The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-12-24
FALsIFYING COURT RECORDS.

When a man becomes lost to shame, o.
when, as the poet has it, he ceases to justify
his acts unto himself he becomes q wretcl
indeed, and does not hesitate to descend tt
acts SO low and base as to excite the honest
Indignation OF every decent man.
That John I. LudeIing should do an I'M.
justifable thing need not excite the
special wonder Of any man, seeing
that he did not hesitate to defraud
persons who had intrusted him with their in.
terests in the North Louisiana Railroad, but
that lie would be party to the Justification Of
court records is, we take it, q rather remark.
able affair, seeing that he himself is the Chief
Justice of the State, albeit now dishonored
and disgraced Upon the docket of the
superior District Court, that Kellogg shamble
over which Jake Hawkins preside, appears
under date of April s, 1874. aud numbered
1888, the following entry: 9 vue
The State ex rel Jno. T. Ludeling Va. An
tome Dubuclet, Treasurer. On the very same
date april 6th) there appears the entry show
ing that the petition was filed, service ac-
cepted, and the announcement that judge
ment was rendered, etc. Turning then to the
minutes of the very same date, april Sth) we
End the following entry: ''This case having
been regularly fixed for hearing on this day,
April 9Th, 1874, and coming on regularly for
trial, present the Hon. Jno. Ray, for plaintiff,
and A. p. Field, for defendant After hear
ing evidence and argument Of counsel, etc.
for H1o init hwy ~
of act of 31st Of March, 1871, No. SO Of the
session acts, for $500. slya
This amount of $500 is granted in the act
in excess of the constitutional provision
which fixes the salary of the Chief Justice at
$500, and even Ludeling must recognize
the fact that q legislative enactment cannot
snpersede or override constitutional pro-
vision.
In making its customary appropriation the
Legislature only appropriated the constitu-
tional salary, $500, and 50 when Ludeling |
asked the State Treasurer to hand him $1O,- !
900, Dubuclet very properly refused to do 50 !
on the ground that he had no authority to |
pay him more than the amount fixed by the |
constitution. .a lfa5aam
Thereupon Ludeling, the Chief Justice, goes
before Jake Hawkins, and the Constitution to |
the contrary Notwithstanding, asks for and OBJ
tains mandamus to compel the Treasurer to |
pay over to him $500, to which he had no
other right than that given him by legisla-
tive act passed in plain violation of the Con-
ssitution. OF course the Treasurer was made
to stand and deliver at the point Of the man
damus thus obtained. ....s.+..f l.
The manner in which the record Of the
court was falsifed is worthy Of special com
ment, and shows how things can be rushed
when the proper screws are applied f6,
It was utterly impossible for the case en-
tered upon the Sth of April, to be regularly
brought up for trial, judgment rendered and
mandamus issued, all on the same day. The
utmost that could have been done regularly |!
would have been to try the case within two
weeks from the time Of the filing of the peti-
ton. He who attempts to follow closely the
shiny course of Chief Justice Jno. T. Lude-
ding will sicken and grow faint by the way. i.