Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-09-10

these laws. He supports W. II. Gibbs
On bis ticket for auditor Of public sc-
counts. Ames said to me himself that
/ Gibbs was thief. He has spoken thus
/ Of Gibbs without restraint. Gibbs is a
VIGOROUSLY corrupt man. Gibbs was a
| member of the constitutional conven-
/ tion In 1893. he was ons of the never
/ to-be-foreotteh committee OF Ave.
Section S Of the ordinance creating
this committee / will read: "The COM
mittee of five, appointed by this conven-
| ton, is hereby authorized and empow-
cred to adjust all outstanding accounts
/ against the same, and certify to their
! correctness; and the auditor Of public
accounts shall issue his warrant in pay
ment thereof"
The convention ordered twenty-five
thousand Ct theconstitutiOn to be printed
| in pamphlet form. On the subject Of
expense the committee on printing
made the following report. (See jour
nal, page 1872 ain reference to print
ing the constitution In pamphlet form,
estimating the number of pages in each
to be fifteen, the pages to be Of the same
size as the Journal, the cost would be
for the first 200 copies at S. per page,
$50; and for each additional 200 copies
at 50 per page, SIS; for q, 900 copies Of
the same, S55S0.n
The committee of five allowed the
public printer $500 for printing the 25,-
900 copies Of the constitution. This was
an eXtravagant sum, but the printer,
colluded with the chairman, Gibbs,
made out an account against the State
for doing this work, amounting to the
sum Of SOS, 800. The committee refused
to pass the account; their last meeting
was in the summer Of 1868. But Gibbs,
as chairman of the committee, when in
! Washington City, in March, 1862 ap
proved this account; emitting the date,
/ approved an account of SOS, 500 for print
/ ing the constitution, a pamphlet Of fif-
! teen pages! and now to-day a suit is
| pending against the Statefor the amount
/ due on this fraudulent transaction.
/ Gibbs is Ames's right-hand man. He
/ is to be placed where he can audit ae-
counts against the State. Our depleted
1 treasury will be in a happy condition
| then.
o. c. French is another one of Ames's
/ fuglemen. He is now a candidate for
| the legislature on the Ames ticket in
| Adams county. He is said to live in
| NatcheZ, the city in which Ames
/ claims to reside. French, as bounty
| agent of the government of the United
1 States, is now defaulter to the govern
ment, and is sued in the district court
/ at Jackson in the sum of twelve or fif-
/ teen thousand dollars. He thus stands
charged with robbing the colOred SOL
/ dier of his bounty; he has confessed the
robbery by Offering to pay four thousand
| dollars to be released, but the govern
ment has rejected the offer.
! l will notice one other of this tribe Of
WORTHLESS, and then call your attention
/ 10 another branch of my subject. Re
/ Gently Robert Alcorn was, at the in
| stance of Ames, turned out of the office
| Of marshal for the southern district Of
| Mississippi, and one Mr.. Bronn ap-
| pointed. don't blame the president,
nor do I find fault with the attorney
general of the United States; they have
| been imposed on. But 10 the point:
BrOnn came to Natchez, the reputed
home Of Ames, from the State of Ohio.
Having been appointed postmaster by
| Andrew johnson, Bronn wS.s q strong
johnson Democrat. When Grant was
| elected he turned him out and appoint
ed General Cattello. Bronn in 1869
ran for congress on theDemoeratic ticket,
but was beaten. After this he became
an intense Republican. Two years ago
he was elected member of the board Of
| supervisors in Adams county; he was
| the only white man on the board.
! Bronn owned a small farm some nine
miles south of Nstchez. He had long
1 wished to sell it. The title was held by
his wife. The property is worth
/ about three thousand dollars. The coun-
1 ty of Adams owned farm for the poor
1 worth quite as much as Bronn's farm;
Bronn induced the board of supervis-
Ors, he being president of the board and
/ the only white man on it, to make q
I purchase of his farm "a purchase from Mrs.
