Omaha daily bee., 1897-04-14
MORE HANDIWORK OF HOWELL
Creates Several New Offices for His
PopulistiC Friends,
SADDLES ANOTHER TAX UPON THE PEOPLE,
Leading Spirit i'm Pushing Municipal
Court nil Through the LeEisin-
ture, Thus Creating Another
burden for Omaha TO Bear.

The taxpayers have yet to be confronted
with the crowning outrage which was per
petrated by the legislative combine in which
IL. e. Howell and John o. Yeiser were The
leading spirits. This consists of house roll
No 450, providing for a municipal court In
Omaha, which bill passed both houses and is
now in the hands of the governor This
bill. IL it receives the executive approval
will create numerous fat offices for populists
who hunger for a stall at the municipal crib
and 1t will also saddle an extra expense OF
not less than s25, 900 year on the taxpayers.
For this tremendous drain on the treasury
the bill fails to provide a single compensat-
ing benefit.
The bill provides IN substance for mu-
nicpal court Of three judges at a salary OF
81, 900 year each. 1t also contemplates the
establishment of the office of municipal court
clerk, the head of which shall receive a
salary Of $1,000 year. The court is to have
jurisdiction in all civil cases In which the
amount involved is not more than 81 900, and
in replevin cases in which the value OF the
property involved does not exceed 81 900. 1t
is designed to adjudicate the civil cases Of
the county court in distinction from the
probate cases and also a considerable share
Of the cases now handled by the district court.
MANY FAT OFFICES.
The enormities OF this Dill are yet scarcely
understood by the voters and scarcely one
taxpayer in 100 realizes what 1t means. In
the first place, If the governor signs the
BILL 1t Will Immediately become operative
and the city council will be compelled to at
once provide the necessary quarters for the
court rooms, clerks office and jury rooms.
Each Judge must be provided with bailiff
and stenographer at large additional ex-
pense. 1t is obvious, moreover, that one clerk
VIII be absolutely unable to attend to the
records OF the court. He will have to have
a deputy and a force of at least three
stenographers and clerks. This Will bring
the total cost of the innovation up to not less
than $25.OOO year and 1t may run up TO
nearer $40, 900.
That the legislative combine was deter
mined to take no chances on losing the
salaries provided for in this bill is
indicated by the fact that it Is provided
that the judges and clerk of the court
shall be appointed by the governor. to hold
office until their successors are elected at
the next city election. which will occur in
April 1900. They calculate that during the
three years that intervene there will be no
difficulty in building UP machine that
Will be strong enough to enable the court
to perpetuate itself
When it is considered that this institu-
tion with its accompanying annual charge
of nearly 100000 on the taxpayers of Omaha
does not save dollar to Offset the expense
that it involves the animus of the bill is
self-evident. While it Is asserted by the
progenitors of the measure that it relieves
the district court of a part of its bur-
den, any one who Is familiar with legal
proceedings knows that such is not the case.
In the first place, the expense of the dis
trict court is charge upon the state The
taxpayers of Omaha pay their proportion of
the cost of maintaining the district courts
and they will continue to pay that proper
tion after the municipal court is es-
tablshed. The new tribunal however, is a
direct charge against the city and the en-
tire cost of its maintenance must be borne
by the property owners of Omaha.
NO SAVING TO TAXPAYERS.
1t is obvious that nnety-nine cases out of
100 tried in the municipal court would be
appealed to the district court by the loser.
The entire effect of the additional court
would, therefore, be to add one more wheel
to the process of the local courts and thus
make another fee for the lawyers, addi-
tional costs for the litigants and added op-
portunities for delay in the adjudication of
causes And all this without saving dol
lar and without perceptible advantage to
any one except the lawyers and the populist
oficeholders, who would thus be foisted on
the municipal pay roll. And still Howell
and Yeser claim public support on the
ground of the economy that they have
wrought in the city government. The bill
was introduced by Representative Rich, and
he said this morning that the governor
would certainly approve the bill and that
the appointments of the judges and clerk
would be made in few days. Here is the
salary list of the contemplated institution.
The salaries of the court stenographers and
bailiffs are fixed by law and the cost of
running the clerks office is computed at the
lowest possible estimate,
Three Judges at $1,000. 5000
One court Clerk...... l,6Uo
one deputy clerk. k..............,.......... 200
Two stenographers at $750.............. 1900
Three court stenCgraphers AT $1,000. 5000
Three bailiffs at O..................... 2,1OO
IOtal ''-'V
To this must be added the entire cost of
building and furnishing a municipal court
house. or the cost of renting a suitable
building which shall contain at least three
court rooms, two jury rooms and suitable
quarters for the clerks office. As 1t would
be necessary to furnish these quarters it is
plain that they could not be provided at a
cost of much less thar $1,000 or $4,000 a
year. This brings the total expense up to
H., ..