The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-18

1t is probable that during the comin
week argument Will be heard in tn
Supreme Court of the District on the re
turn to the writ of mandamus issuet
against Director of the Census Merriam
asking that he be compelled TO make
remuneration of the population of Park
ersburg, W. Va. The writ was issued OF
Wednesday last at the instance of tn,
mayor of ParkersbuTg, who alleged thai
the census of that city, taken in June
last under the direction of Mr.. Merriam
is not correct. inasmuch as it states the
population of Parkersburg to be much less
than it is and is claimed to be by the
petitioner. According to the allegations
OF the mayor, as set forth, the official re-
turn of the population Of Parkersburg is
more than 1000 less than was shown by
an enumeration of the residents taken
under the supervision of the munIcipal
authorities. When Mr.. Merriam was
served with notice of the issuance of the
writ of mandamus he Immediately inform
I ed the Attorney General, who in turn. re-
ferred the matter to Thomas H. Anderson,
| United States Attorney for the District,
| who will represent the Director of the
| Census when the matter comes on for
| hearing.
| 1t is claimed by the mayor of Parkers-
burg that great injury will be done to the
interests of that city if the Director of
| the Census publishes to the world the
! population of Parkersburg TO be as stated
by his enumerators. In answer to this, the
Government NyiI al hot
PATTY of Parkersburg can secure no relief
| through the petition of mandamus for
what is claimed to be an injury, done by
the publication of the population as tabu-
lated by the census enumerators Aside
from this 1t will be claimed that the act
authorizing the taking of the census
leaves it entirely discretionary with the
director of the Census Bureau whether
or not he will cause 4 remuneration of
any city or district. 1t is said that if IL
should come to his notice that any ma
terial errors have been made in the en-
umeration of the population of any dis
trlct, and 1T appears to him that the error
would result in injury to anyone, then il
is within his discretion to cause another
tabulation of the residents of that dis
trict TO be made
1t viii also be asked that the writ be
dismissed on the principle that if any pri-
q A.
ton lad the right to demand through the
medium of mandamus to require the renu-
meration of any certain district there
would be no possibility of knowing when
the census would be completed. The de-
lay caused by the necessity for the tabu-
lation of the population of one city or
district, 1t is claimed by the Government.
would not alone hold up the official an
nouncement of the population of the Con-
RTegEtQndl nf xt-hi fg
but also the census Of the State in which
1t is located. and finally retard the COM
pletion of the population of the entire
United States.
The issuing of a marriage license last
Wednesday to Harry Lawson and Ada
Formyer recalls the trial conviction and
sentencing of the former to the peniten-
tiary in April, 1899. lawson was charged
with adultery, and his wife. Alice Law
son, was the principal witness against
him. In fact, she had been very in
strumental in bringing about his prosecu-
ton. Lawson was charged with having
committed adultery with Ada Formyer.
She was called to testify in the case, and
her evidence was remarkable for what
she did not know about the charge upon
which Lawson was on trial. Miss Formyer
disclaimed any knowledge whatever of the
circumstances upon which the Indictment
against Lawson was based.
Lawson was convicted and sentenced
by Justice Clabaugh to Imprisonment for
one year in the penitentiary at Mounds
vile, W. Va. Soon after his conviction,
his wife, Alice Lawson filed petition
for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and
desertion. The case was under considerd-
ton for many months. and ii was not
until last Tuesday that her petition was
granted. On the day following her former
husband secured marriage license for
himself and Ada Formyer.
In response to a communication from
Senator James Mcmillan, Chairman of
Senate Committee on District Affairs.
Louis A. Dent Register OF Wills, writes
as follows concerning the proposed legis-
lation for the regulation of the fees of
his office: 1T is apparent that the bill, |
on its face is intended to reduce the fees
of the office of the Register Of Wills and
Clerk of the Probate Court, and to tax
an attorneys fee on every proceeding in
that court. 1t can be easily shown that
the fees are not high. and. therefore there |
can be no reason for their reduction
Continuing, he says: THE Probate |
Court of the District of Columbia more |
properly designated as the Special Term |
(of the Supreme Court Of the District of |
Columbia) for Orphans Court business
has been steadily growing in Importance, |
more particularly in the past twenty-five |
years, during which time not only have |
vast numbers of people of wealth from |
all parts OF the United States come here |
to reside, but the native wealth and values |
of the city have increased enormously. |
The Register is not only the maker and |
keeper of the records of wills affecting
such extensive and valuable real estate
interests in the District. but he IS in ad-
dition the clerk of the Probate Court de-
termining upon those wills before they be-
come a matter of record. The proceed
ings of court of this character in a
city like Washington are vOluminous. the
issuing of processes, the recording of
wills, orders, and inventories and ac-
counts. the keeping OF dockets and in
dexes, the taking of bonds. the stating
of accounts and recording them, the copy
ing and certifying Of records, require a
large clerical force. AS matter of fact
the Register NJ Wills, clerk of the Pro-
bate Term, requires as large a force as
the Clerk Of the Supreme Court with the
six terms under his jurisdi1-
ton.
This Office is in need, therefore, of
fairly large revenue to sustain 1t; but
with its constantly increasing business
during late years, the revenue derived
has barely been sufficient to maintain it
in a haphazard fashion. For nine years
the Register has been forbidden by law
to alter the payroll. The Deputy Regis
ter receives but 81 500 per annum There
sS40. Practically all of the employees are
paid as 81 per diem clerks, about $52 per
month. The entire force is underpaid.
IT, |