Bronn 1.-THE property is held in her name)
| The board Of supervisors agreed to give
| her of the money of the people of
Adams county the sum of eighteen
thousand dollars for her farm, she
agreeing to take the county farm, worth
fully as much, at nominal sum. The
people detected the swindle, colored
men and white men alike indignant;
the whole community rose up, Bronn
was threatened with prosecution, he
became frightened, called the board to-
gether and rescinded the infamous
order. This qualified him in Ames's
estimation for marshal of the district
Robert AlcOrn's place was filled al
Ames's suggestion by this man Bronn
When Twas governor of Mississippi ]
was approached 10y representatives of
the Union and Planters bank bonds
A corrupt governor could have made q
large sum. Governor Powers declared
strongly against their payment, and
this sealed his fate for a denomination.
The convention, L know, passed resOlu-
tions repudiating these bonds. General
Ames made a speech declaring he
would veto a bill for their payment.
But who will trust these men? Can
you trust Ames who lives a thou
sand miles beyond your borders
for thirty millions of dollars? But my
cOuntrymen there is another way in
which danger may come to you. Ames,
if elected, will appoint a Massachusetts
judiciary; they will overturn Mississippi
law and establish Massachusetts law.
This is his purpose. The constitution
declares that the Legislature shall direct
in what courts and in what manner suits
may be brought against the State. { Ar
ticie :, section q of constitution, page
$50 Of code The code declares that the
State of Mississippi shall be held liable
TO all persons having claims at law or in
guilty against her TO the same extent
as individual persons are liable to each
other, and may be sued by any person
having cause of action against her.
Article l, section 1913 of the code The
next article, section 1874, provides that
the suit shall be brought in the court Of
the county where the capital is located
The State is nothing but great corpo-
ration (Nattel's laws of nations, 49.) The
ornv Of tho TTnffAA Sfafoc aud
of each State, is termed a corporation Is
Dallas, Az. Bourier law dictionary,
volume /, PIP. 3lS-l9). Now what is the
settled law of Massachusetts and of all
the New England States? 1t is that
when a suit is authorized by statute
against county, an incorporated town,
or other municipal corporation, and
there is a Judgment recovered against
such county, town or civil corporation,
an execution may issue upon such
judgment, and be levied upon the
private property of the inhabitants for
the purpose of paying the judgment
Merchants bank as. Cook Pickering,
4l4; 10 Pickering, l27; l3 Pickering,
49l; 10 Pickering, 564; Massachusetts,
422; Massachusetts, lS7; II Massachu-
setts, 2l6; II Massachusetts,, 1888.
Kent's CON-, volume 2, Sd edition, page
274) lays down the same rule. The
same question was before the high court
of Mississippi in 1858, when the court
reviewed fully these New England au-
thOrities, and decided against the rule
laid down by them Homer rs. Coffey,
5 Cushman, 434), which is about the
only decision directly overruling these
authorities. Now what is the great doc
rine settled by this long list Of Massa-
.husetts decisions? 1t is that a county,
Incorporated town or other municipal
corporation cannot he sued at all unless
the right to sue them is given by
statute, and that when they are thus
made sueable, the inhabitants of the
county, incorporated town, or munich
pal cooperation, are parties by operation
OF law 10 the suit, or, TO state the propO-
sitiOn in plain language, suit against
county, under this doctrine, is a suit
against the people OF that county; and
that a judgment against the county is a
Judgment against all the people of the
county; and that so completely was
this true under the old Casa law, men
were arrested and imprisoned ON this
kind of judgment. The same doctrine
would apply in regard to State when
she authorizes herself TO be such. She saws
that she will go into court upon the same
footing of an individual-that the same
rules of law shall apply to her; and a
Massachusetts lawyer will tell you that
the same consequences shall attach TO
judgments rendered against her as to
judgments rendered against individuals.
Execution, in the language of Lord |
Coke, is the life Of the law. A judg-
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