El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1896-12-18

w. A. Irwin & Co............S1 S l sc
| Thomas Ehrenberg. ........... OC
Fassett & Kelly. ly.............. 6S &c
Street and sewer. er.......... II OO
Artesian well. Observation-Disclosures. 30 0O
! Mr.. Roberts for the special commit
tee on devising ways and means for
| collecting taxes. offered this report:
Now comes the undersigned members
of your committee On the most feasible
means of collecting delinquent taxes,
and with the consent and appro baton
of Judge Townsend, whose term of
Office soon expires, presents this, a
majority report of said committee:
Whereas. the councils of this city have
on many former occasions, employed
attorneys to assist the attorney then
acting for the city, in bringing certain
tax suits and in prosecuting certain
suits for taxes to final termination. for
the purpose of establishing precedent,
which suit or precedent would have
the effect of inducing large numbers of
taxpayers to pay taxes then delinquent,
or render future litigation SO simple,
with the precedent thus stablished.
that the attorney then represen ting the
city could act alcne.
Upon all of these occasions save
perhaps one, a certain fee has been
agreed upon with the outside attorneys
and paid by the city, and yet there are
now due and remaining unpaid taxes
way back to the seventies and the city
has received little or no practical
benefit from such services.
Now therefore, the said members of
this committee recommend that the
best legal talent available be secured
by a permanent arrangement, so that
services shall be perpetual as regards
present delinquent taxes, instead of
temporary, upon a contingent per cent
of the amount collected, so that the
city will be certain to receive some
thing in returs and the attorney or
attorneys thus employed will be inter
ested with the city.
J. l. STEWART,
E. G. ROBERTS.
This report operated on Judge Cold
well as red flannel skirt would on an
irrascible bull: and after taking little
time to read the document over, he
began strain of forensic effort whose
echoes did not die away ia the still
night air for some time. The judge
took high moral ground. He claim
ed with marked emphasis and JUNCTION,
that the charter said IL shall be the
duty of the city attorney to represent
the city in all courts and cases in
which the city is involved. The
speaker did not think it was proper on
the eve of new city election to be-
queath to the incoming administration
a city attorney. Such action was the
hight of impropriety, and its legality
might with justice be questioned, Ad-
ditional counsel can be secured to
assist the present city attorney: but
the powers it was proposed to give
additional counsel was clearly out of
place. 1t was in fact taking the busi-
ness of lawfully constituted attorney
away from him.
Mr.. Roberts called the judges at
tentiOn to the fact that the proposition
referred only to the cole ction of taxes
now delinquent to the city over a dozen
years.
Shaking his long index finger at Mr..
Roberts, Judge Coldwell declared that
he, Coldwell, had always been opposed
to delay and procrastination in the
collection of delinquent taxes, and
charged Mr.. Roberts with procrastina-
tion himself and with pursuing wrong
methods. Mr.. Roberts here laid both
hands on his knees as he looked over
to the mayor, and remarked, Your
honor | don't know what the gentle
man is driving at" The mayor COM
placently strOked him ample chin for
second as he sagely observed, "Well,
| guess we'll wait until he reaches it"
Then Judge Coldwell continued his
forensic flight, as he declared he had
all along NJ aintained that the suits in
question could not be properly main
tanned in court under the present
methods of procedure. IT is too late to
bring any of these cases now before
the January term, for the coming term
is for jury cases alone, and these are
ron jury cases. They cannot be brought
before the court until the April term.
object to saddiing the incoming
counc l with an additional city attor-
ney. While a majority of this council
can pass any ordinance they please,
they cannot over ride the laws of the
state of Texas.
Judge Townsend, the city attorney,
on being questioned, said the report
was prepared with his advice and
consent, and that it would not be H.
| legal to contract with a lawyer tC
collect the back taxes But Judge
| Cold well declared that the council was
on the point of returning to just where
1t was two years ago, to where it wa:
put by Billy Burgess.
Mr.. Stewart said the attorney to b,
employed to collect the delinquen
taxes would have charge OF the cases