The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1883-05-26
ORIGIN OF ACT o3.
! The Attorneys, Fees and Incidental
T.. Expenses. .l T.,
New Orleans Daily Item.l

| New Orleans Daily Item.l aF
~ An Item reporter called upon Comp.
troller J.,V. Guillotte for his views In
relation to act 93, which ia now oc
cupying SO much public attention. Mr.
Guiilotte was the clerk of the Sixth
District Court at the time of the
adoption of the constitution of 1879, and
mitted by an ordinance ofthat body.
In answer to the commissioners in.
quiry Mr.. Guillotte made the following
statement: H.uf M hi F
The State had entered into contract
with the Civil Sheriff (Ganthreauxl
and the clerks of the several District
Courts, for the collection Of delinuuent
taxes. tt.l
Under that contract We proceeded to
purchase the necessary books and en-
pfoyed extra clerks to press the collec-
tion of taxes. s'i'sds5@ ''';s is.f}4ssis a't
A short time after the assembling of
the Constitutional Convention, all
penalties on these taxables- were re-.
mlttedi and the clerks of courts and the
sheriff left without redress, so far as
the defendants were concerned. 1t was
then, that myself, to secure my ex.
penses and compensation, petitioned
the Legislature, and accompanied the
petition with an itemized bill in the
sum of fourteen thousand and some
hundred dollars. f,lt l
At that time no steps had been taken
by GauthreauX and others. I did IL
independently. After my bill and
petition had been reported fayorably
upon by the committee of tho House
(which they had been referred, Messrs.
Gauthreaux, Walsh and others inter-
ested, asked me to Withdraw my
petition and to join our interests SO rs
tc make one bill. .,,
/ consented to, this after some hesita-
ton. From that time on ! took no
active part in the bill {act 93) at all. l
Withdrew my bill and never bothered
my head until one day while I was
sick at home I was send for by Mr..
Gauthreauy, who wanted me to see
some gentlemen of the Legislature who
had voted against the bill, which was
TO come up on the next day on u motion
to reconsider, introduced by Mr.. Co.'S
grove. l then saw several friends of
mine among the members Of the Legis-
lature, and they afterwards voted for
the bill. .,-t s........ 4, .5.,e,., f.,t
=, At, that time there was no question
Of any expenses to be incurred in the
passage OF the bill, except payment Of
our attorney, John McEnery, Esq, .,
who was to get ten per cent. When
the bill was finally passed 1 caused Mr.
Alfred Moss, then my cashier, 10 make
out on itemized bill of all suits In
which petitions had been issued and
other pleadings had been had in the
Sixth District Court. The bill amount
ed 10 SS96i. / had thrown out n good
many suits. @ .. s-
We Gall parties interested) had
agreed not to sell the warrants issued
by the Board Of Audit under act No,
93, except by mutual consent. The
existence of this agreement caused me
to neglect to receive my warrants from
the Secretary of State, after everybody
else had them, except Mr.. John Curry,
clerk of tho Fourth District Court, who
received them at the same time with
myself. E a--a -.
On the day on which / received my
warrants was called upon by a re-
preventative of Sheriff Gauthreaux for
PCA SSht III 1hy utuOuut, rs
my contribution pro rata of the ex-
penses incurred in the passage of the
bill, amounting to $1,000.
This l declined TO pay until was
told that my refusal would cost Mrs.
Harper, the widow of the late sheriff,
the amount, as my proportion had been
advanced out Of her share. .iA
Rather than to make the widow lose
her money 1 paid, although never
having been consulted or made aware
of such an expense. A list was subse-
quently furnished me, supposed to
embrace the names of the members of
the Legislature who had received
amounts varying from $1,000 to $500.
These amounts were supposed to have
been paid them for their assistance in
securing the passage of the bill. do
not know myself that single man
received one penny, and was not q
party to the bargain, although con.
tributing to it under the above circum-
stances. ...
STORM ROUTES.