The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-02-21
DURELL AND NORTON
Management Of the Bankruptcy
- Business in Louisiana.
Norton Keeps All the Proceeds Of Bankruptcy
Sales for Fees-A Complete Analysis Of
His Methods Of Doing Business.

SOS NJ I NEW ORLEANS, Feb. II, 1874.
That extortion has been practised to an enor-
nous extent in the United States District Court at
New Orleans, the Congressional committee lately
In session in this city be well satlsfed Of or
at all events that just cause" for preferrng arti-
cles OF impeachment against Judge Durell has been
shown. The forty-fith section or the Bankrupt act
makes extortlon criminal offence. 1t reads as
fOllows:+ ~
And be 1t further enacted That any judge, register
CLERK marshal messenger assignee OF any other officer
to Dc Under act or
take appoint o. allow any person whstsver to take
ior hun Of On his account; on account Of any
any fee. enoument gratnity, money any thing
such person, when convicted sssSso shall ana
$780, and be imprisoned not exceeding three years =
CHOICE OF AsSIGNEEs.
Section Is Of the Bankrupt law of 1867 recog-
nizcs to be the right OF the creditors they shall
see ut, to choose one or more assignees. Indeed,
1t makes II imperative upon them to choose. but
as it was impossible to force the creditors to
ton, an alternative was provided :-'If no choice
is made by the creditors the judge or, there be
no opposing interest, the register shall appoint
one or more assignees.n GAN elections or ap-
pointments Of assgnees shall be subject 10 the ap-
prOval OF the Judge; and when In his judgment 1t
Is for any cause needIul or expedient, he may ap.
point additional asslgnees or order new election"
1t will be seen from these quotations OF the law
that the whole matter Is at last in the hands OF
the Judge. 1t may be true that in Northern and
Western cities, no judge would attempt to ex-
ercise any improper power or influence over cred
itors OF bankrupts and their counsel, but 1t is
also true that judges in rome Of the
Southern States have availed themselves
of the impoverished condition of those commune.
ties and their political affiliations, not only to dis
regard the rights and feelings Of parties before
them but to ride almost "roughshod" over them
and practised under the color OF law and through
the power and influence OF their ONCE an oppres-
sion unparalleled in any part OF the world. vii.
liam the COnqueror did not govern the English peU-
pie more ruthessly than Judge Dure and his favor
ties trampled upon the rights and feelings Of
parties interested In these bankruptcy proceed
ings Mr.. Freeman, in his late remarkable history
OF the Norman Conquest, makes some observa-
tions pertinent to this discussion. At page 81 OF
his fourth volume he says:-
"The process Of confscation is well worth study
ing. Almost every detail illustrates the way,
In Williams policy, wrong contrived to assume
the mask OF right, and how the plumber OF the
conquest was gathered in with all the forms OF q
legal process" o
That is precisely what has been done in Judge
Durell's Court ever since he opened 1t in 1862 The
proceedings IN cases brought before him under the
Confscation of Congress show that all kinds Of
advantage, exactions and extortions were prac.
tised Tor the sole benefit OF Court officers, favor.
ties and hangers on OF the Court. To understand
and fully comprehend how this was done one had
to be on the spot and familiar with the history
and character Of the men engaged In carrying on
these cOnfscatlon suits. 1t was necessary also to
comprehend the conditions Of society here-the
eactin nj he in I'm
the facts surrounding this business to be enabled
TO form correct idea OF what was going on. In
1868, 1864 and 1866 there real estate market
In New Orleans. the majority Of the property
owners and people Of means were alb
sent In the Coniederacy. Sales OF conls-
Gated property BY the United States Mar
shall must necessarily have been for nominal
prices, and the truth is that was the fact. 1t
has been asserted, and can easily be established,
that out Of the millions OF dollars worth OF real
estate and personal property confscated and sold
by the United States authorities not one-hfth part
OF the value OF the same ever went into the Treas
ury Of the government. know or properties sold
in New Orleans Tor One-third Of their value, and
the price, II ever paid was eaten up by costs and
charges, and much OF this property was purchased
by onlcers OF the Court OF persons near the Court
purchased directly or indirectly, any OF this prop
erty; but 1t Is asserted and Is undeniabe that he
did nothing to secure the endS OIL justice but made
several men known to this community quite rich
who before had been quite poor or IN limited CIR
sales in bankruptcy as conducted here are only
another form OF confscation.
An analysis OF the testimony and the law ap-
plicable to 1t enables me to say that no estate in
bankruptcy, IN Judge Durell's Court, has ever
been administered on, under the law, solely by an
assignee selected BY the creditors. In each and
assignee under the provisions OF the law, the
official and general assignee OF the Court acting
and without their solicitation, has been joined as
their co-assignee by order Of the Court and has
had the CHIEF administration OF the estate and
administered BY asslgnees has ever taken place In
Dureips Court wherein the Official assignee has
not oesn an acting assignee with inli power oyer
general official assignee to estates in bankruptcy,
and especially In estates wherein the creditors
and an action OF the Court not authorized by any
Of the provisions OF the Bankrupt law, Is repug-
nant to ITS spirit and amounts to malieasance on
the part OF the Judge, and that all lees allowed by
the Judge to such an officer Improperly appointed
under the law are within the prohibitions Of the
1,lo0 to l,aOo estates in bankruptcy in Judge Du-
rell's Court there are not more than twenty In
which the creditors have elected assignees. The
the official General Assignee Of the Court In all
cases In which the General Assignee has sold prop
erty subject TO mortgage ne has retained s ana Up,
property received BY him. Thus, II piece OF prop
ery OF the value OF SIS 900 mortgaged Tor
ject to mortgages, the General Assignee retained
and appropriated this money-say $b,000-to him
self, and the same was not accounted for or dis
tributed among the creditors. In such case the
custom Of Assignee Norton has been to make an
ca pdrte application to the Judge. without submit
the assignee, be allowed the whole Of such price
received by him, as compensation for has services,
claiming 1t 10 be due to him, and that the Judge
has invariably approved the claim and granted the
prayer Of such application. and pronounced iudg.