New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-02-06

SIR notice N the REPUE.IcAS ci the
twenty eighth the speech OF Hon. George /.
Benham. Of Carroll, on the bill. providing
for the payment OF salaries Ut parish
judges by the parishes.
am opposed to the bill for reasons viii
state. In the first place doubt the cOustI-
tutiOnslity OF the bill. It is plain by read
ing Article eightysix Of the constitution
that it was contemplated that all the Judges
should be paid out Of the State Treasury.
I Article eighty six provides that the parish
Judge shall receive "a salary and fees TO
be provided by law" Language et the
same import is used in regard to the pay
| meDt OF the salaries o. the judges of the
Supreme Court and judges OF the diStrlc.
courts. Now, Judge Benham's bill under
| takes TO say that the salaries of the parish
judges shal! be paid by the parishes. ihls
in itself creates an :negGai!ty-In
this. that some parishes are ROT in
debt so much as others. Consequently ;heir
scrip is more valuable than others. ] Ven
ture to say that in none of them is the
scrip equal to cash. Unless. then. Judge
Benham shall amend his bill so rs % pro
vide that the parish shal! pay in cash the
salary, or issue scrip to such an amount as
will when the discount Is taken Oft, make
| il equal to cash, there is inequality i'll the
pay. Now, the Legislature has seen lit and
did nothing but what in justice 1t ought to
have done, to provide that the judges shalt
be paid cash on their warrants. In the
next place, does Judge Benham require. or
! is it in the power OF the Legislature, 10
compel the police juries 90 provide for the
pay of the parish judges quarterly in cash
or its equivalents ! am opposed 20 this
tinkering with the Judiciary, on principle.
propose to examine the reasons adducei
/ by Judge BeDham for the change, and see
if they are not more speClous than sound,
and ii, indeed, he is not mistaken as 20 I'M
portant considerations on the whole subject.
He says that 1.-The parish Judge is essen
TALLY a parish officer, much as the
sheriff, clerk or recorder. II we pay HIN
! from the State treasury as wei! should we
pay these officers from that source Now
is this premise eOrrectl The sheriff gets
his pay from litigants in the shape ot fees,
except for services in criminal ca5es, which
are paid by the parish, and all the fines IN
criminal cases go into the parish treasury.
The same is true as 20 the clerk. The re-
c0rder gets his pay from those who do busl.
ness in his otfice-pass deeds, mortgages.
and record them, makes inventories, pro-
tests, and copies o: all ,hese--:hence comes
his living. The justices OF the peace get the
fees of their otfices. and are paid by the III
igants. In criminal cases, as examining
magistrates, they are pain by the parish.
Then as 10 the duties performed by these
officers and their source Of pay. see no
similarity between these officers and tia. ot
judges.
Judge Benham furthe. saws that the par
sh Judges perform their work n the pay
shes, and the benefits OF his labor accrue
solely to his parish. 81 think this PROPOSE
zion falacious. II it were true. then as the
judges of ;he district courts tney perform
their work in their districts, and the b.ne-
fits Of their labor accrue solely 20 their dis
tricts, therefore they should be paid by
their districts" AND as by :aw and the
constitution the Supreme Court j. bound 20
hold a session each year at New Orleans,
one at Ope!ousas. one AZ Nat"htocles and
one at Monroe, - their work Is done II
those districts and inure- 20 the benefit Il
the district, therefore they should lie paid
pro rata by the districts. That, would
say. is false reasoning. The JIt!>1s;!
department i. an indep"ni.Lt 90
ordinate department OF :hc govern
ment. Much has been written ana
said OF the necessity Of its independence.
Its pee uniary independence. | appichend.
is not the leas. to be cOnsIGe.'d Il. lie jU. ges
are uOt allowed 70 charge any fees or be
dependant for their pay on the result OF The
suits before them. The constitution ot ioGS
provides for salaries and fees for the parish
Judges So distastefui was that p Division
that the Legislature provided tha. the
clerks should perform al n" clerical duties
il the parish courts, and receive the fees,
except the simple fee. for fling al appeal
from tho magistrates court: and that wds
only retained in order 20 satisfy .hc re
quirements of the constitution. These fees
are also part Of the pay OF clerks.
dissent further from the proposition o:
Judge Benham as to the scope Of the labor
performed by parish judges. ! deny that
their labor accrues solely to the citizens
of the parish" Take their civil ordinary
jurisdiction; it sXtends to all eases where
the amount exceeds S25. and does not
exceed $500. Constitution, article 81. In
tie parish court, citizen Of this State, or
any State in the Union, or even an alien,
may institute his suit, and have Judgment.
Ii the suit is appealed, whatever judgment
the appellate court renders must come
back to the parish court 10 lie executed.
How, then, can it be said that the labor ot
the parish judge inUres solely 10 .Ae .;t:-
zens of his parlsh'
Again, take his probate iurisdictios: "AN
SucCessiUns are opened and settled iu th0
parish court" Art. q. This jurisdiction
covers a wide field, and q: the most import
ance Cf any other in the State. ih" l."-
visrd Statutes state that jurisdiction.
RAYS Digest, vol. .. y. 3S, ljl. The very
frst in the enumeration Is relative 20 ali
sentscs, next minors and their tutorship.
.urat0rship and emancipation, persons IN,
sane, idiots, etc: then the whole system. al
administering estates. appointing *"hlIhs-
traitors. curatOrs, making inventories, sell
ing property. winding up the estates. inak-
ing partitlons-ln many instances tho her.
living III other States and foreign ""&u
trles---then she opening OF wills, probat.n.
them. appointing executors. whether the
fegatees De present or absent, recognizing
foreign executor. and guardians.
IL was the remark OI one at thu 3bIest
and Oldest Judges ever on the Supreme Court
bench of this State, Judge Martin. that
every piece OF real estate liz tins State went
through the probate court once every
twenty-five wears. And all this jurisdiction
is exercised for residents OF the parish.
State. other States or foreign countries.
also fail 10 see why, on the whole. there
is any saving 90 the people of the State.
Judge Benham says this pay is leak.
How He admits the parish judges must
be paid. but argue. that if they are paid by
the PARISHES therefore the leak is stopped.
fail I, see il. Instead Of the tax they pay
into the State treasury being. applied
90 nav the salary OF the parish judge,
it must be paid out of that they pay into
the parish treasury. If the per centum
the Police jury annually levies on the TAX
able property assessed Dy the State N the
parish, is not sufficient 10 pay the parish
Judges salary and other expenditures under
Judge Benham's bill. why then the police
jury must raise the per eentum. so as 10
meet that item of expense. The people pay
into the State Treasury an sdvalorem YAK.
And ] fail 10 see how this proposition
of Judge Benham's will decrease That ad
yalorem tax. But do see how i viii III
crease the per centum Of the parish tax.
To that part of the argument that New
Orleans pays so large q proportion of the
tax into the State treasury. and therefore =
larger share of the parish judges s"iafF.
it is only Necessary 70 cons4GeE 1hat
the same argument might be used