The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-17
STATES ATTORNEYS FEES.
Fly HUGH w. ROBERTS

IN The Age-Herald of last Sunday ap- peared special article in which an attempt was made to set forth the | amount of money which during the ad- ministrations of ex-Governor Conner and I Governor O'Neal has been paid to counsel other than the attorneys-general and their assistants.
 1 Irrespective of whether or not the in-
 yestment of practically s10o,000 for serv-
 ices of special counsel was wise or un-
 wise, or whether or not that investment
 netted the state 8 profit, The Age-Her- aids correspondent took the position and l still holds,.it that 1t is in justice to the | people that it be made known to them l just how much money has been expend- | ed in their behalf. In other words, it | Is held that even though special at- torney. through his professional efforts, might have done work for the state
 which resulted in great financial profit
 the people would be interested in know 1 ing what sum they had paid for that service.
 | The article in question, in some quar- l ters, may have created an erroneous im- pression to the effect that The Age-Her- aid was making an attack against cer- tain individuals. This was not the in- | tention of the article. It was not in criticism of ex-Governor Conner. or Gov | ernor O Neal or any attorney, or either of the attorneys-general, or either of
 their assistants. It merely answered the
 question, 'What have the people of Ala | 1~s. | for counsel during the administration of | ex-Governor Conner and the half-term of | Governor O'Neal?" The answer of that question was matter of interest, of im-
 portance. and to know the answer the people of Alabama were justly entitled. 1 In comparatively short newspaper story it would have been practically i'm
 possible to have gone into fullest de- tail concerning the service which every
 special attorney rendered the state. Fur | thermore, to have done so would have
 been superfuous, for through the news | columns of The Age-Herald practically every transaction of importance which
 has occurred in the state has been dls-
 played For instance. everyone was Ia
 miliar with the work which had been performed by D. W. Troy of Montgom-
 cry. The newspapers of Alabama have
 uot overlooked any accomplishment which
 resulted in financial gain for the state.
 Rut until the article of Sunday was pub usbed it was not known that for that l service a sum slightly in excess of 5000 had been paid. And because The Age
 Herald published those figures does not | I exorbitant. On the other hand, it was
 known that it was the first intention of ] the legislature to pay solicitors of coun- ties a5sper cent of moneys collected from foreign corporations, and 1t was natural
 and proper that at that rate MT. Troy should have been remunerated. But the ! people. whose money Mir Troy collected, 1 were entitled to know what percentage of the sum total was paid him for his
 services.
 Tho same statement might be made in
 reference to the other attorneys which
 were employed by the state. Allen & Bell
 of Birmingham represented the state in a famous criminal prosecution ana achieved success. Borden Burr or Bir- mingham rendered the state valiant ser vice in prosecuting alleged criminals
 Stalings & Drennen served the state In
 an important litigation, and no one has
 charged that their work was not or the
 most acceptable nature. Ed deGraffen-
 reid in advising Governor O'Neal end pre-
 barring bills for legislative action rem
 dered just service for value received
 E. B. Evins of Greensboro has repre-
 sented the state in important matters one of which was the investigation of the rumors in connection with the Alamo Gas | company and for two years has been
 alert with legal advice for the ear of the administration. Sam Will John served the state in recovering certain school lands and in prosecuting prohibition cases in this county. No one has charged that his work was not worthy. or that his fee was inordinately large. Identical state