The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-06-08

report and account for all other mon
eys received by them in their official
United States or otherwise, and the
attorney general may hereafter pre-
scribe such docket or dockets, or other
books, as he may deem proper to be
kept and used by such clerks in re-
cording and accounting for moneys
mentioned above in this paragraph,
and in recording all fees and emolu-
ments earned by them, which dock
cts or other books shall be kept and
used by said clerke in accordance
with rules and regulations prescribed
by the attorney general"
Other Charges Made.
But this is not all. The department
Of justice has yet other counts against
the clerks. And the chief of these is
that it is the wish of the department
to do away with the fee system OF
paying the clerks altogether. For this
legislation is also asked For instance.
it is shown that under the fee system
it is possible for clerks in some dis
tricts to make as high as $4,000 per
year. The supreme court has defined
the law all the way through in favor
of the clerk, and unless legislation can
be had to fix it. some clerk where
court is held by the same Judge in
more than one town, can draw as
much as eight mems pay at one and
the same time. Under the per diem
which clerks are allowed to charge,
the evil is most extraordinary. There
are two places for holding court In
the northern district of Mississippi,
and the clerk was found charging per
diem for himself at his headquarters
and for his deputy at the other place
of holding court, so that in one quar-
ter ISL per diems were charged and
the court was in session only one day.
But the supreme court has held that
a per diem can be charged whenever
any paper is filed or any business
whatever is done, whether the court is
sitting or not. Mr.. Glover told the
committee all about this singular fea-
ture of the snap enjoyed by the Unit
ed States court clerks.
"The judge of the district court for
Kentucky lived at Louisville, and
many orders, often short and unim
portant, were transmitted to the clerk
him. said Mr.. Glover. "In very many
of these cases it was not at all ne
cessary that the court should be OPEN
ed to enable the clerk to enter the
order, but the orders approving the
several accounts of the clerk stated
that the court was open for the trans
action of business and the judge pres
ent Later, an examiner found that
the court was not open at all, but
that the orders were entered in the
absence of the judge On that report
per diems were charged amounting
to 1895 and disallowed by the depart
ment, but the clerk sued for the money
and recovered under the decision of the
supreme court of the United States.
"The clerks are charging from twice
to ten times as many per diems as
they did before that decision was
handed down by the supreme court,
by which they charge per diem wheth
er the court is sitting or not, SO long
as a paper is filed or some business
done. The Kentucky clerk 1 referred
quarter, the court sitting in four
places and he being clerk of both
district and circuit court in each place
If the earnings of the court amount
to that much in fes he can collect
$4,000 per year for each Of these eight
jobs"
The department asks congress to |
pass a law bringing the clerks down |
from the altitude they have reached |
in this matter and also to make them
get along with what an ordinary. man
would ask for doing the work they |
do. The test will come when the
sundry civil bill comes up in the house.
The subject is one Of great interest
to attorneys and litigants in United
States courts all over the country.
San Francisco Earthquake.