperative, that the state is SUI jtris, and
that they had lien upon assets collected by
! them for the satisfaction of their demand.
! The claim of the lien is correct without
! doubt, but having accepted the case in good
faith while the act fixing the fee at $1,000
remained upon the statute book, they have
no right in law or morals to set W such an
exorbitant demand.
Had such deed been perpetrated under
| Radical rule, the Democratic party would
have held up their hands in horror at the
outrage and protested most vehemently
against it. The fact that the perpetrators
are Democrats should not lessen our indig.
nation at so gross fraud, and the greedy
cormOrants should be made to dIsgorge
their ill-gotten gains. Had it not been for
the existence Of the law, a contract
would have been made with the attorneys
when they were employed, and we doubt
not that each of them would have been sat
isfied with $1,000 or less.
In the name of our tax-ridden people We
urge our representatives to examine into
this matter, and if necessary to have sui
brought for the recovery of this money 81
uniustly taken from the State. Democratic
members of the Legislature should b
ashamed to allow the first step towards al
investigation Of this huge fraud TO be takeI
by Radical members. Ii the parties whC
perPetrate wrong against the State are o
our own political family, we should freel,
and voluntarily bring them up to answer TO
their ofiense. As a party of retrenchmen
and reform eve have put our hand t.
the plow," and we must not-dare no
turn back" Suppose this appointment
had been made by a Radical Legislature
and the attorneys chosen had been Rad
icals; the present Legislature would no
have been slow TO take such steps toward
thorough ventilation of the whole matter
Should they, in the present instance, b
more tardy than they would have been il
the case supposed, then will they prove re
creant to the trust confided to them b,
their constituents. If the legal services o
these gentlemen was worth more than til
sum fixed by law, still they have taken
most unwanantable liberty with the fund
Of the State. They should have applied t
the Legislature for compensation; but hay
ing undertaken to settle it for themselYe
they should be confined to a strict com
pliance with the law referred to. Their aC
ton is an insult to the Legislature and
fraud upon the State.
We think this matter ought to be thor
oughly investigated. five charged agains
the Radicals that they squandered the publ
money in partisan trials and emplovin
partisan lawyers, we ought to be very care
full that we are not guilty of the same thing
If the State has already fixed the fees
these gentlemen, they ought to be Statistic
Herewith. We are glad to see that tn
newspapers of the land are aroused to
faithful and watchful vigilance in regard t
inroads on the treasury. We are poor an
tax-ridden. Let everything be put on re
trenchment and reform basis. The peopl
will have IL that WaV. SIrp