Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1893-05-30

to the County treasurer. Unit
ten days ago the Headlight as
sured its readers that there was
suit pending in the supreme cour
Of the Territory involving the sam,
points as are involved in the sui
which has been commenced b,
the County commissioners of thi
County against Col. Lockhart anC
his bondsmen. As has been stateC
by the SOUTHWEST SENTINEL al
along this suit was purely myth.
cal and since the Headlight hal
discovered that its position coulC
be maintained no longer ii hal
maintained as dignifed a silenc,
on this point as it could under the
circumstances. The Headlight
has been abusing the County com.
missioners for putting the County
to the expense of bringing a suit
which it insisted was entirely un.
necessary on account of the suit
pending in the supreme court and
has been defending Col. Lockhart
for refusing to pay over the money
until the case should be decided
If there had been such a case in
the supreme court there might
have been some excuse for the
course of the Headlight, but as
there is no such ease in the SUI
preme court and never has been
one of the kind, the Headlight
was either disappearing the
state of the case to its readers, or
it took mp a fight which it knew
nothing about. We can hardly
believe hat the Headlight would
misrepresent the situation inten-
tionally and are forced to the con-
cluslon that it was led into its pre-
sent unfortunate position by de-
signing parties who imposed upon
its credulity and took undue advan-
tage of it's ignorance Of the con-
dition of affairs, thereby getting it
to take a stand which it has been
forced to abandon. A little time
ly investigation would have saved
the paper the humiliation of hay
ing to acknowledge its erroneous
position.
AS for Col. Lockhart's defense
of his position, he might better
have remained dumb as an oyster.
He uses nearly e column of space
in the Headlight to prove how
solicltous he has been TO determine
to whom the money collected by
him should be paid. How dill
gent he has been is best shown by
extracts from his own letter. He
says:
I'm October, 1891, Mr.. E. Wild
er, Treasurer of the Atchison, To
peka d Santa Fe railroad company,
addressed me a communication in
which he called my attention to
the fact thatcertain items of the tax
levy for that year for territorial as
well as county purposes were i'll.
egal and improper, and that the
railroad company in view of such
illegal and improper levy, declined
to pay the amounts thereof into
the territorial and county trea.
suries."
After that time the illegal ta1
fund began to accumulate and a
the time Col. Lockhart went GU.
of Office it amounted, according t.
his own statement, to nearly $22,
900. When he went out of ofic,
he refused to turn the amour
over to the treasurer of this Coun
ty and gives this IS his reason:
at was understood at the time
that a suit which would determin,
the question as TO the legality
of these %levies, was pending befor,
Judge Seeds at Santa Fe, anC
that, whatever the determination
of those proceedings, the cas-,
would be carried into the suprem,
court for final determination. I'm
mediately upon service being haC
in the present suit against me anC
my sureties, 1 t~elegraphed TO So
licitor General Bartlett request
ing him TO inform me as to tn,
status Of the then pending suit
and then send transcript of tn,
decision"
Although the case in Judg,
Seeds court was decided month.
ago, Col. Lockhart waited unit
service was had in the present sui
before he telegraphed the attor
ney general in reference TO tn
supposed suit and the attorne,
general advised him that no ap
peal had been taken in the case
IL Tho noasess;op of tba mona,