The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-05-03
THE sHERIFF's FEES.
The Matter ms Seen from the Cfy's
Point Of View.

Point OF View.
In the matter Of the fees Of the Crimi-
nal Sheriff, Mr.. J. d. Houston, now In
litigation, and which has attracted for
months past the attention Of the COM
munity, the facts have been 80 far pre-
aented in the most general terms.
Without attempting to explain the I'M
broglio in detail, which would require
more time and space than the patience
OF our readers would bear, 1t Is, never
theless. proposed to place 1t before the
public in a more comprehensive shape
than 1t has been heretofore.
To-day the city's side Of the question
alone is given, the following being. the
result of an interview with Mayor Pills.
bury and Mr.. Brown, Administrator OF
Accounts.
The Mayor says ct the start that
Capt. Houston asserts that, through the
failure of the city to meet his demands.
he is compelled to run the Parish
Prison
AT HIS OWN EXPENSE.
"This would seem preposterous,"
says the Mayor, Gin the face OF the
books Of the Administrator OF Ac-
counts, az compared with Capt. Hous-
toms own figures and statements. that
Capt. Houston computes the cost OF
conducting the Parish Prison at forty
eight hundred dollars t$4s0o) a month,
during the months Of January, Febru-
ary and March, 1877, and that the books
Of Mr., Brown show that there have been
paid by the city to Capt. Houston for
three months over seventeen thousand
dollars ($17, 1000, or an average OF near
lv six thousand dollars ($6000) q month.
Now as to the Sheriff's fees the
OBJECTIONS ARE NUMEROUS,
and only a few of them can be given
here. First, the city objects paying the
Sheriff more than thirty cents per day
for feeding prisoners. The Sheriff claims
sixty cents, on the ground that when
Capt. Houston was elected he was fully
aware OF the fact that bill had been
passed by the Legislature during the
session OF 1876. fixing this fee at
thirty cents. It is true that the bill was
never signed by Kellogg, and became O
law by the lapse OF time provided by
law, and that on the 18th of March last
when the Nichols government came
into power by legislative enactment,
situated, were ordered to be promul-
gated. Similar action had been pre-
viously taken regarding the bill in the
Packard concern, in January, and the
act was promulgated both by Deslondes,
Packard's Secretary Of State, and by
Capt. Strong, the legal Secretary. OF
State. The bill provides that the law
shall take effect on the first OF Deem
Der, 1876, a date anterior to the promul-
cation.
IT IA cuNTENpEp
by the Mayor that it loses none of its
legal qualities on account Of the failure
of Kellogg to sign it prior to the first
Of December. The Mayor, however,
admits that 1t is a point subject to dis
cussion.
The next point made by the city is
that the Sheriff charges for turkeys
fees" which he is not entitled to. There
used to exist an item in the Sheriff's
fee bill providing for fee Of one dol
lar for receiving and discharging pris-
oners." This item became known, and
was charged as the turkeys fee,
which the Mayor claims has been abol-
ished. and hence the fee for receiving
and discharging prisoners, In the place
Of which 1t stood, Is necessarily abol-
ished
A third point relates to the reduction
from the Sheriff's fees for services rem
dered in the Superior Criminal Court,
the First District Court and the Second
Judicial District Court for the three
named.
The following exhibit shows what re-
auctions have been made by the Admin
istrator Of Public Accounts In this par
ticular:
BEDrrrTIoNs