The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-05-08

d Gan angel whispered in her ear
t: The message by her husband sent,
o Sweet words that she alone could, could
And joyous to his arms she went"
g Lawyers and Magistrates Against
. TaX-Pay ers---NO
To the Editors of the Herald and Mail:
We see an article in your paper of
April oath, signed "a. J. P. with some
# ours, headed, Lawyers and Magistrates
I | against TaX>Payers, " in which A. J. P.
s thinks it is unjust and beneath the dig~
!. nifty OF any gentleman to charge them
: (the Magistrates) as being in league vii b
: the lawyers to rob the taxpayers. The
' | word league is not in our communica-
! ton. Let us see ''who is the gentleman
3 and who has 'misi epresented.' The word
league, or cOntederacy, lis a cOmbina-
, ton of two or more persons to do an
unlawful act.' Did not portion of
: the lawyers of the Columbia bar volun-
teer to defend the Magistrates "a j. p.
being one of them) free of charge, for
an unlawful act committed by them,
J and admitted by yourself as being such?
Docs not that make league? gen.
tleman will not defend an unlawful act,
even of his own committing. And, cer~
tainiy, if an act of high official is le-
gally wrong, there is nothing ungentle~
manly i'll investigating and exposing it.
We did not wish to misrepresent any
thing. What was said in our article
were facts, and cannot be cOnfuted.
You may lug in your personalities,
your railroads, your tax assessors, to-
gether with your volunteered attorney,
with his "denunciation, as it rolled in
majestic splendor from his lips, )" in order
to try and di ert the mind of taxpayers
from wanton neglect of your sworn
duty, in which you have proven recre-
anttO your trust.
This does not smack much of the gen.
tleman. Now, Messrs. Editors, you
will please publish the Magistrates
oath: 81 do swear that / will admins
ter justice without respect of persons,
and faithfully and impartially perform
| all the duties incumbent upon me, to
the best of my skill and ability" Let
A. j. p. take look at himself and see
if his record will stand before the scru-
| tiniZing eye of the Taxpayers, when !
they place him upon the scales of pub |
lie justice, to be weighed and found |
wanting. Wanting in what? Candor.
A. J. p. admits that the County |
| Court do many things not sanctioned |
| by law; but for sooth, are they to be |
classed as Boss Tweeds? Now Boss is |
said to have been very charitable man,
| dispensing his aims in accordance with |
the strict injunctions of Holy writ,
receiving the taxpayers money from
| the treasury in his left hand and dis
| pensing it out to charity with his right,
the one not knowing what the other
doeth. Boss checks did not have to
be discounted at ten per cent.
but were par. Now what did Boss
Tweed do? Squandered the taxpayers
authority of lew. What did the Justices
of Maury county do? "A. j. p. being
one of hem.) Appropriated $500 to
charity, about $1,000 to purchase picks
\ 49, oil 10
more or less) to buy Thmpson and Ste
gers Code of Tennessee, without the au-
thority of law, on their own RESPONSE
bility. If Boss was wrong, certainly A
J. ?. and his associate justices were
guilty of the same offence. Who were
directly interested in the purchase of
Thompson and Steger's Code, but the
Magistrates, for their own special use
and benefit; and it does seem to us, from
a pecuniary stand- point, that it was
very unfortunate for the taxpayers that
the book was ever purchased. Instead
of being an aid to them in complying
with the laws and executing them right
ly, they haYe become wild and reckless
on appropriations. Now, Taxpayers,
of Maury county, your money not only
pays for Thompson and Steger's Code,
purchased by your magistrates, but also
foot up your prOportioned part of the
bill of the $4,000 appropriated by your
Legislature to purchase the code for all
the officials of the State, making you
pay double the amount ioF the books in
Maury county. Such guardians will
soon bankrupt their wards. a J. P, is
not this sort of charity in accordance
with YOUR code OF morals? Is there any
justification for such acts on the part of |
our magistrates, who are occupying ,
high position of trust and honor? The
higher the position the greater the ag-
grayation. and should be dealt with the
t,fl h1r ha n iG |
very pleasant to ones self and even con-
venient to hold some high official sta
ton, ia shelter under or fall back be-
hind for protection from our little mis-
demeanors, thinking thereby to evade {
our Just reward. Why did not A ]. P.
get some of those volunteered attorneys
to show the statutes that give the Coun-
ty Court power to make such appropria- {
tiOns and have them published In the
HERALD AND MAlL2 An unlawful act,
committed by the lowest contraband or
the President of the United States. does
not change the criminality ofthe offence.
Ignorance is no excuse nor chGFttY !
palliating circumstance in law. {
Who will get the credit for the 5000
appropriation for charity? The Justices
of Maury county or the tax-payersE or I
will not some gentleman claim the t
credit, having by his towering elo4uence
protrayed the duties of the magistrates
in such force that it was irresisti Die, and .
probably it will not be long before you
will hear of this champion of human
suffering, having an invitation to some :
city with the free privileges of the same 7
rendered; in other words, dedd-hedded. /
Can A J. p. tell US if any other county l
in Tennessee has made such an appro- |
priation? ssEven Shelby did not, Gf we I
are rightly informed) and Davidson re- {
fused even to have the motion enter i
tanned before her County Court. The
State of Tennessee seems to be full of
uncharitable Magistrates. Not another
county can be found but was as hard
hearted and uncharitable as the one
man in Maury county, said to be con
tending for the pound of fiesh," and the
taxpayers of Maury county will place
the seal of disapprobation and con~
domination upon the justices for such
wanton arrogance After the $500 char
ity appropriation was made, it was I
moved by some one that $40 be given to t
an old poor widow OF Maury county,
(abOut 20 years old, her husband having (
been in the battle of New Orleans,) to
take care of her lunatic daughter. What |
do you suppose the Magistrates did 7
with the motion2 Refused to give it,
upon the grounds that this Iunatic 7
could go to the poor~house, and that !
there was no law for making such al
lowances in the county. Had you not {
Immediately before appropriated the t
$500 for charity in Memphis without
law? Why go back on yourselves and r
refuse to assist the poor 0ido'0 and her t
Lu1lGtic daughter of Maury county al i
most in the same breath? Did the $500 t
exhaust your charity, or was it distance t
that gave enchantment to the act, or a
was the $40 the hair that broke the cam g
els back?s + a
A J. P. seems to exult over our say q
ing, "that if the Magistrates would give
US jurors outside of their own body, that I
they would indict than every court"
Well, the last grand jury had none
which, we knew as we'll as A. J. P, but
how long? oh, how long, since such
circumstance happened before in oTr
Criminal Court, and what was the result :
CT this non> Magistracy grand jury? !
What did they do? Pitched right on A :
J. P. and his associate Justices for COM
hitting unlawful acts, land but for the !
Judges charge, who intorIaed them that 7
redress vas not through an Indictment, g
but'in the other courts) would have in
dicted every Magistrate in Maury coune {
ty, who had violated the law. They
were not after the Magistrates, particu- 6
-