Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-09-08
THE WORK OF REFORM.


A Man Who Considers County Trustees
q aUseIess Luxury-But He Wants the
Clerks let Alone Revenue frOQl
Suits Before Legisla-
tive Ignorance.
To the Union and American.
LEwIsBURG, MARSHALL Co., Sept. 5,
1S74.-I notice in a recent issue Of the
UNION AND AMERICAN a communication
signed Economy" and styled "Needed
Reform in which he makes several sug-
gestions, only one of which is calculated
20 benefit or III any manner relieve the
State OF her present liabilities; and that is
the abolition of the Office of County Trus-
tee-an Office entirely useless, and Of no
benefit whatever to anyone except those
who are fortunate enough to fill it. Now,
taking our county Of Marshall as an exam
pie and as an average, we have Tax Col
lectOr to collect our taxes, who receives
about 5000 annually; then we have a
Trustee, whose business is to pay the money
out, and who receives annually about
81 900.
Il must be remembered that the trustee
has nothing to do ibut receive, receipt for
and pay out the funds upon presentation Of
a warrant issued by the Judge or chairman
Of the County Court. The bond executed
by the tax collector, secures the whole
amount of State and county taxes; and il
would be equally as convenient 10 pay out
20 individuals upon warrants as it is to Iay
over TO the trustee. Neither the tax col
lectOr nor the trustee is actually engaged
more than three months Of the year in at
tending to his Official duties, and the col
lectOr can well afford to do the duties re-
quired of both Offices, at bis present salary,
or commissions. ..-
There are ninety-three counties in the
State, and assume thar the average pay Ofa
trustee is $1,000 by the abolition of the
Office, we will save to the State annually,
the neat little sumOf ninety4hree thousand
dollars (S93, ,OOO,) which is no Insignificant
amount in these hard times.
There is an additional suggestion would
make, and thai is, let or Legislature en-
act law taxing litigation before MagiS-
trates' Courts. Upon the issuance Of a
warrant for a sum under So, the magis-
trate should collect tax of ten cents; over
that amount and under $50, fifteen cents;
over that amount and under 500, twenty
cents; and twenty-five cents upon every
500, or fraction thereof when it exceeds
that amount.
The magistrate should, upon receipt of
the tax, endorse the same upon the war
rant, and a warrant without such endorse
ment, should be held void. IL should also
be made misdemeanOr on the part Of the
magistrate who issues such warrant.
There are at least 5000 magistrates in
this state, and say that they will enter an
average Of fifty judgments per annum,
= a.
judgments average in amount over $25 each,
(alSO a small estimate), we will derive
from that source the additional sum Of
S22,500, which, added TO the amount saved
| in the abolition of the Office Of trustee,
would reach the round sum Of S1l2,5OO
| annually. This, although a small sum in
the eyes of the average politician, would go
far toward paying the interest upon our
State debt, and, to that extent, relieve our
already Oyerburdened taxpayers.
Numerous propositions equally rs rea-
sOnable and practicable as those / have set
forth might be made, but, in order that
NAV not encrOach upon your valuable
time, l will omit mentioning them at
present.
There is one matter in which Econ
omy" has gone beyond his depth, and that
is where he proposes a reduction of the
fees Of clerks Of the different courts
throughout the State, in the vain hope that
the expenses Of the State may be reduced
by smultiplied thousands" Now, if he
will mingle with his zeal for public good,
(Which is commendable) little snlatter-
! ing of law, he viii become convinced, that,
however large are the annual amounts paid
to clerks, they do not affect the liability of
the State in the least; for clerks thrive on
litigatiOn-nOt on taxation. II he viii
slime the Grangers' and keep out of law
suits, he will never be burdened with the
salaries % Of clerks, who are paid just in
proportion to the amount Of work or labor
| done. There is more business done in
some counties than in others, and it would
be Just as easy for Judge Ferris, of your
county, 10 attend to the business Of all
your surrounding counties, as it would be
for James T. Bell to do all the business of
the County Clerks Office bylhimSef.
Suppose upOa "EcOnOmy's" own PROPOSE
ton, we equalize the salaries of clerks with
that of the judges, then we will give to the
clerks Of Lewis and some of the mountain
counties a sum exceeding their State taxes,
while to Davidson, Shelby, Hamilton,
Montgomery and Knox, we give like sum
IS, 500, which would not actually pay
clerk hire. At the above salary, would
any one, even Economy" himself, give
bond and become responsible for the faith
full performance of the duties of clerkship
in either of the last named counties? Ger
| tainly not.
Clerks Of all courts, from the circuit to
the Supreme, receive fees for their services;
and, as a salary would do great injustice to
| clerks in some instances, and to the State
/ in others, and upon the whole, benefit no
one particularly, say let them alone and
make war upon those who receive their
support, vampire-like, directly or indirectly
through the State treasury, such as Judges,
chancellOrs, the State Treasurer, the Secre-
tary of State, Comptroller, the State Libra
rian, the State GeOlOgiSt, the State Super
intendent Of Public Instruction, and the
grand army of tax collectors, trustees, etc.
Let us also devise some means by which
we can hasten the trial and punishment of
crime, and thereby save "multiplied thou
sands" in the way Of Jail fees, witness fees,
officers fees. etc.
One great fault and disadvantage we
labor under is attributable to the fact that
men sent to represent us in the Legislature,
are, in a majority of cases, entirely ignorant
Of the present ialcS; consequently, they do
not know what laws should be enacted or
repealed, nor whether the present evils are
in the laws or in tee officers to whom their
execution is entrusted. / know a certain
gentleman who served a term in the House
of Representatives, who introduced bill
making drunkenness misdemeanOr, when,
in fact, il had been such under the law,
usage and p:actice, ever since the organiZa-
tiOn Of the State.
This wholesale ignorance in the Legisla-
ture begets the present multiplicity of un-
necessary, conflicting and oppressive laws;
and the evil can be remedied only bg pldc-
ing men IN Office I5ho are qualified to I'LL
the respectire positions TO trlich they as
pire. Nothing short Of this will relieve US.
Respectfully, HENRY 4. Moss.
CHATTANOOGA.