New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-16
WASHINGTON.
THE NATIONAL FINANCES.

WASHINGTON.
THE NATIONAL FINANCES.
GEN. GARFIELD ABOUT TO MAKE SPEECH ON THE
GREAT PRoBLEM-soME or Mr.. DAwEs's sTATK-
mENTs CORRECTED
iBr TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUHE.l
WARRINGTON, Feb. l5-As soon ~ the next Appro-
pIation bill is taken up, Gen. Garfield will make
speech upon the finances, in which he will take
lssne with Mr. Dawes's statement OF the amount of
appropriations made for the present fiscal year. Mr..
Dawes's figures showed remarkable increase in the
expenditures for 1873 over those of 1872 and still
remarkable increase in the appropriations for
1874 over the expenditures of 1873 The appropria-
tons for the present year he gave 1919 600
Mr.. Garfield will show that he made the serious mis-
take of including the permanent appropriation for
the sinking fund in the total for 1874 while emitting
it from the total for the preceding years Deducting
tho amount of the sinking fund the appropriations
made at the last session Of Congress for the
expenses of the present fiscal year were
iess than 1901 100000 Included in that sum
over SI 100000 Of Deficiencies for the year 1879
Gen. Garfield does not think that this sum will be
fully cOunterbalanced by the deficiency appropria-
tons of the present session, together with the
amounts called for by claims pensions judgments OF
the Court Of Claims and Southern Claims Com
mission, and other demands that Congress must
provide for and which will be immediate drafts
upon the Treasury and should properly be counted
among the expenditures of tho current fiscal year.
Stil IL is impossible to say definitely what these
demands will aggregate because the deficiency esi
mates not yet made ont III they are estimated
fully to offset the deficiencies OF last year, included
by Mr.. Dawes in the appropriations for this year,
Mr. Dawes's statement of Government expenditures,
ascorrected by Mr.. Garfield, would be as follows:
1862 s322ooo 1870 $500 100000; 1871 s292ooooG 1872,
t271,OCoooC; 1873, s!oo,oOooOO 1874, s2sO,i6looO.
THE LOUISIANA JUDICIAL CORRUPTION
NoRroN's APPOINTMENT AS UNIVERSAL ASSIGNEE
ny JUDGE DURELI-rIIB ABUSES PEACfICED IN
BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS
lBY TELEGRAPH 10 THE TRBUSR.l
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15.-Tbe following are the
orders of Judge Durell OF New-OrIeans. by which
he made his bosom friend, f. E. Norton, Universal
Assignee in Bankruptcy, and which have heretofore
been referred TO in dispatches on this subject:
NOVEMBER &c, 1867. tFolio 1871
Ordered. That l.. L.. Norton be and he IL heveby APP
pointed Assignee in Bankruptcy or this Court u whom,
upon publication in bankruptcy, surrender OF all
assets and estate shall be made in all and he ia
hereby designated the person to be appointed assig
nee in all where appointments OF assgnees are to
be made under Section 10 OF the act; and he shall be
appointed additional assignee" In all cases where the
assignee elected by the creditors shall be approved by
the Judge, unless otherwise specially ordered.
Under authority Of this order Mr.. Norton got pos
session of the assets in between 1900 and 400
bankrupt estates. He charged from l TO p per
cent for receiving and paying out money. In this
latter item included the fees of Nortons counsel
agents, clerks, &c. His counsel at first was a Mr.
Stone, to whom he paid from $4,000 to $4,000
year, payment being made 'by the case" and the
business did not interfere with Mr.. Stones other
business. Latterly this lucrative position has been
held by Judge Hughes whose fecs have been from
SI5,UOO to $4,000 year. Very naturally those in
terested objected to the excessive costs which Nor
ton and the officers of the court exorted from them
and the Judge, in order that he might not be
bothered with their complaints decreed rs follows:
ORDER RELATIVE 10 COSTS
July 3, 1863 folio 243
Ordered, That whenever objection TO the costs OF
assignee, register, marshal aud clerk is made by
solicitor the matter be referred NJ NJ Cohen A. b.
Lord United states Commissioners, who shall fix such
costs according TO law and proper compensation shall
be allowed them for their services TO be paid from the
funds OF the respective bankruptcies wherein they
called upon act either OF said Commissioners being
hereby empowered 10 adjust the costs and charges
bankruptcy.
And finally, that there might be no nonsense and
that Norton and the court officers might not be
troubled with these complaints the following order
was promulgated on JAN "a, 1873, and may be found
on folio IA of the last minutes of the court:
Ordered That In all where opposition to the
fees OF the clerk marshal register and assignee made.
the matter be referred Of the Commissioners OF
the Court for examination aud report that the party
opposing shall first deposit with the clerk the Com
missioner OF so the costs that be
incurred by such reference and In case the opposition
be sustained the deposit shall be returned.
As the Commissioner almost invariably sustained
the charges made, it was soon found that to make
complaint was only throw $50 after money already
lost and very few complaints of exorbltant charges
were preferred.
Another abuse in connection with the bankruptcy
business in Louisiana perpetrated in the release
of estates of bankrupts against which there were
preferred claims such as mortgages, &c, amounting
TO more than tho value of the estate. In such
it was of course for the interest Of the bankrupt
and his preferred creditors to have the proceedings
in bankruptcy stopped, bsSa1s6 sneh estate would
yield much more if managed by those interested
than il settled by the universal assignee. The ques-
ton Of costs then became private matter between
Norton and the bankrupt and his preferred creditors.
not within the cognzance Of the Court and not reg
ulated by law 1t is not strange, therefore, that
men placed in this position complain that Nor
ton extorted from them the last dollar that they
could possibly raise before he would allow the
tate to be released. ..
The fact is, the poorer the people OF Louislaha
have boov,uo, tho more exorbitant have been the
taxes and extortions wrung from them by Federal
and State officials, until it is reported that Mr..
Norton testified before the subcommittee Of the
House Judiciary Committee that lately visited
Naw. Orleans thai no plaDtation i'm the State would