St. Landry democrat., 1878-04-06

of the State in the courts il conducted
more economically than that of any
| prisat" li'iyant. The saving. however,
! 10y economies IN salaries is only Il part
of that accomplished. The fees have
| been reduced to su, h an extent aS to
make the office practically only s;tlarlrd,
per cent only, in litigattd eases, being
allowed, to he paid by The debtor, i'll
stead of the fees which wtle permitted
| since reconstruction and btfur" the war.
| 1t IL difficult to reach IN accurate eStl-
mate ut the savings by this reduction i'll
fees. hut it may reasonably be estimated
AT $4,000 to $4,000 per annun.
IN THE LAND OFFICE.
| In this office Il saving of $4,000 per an
mum has been made.
IN THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
| Passing from the executive, let me
enleavOr to point ont the reductions in
| the cost of the judicial branch. Being
a constitutional department, Of course
1t WAN, in a large measure, removed
| from Legislative action. However, one
! ut the earliest acts WAS all instruction to
the judiciary Committee at this body
| to prepare IL plan of redistrlcting the
State, which was matured and wnulH
have been productive when adopted of
ii large saving, but which WAS not acted
on because of the decision of the Su-
preme Court in the case Of the Latfay
cite Fire Insurance Company, as to the
unconstitutiunality of making change
of ii district during the tenure of office
of any judge. In the salaries "f pariS|,
judges, however, which We're within the
reach OF Legislative action, Il reduction
was at once made, which, joined with
the repeal Of the act allowing the SUI
preHt Jutl gts com mpenSatlOn besides that
fixed i'll the constitution, operates III
hnis'al saving of $64.500 per annum.
h.n awur, that the REPEAL of the law aS
to the extra compensation of the Sn-
prtnlr C.nut Ji,l2 2ts can scarrriy n- de
signed ;,~ Il ult.t>tl!:- ttt lr"islativs teOu"-
my, l"cnuSs' hothiug "t''i'd ever have
'Hth Il, jNn al'i.t ~ "Ir> i~it'ns 10y the
Irainsh < ..ti.n<-i! ''s':.'. i,i"in itt
:Suplt 3uc i, nril at l.: State. tu ! NELL
lnn II, IL, ~lni'Iy 10y way at calling al
ssnt:,,n % Its ltI~hl. Nnnllltl ecnnOn,
- t..is department. run;d have been
la;lr l:E legislative action, owing t" re-
>tr:ctlniS nf the constitution. The
.'"m' d. a> I" the constitution | propose
notice hrreattrr, in discussing the
constitutional amendments.
IN THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
In the Legislative department. whicI,
has been hitherto the greatest source Oi
,ntse anl extravaganza, every economy
ttlat could reasonably be expected iuI
HE future has been made.
Since reconstruction the Legislative
EXPENSES have been annual. Az follow ::
.s69 Observation-Disclosures. 56l .80l "
$40 NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 704.5.4 0O
1871 Observation-Disclosures. 67l ,392 10
eT2 -.................-.-.-.. 230,sl5 20
1878 S73.....-.......... Observation-Disclosures. 30i,6Ss uu
STA NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. .-....... ioS.oZ5 81
IN average Of $454,93 So per annum
,nr THESE seven years.
In 1877 the total appropriation for tn.
regular srssion was Sl50,0OO, and this
although the law un,lrl nhict. the tx-
peiISt.s were li.;:,ie III 1877 Was Identical.
with thai III existence. since 1879, SHOW
ing i, savlng OF 1904 935 63 uiade by
..cOnOiny alone.
In 1878 like saving has been nbtained,
know, Mr. Prt>l,tent, the unfortunate
difference which has existed un tins t1nui
and in the lower blamcIi 0l the General
Assembly, as to the cunstitul iunali.y Ut
4 change III the Inorlluate cun.ptli ID
tiun allow I'd by the act of 1872 being
n.ade, SD as to take effect ulti ing the
Germ of the House of Representatives
ny which such change Was made.
Whist, individually, no exertion WAS
spared 10y me to have the change made,
,ud whilst my efforts We're turthereti 10y
{, large n,aiurlty of the members of the
dominant party, and resisted by, | be-
tieve, an almost unanimous vote nt the |
Republicans ON this floor, which, joined
Allll the vote of some ut my party
friends, prevented the change from
being made, believe that the votes ot
many, il not all, of these gentlemen
were the result of constitutional con-
victiOns as deep as my own, and 1t Is
not my Intention to reopen Il ulsclls-
sion of this question, but simply to point
ont the great result obtained for the
future by the act of 1873. Under its
provisions every vestigt Of constructive
mileage llas been wiped out. The per
diem has been reduced below the niax-
lill.ti.l of the constitution; the pay Ot
employees reduced as well as the nuin-
her, and Wholesome safeguards have
been created against extraHaganct' IN
tile future. Under that act, allowing
for every contingency, the expenses for
AN annual session ut sixty days ought
not to exceed $4,000, anb will prntabiy
not OverreHeh $4,000. showing a reluc-
tiOn of $50, 600 tln.l the coss af the ses-
Oh 1914, anu Sl ToV9,ooo oo AhhN"AaJ WV
the average EXPENSES Ut the seven years
from 1868 10 1874. -!
SI,unid the apportionment bill passed
ut this stssiOn tsccntie4 Il law, this sun,
will lee fnrtI,, reduced probably from
$1,000 TO $1,000. lt will im said in All
swer tu THESE figures tiiata comparison
with the rttOn>ti ucitun X slnlr Is harsll.
il fair erltfIinn nt prop ! tcoD"nt.
have tndeatnntl hi'il"it,, an ] prulH'Nr
to do heltattfr, t. gtiup!re not only
viii, the reconstruction rtgine tlt viii,
tf,at existing before lis inception.
The Legislative EXPENSES prior to the
wdr were as follows:
In 1-53. four months session. sl27 ,00o
IN 1854. two mouths -esslun. 75.OU
In 1856. two months session. 90,O0O
In 1876. two uiept hs' aessiG ,---.-.-....-. su.0
III 1857, two mOIts' session lb0,oOO
In 1858, twS nHlttis' &c sion T7,o00
III 1859, rwo mont hs' session ...........- $1,000
In 1860, two muItns' session ............ 100000
$74;.OOO
Yearly average fDrright years $93, 200:
Showing that under the pslsisinns "t
the act Of 1878 the expenses of the GEN
r,;sl Assembly will be lower than the
average from 1854 to 1860 by pruhabl,
$4,000, and possibly $2o, 900 per atlnunl.
althu.,gll the number of members, ii !.
mistake NOT, il grtatfr now than then.
Passing frtiln these figures, LET me en-
d..avOr to examine the benrtiriaI legis-
iatiDn passed Hp to this date by this