The New York herald., 1879-03-18

himself or his assistants in his their official capa
OF all fees. perquisites and emoluments which
he was entitled to demand and receive
by him in his official capacity pursuant to law. and
also to the neglect and refusal OF the said clerk to
keep such books open for inspection at all times
during business hours by all persons desiring to cx-
anime tho same. The sixth. seventh aud eighth
charges relate to his neglect to transmit to tho Comp
the accounts of the fces perquistcs and cmouments
collected and received by him as the law requires
The ninth, tenth. eleventh and twelfth charges
relate to the demanding and receiving of fees in
excess Of those allowed by law. copy OF the
charges served upon the cork the 18th day or
January 1872 with an order to show before me
on the 10th of February why he should not he re-
moved from office, on which DAY he APPEARED @ IN IN
The charges The questions involved in the charges
and answer were fully and ea5orately discussed on on
statutes alleged in tho charges to have been violated
by the Clerk
cscctions o and 10. chapters 81, laws OF ls4O.I
SIC o 1t shall be the duty of said surrogate clerks and
provided Ter that a the sspsnas q
and s%oiS@enss actually resolved Sy cuicc renpoct
lively BY ~ S s % ' srr a s & T.
state and Of all fees pe.aasi.ss and s'9ans.,s which
ss. 81 e% n sr rS Capacity
whom such service shall have been potsor%od M s
tunes M S" be Ssso to ao a nj ss d.
s%i sns eas ,ss S%'
the S Of the os II which a,s, they ss S
such form NJ shall Be prescribed BY the comp,roer
s snd s f % and S wSa IL. sSs
the expiration thereof the Comproller OF said city and
sSS"s sa e S'a Witch
% .as a oss for
r ments, for services done by them Of their assist
s ss since
Ss tos "o from each person
sas sna % OF s H s
@ % % @ s S ea s%
of any law ot this state since making preceding
whs hs sn asvs %as to By s Ss
s s Of OF the 90
mitscd ~ich iroer shall be positive and not upon
Second second R. s. ,Edmonds' cdnon o,s and $50.
Sealing wrt exempliiration or certificate, when
Ee cas s'S but not to be
w Sr SsrynF IT to be copy for the copy
Recording 0a real O. estate and all osnss IN
other TO whom any fees 50
other Gee reward for such service
se fec or o%od BY law shall Se
% % r
src violation Of either Of the two last sections shall
nEpusAr TO SHOW THE BOOKS
It is very clear that the object Of these statutes
was to prevent any abuse OF the powers conferred
upon the Clerk; to prevent auy exactions by him OF
fees not authorized by law to provide stringent
measures to secure the payment into the city
treasury of all tho income of the Office; to enable
the public to know specifically what the in
come of the Office and the compensation Of the
the best means of reaching these ends The require
that he should specify the amounts he was en-
titled to receive and the names OF the persons pay
ing for given service evidently designed to
guard against any collusion between the Clerk and
outside parties to evade the law. The inquiry now
is, Has the Clerk fully and fairly obcyed these
statutes has he either violated or evaded thcnl?
/ Erst--Has he kept the books of account required
by section g. chapter 432 Of the Laws Of 1S47
exact account OF all fees perquistes and emoiu-
ments actually received by him for any service done
by him or his assistants IN ms or sheir omciai ca
any person for any service rendered by him his
assistants in his or their Official capacity pursuant to
law. showing when and for whom snch service shall
have been performed its nature and the fees charge
able therefor?
The books kept by the Clerk and purporting to
contain the accounts required by the statute above
cited werc not shown to the persons making the
charges before those charges were presented. Upon
the bearing of tho charges specimens OF the books
kept by tho Clerk were produced, as stated in his
answco they fall very far short OF the require
service in any action. they simply give the title OF the
cause with reference whatever to the nature of the
emoluments received by the Clerk. and which he re-
tains for his own compensation. They do not give
For numerous services and payments OF the GAME
they show account whateycr They do not
show any receipts for searches The act OF isss M
for searches for his own compensation In
addition to the salary to which he was. entitled by
in any other Which have been able to find. relev-
ing him from the duty of keeping the account as
required by the act OF 1s47. It was conceded
the argument that by far tho largest amount OF
the emoluments Of his office came from the
searches. His counsel stated II to be at least
nineteen twcntieths of all the receipts, yet
account whatever Is made OF them In his books
Of account. Consequently. Notwithstanding the
xo of1o
public to know what the einoluments OF tn
Office IL Is impossible to ascertain that fact The
statute upon this subject quoted above, clear and
plain as ii is has been and habitually dsregarded
1t Is not possible for the citizens Of New York to
ascertain from these pretended accounts what
should be paid to the public treasury, nor to ascer-
tain even approximately the amount Of compensa-
ton which the clerk receives for his services. The
law is thus disobeyed and its whole object defeated
YEARS OF ABUSE IN OFFICE.
iSecond-Have the books. such as they were. been
eat all times during Office hours kept open for tho
inspection, without any fee or charge therefor,
Of all persons desiring 70 examine ss ~ the samc.
niable fact that the citizens OF New York who
present these charges, made repeated efforts to
see the books during business hours in the clerks
Office but were not permitted TO them unt;l
specimens Of them. as stated In tho answer
The excuses made by the clerk in his answer
for his refusal to exhibit them wholly insult
ns tSS snS consist ha Of to 2,
the books. charging upon them political 1n-
trigue against himself. know Of nothing in tho
to warrant any such imputation except such
unsupported assertions as have boon made by or on
behalf of the clerk himself 1t is due to tho nit
tee 10 say that far as have any knowledge and so
fur the proceedings before are concerned, these
structures wholly without foundation. The com
mittce had most ungracious task to perform. They
had to grappie with abuses which had grown mp
through many years OF endurance.
have never heard from the gentlemen presenting
the charges directly indirectly, single suggestion
q to who what manner of man should take tho
place Of the present incumbent II he should be re-
moved But IL the allegations Of the clerk in this
respect were all true they would avail nothing
against the plain language OF the law. II would give
him right to sit in Judgment upon their motives
in seeking to examine those books. The clork
does not the books the Office which
he holds. The Office and its contents belong 10
the people of the whole county without distinction
of party. Every citizen Of the county has the right
under the law to examine those books. The clerk is
but the agent and OF the people, chosen to
administer the duties Of Office established. not to
benefit its occupant but to accommodate the whole