Evening star., 1915-01-20
Louis A. Dent Appears Before
Judiciary Committee of
the Senate.
duties OF POSITION
3 THAT OF A MASTER
Service 20 Per Cent Personal and
: Cannot Be Properly Executed
( by Subordinates.

z The Senate committee on the judi
siary at its recent hearing heard argu-
ments from representatives of the Board
of Trade and the Bar Association and
from Louis A. Dent, auditor of the Su-
1reme Court of the District of Columbia,
against the bill which has been passed
by the House and is now before the
Senate Judiciary committee which seeks
90 give the auditor salary of $4,000 a
Scar in lieu of the fees by which he is
3ow paid.
Mr.. Dents argument now appears in
q pamphlet of twenty-nine pages. He
FIRST indicates the circumstances in
(which the movement against him was
pndertaken, charging that it was in the
gature of conspiracy of few disgrun-
4led htiSants before him, against whom
ne had ruled, his decisions having been
Eater confirmed by the court. Mr. Dent
potes that public sentiment in the Dis
srict favors the retention of the present
system. instancing the action of the bar
association and of the executive COM
fnittee of the Board of Trade and the
SuIl Board of Trade, which after con-
test in each case voted to oppose the
pending bill placing the auditors Office
On n salary basis Mr.. Dent then pro-
ceeds to consideration of the strict
merits of the subject, citing authorities
40 show that the bill would create an
anomaly in the judicial systems of the
Engllsh-speaking world, in that the Su-
Preme Court OF the District of Column
hia is a federal court, and the auditor
of that court is the master of the court
IAN the masters of federal courts be-
ing paid by fees.
In his argument Mr.. Dent gives special
attention to the question whether in wis.,
dom and equity he shall be paid by the
'IItigantS directly concerned in cases he
nlntieS, whether his SeryineS SboJ bo
reimbursed by all the taxpayers.
Mr.. Dents Argument.
"A salaried master in chancery," Mr.
Dent says, "is not known to the fed
eral judiciary or even the state ju-
diciaries, not to speak of Great Britain
whence the office first came with the
rest of our law. In the federal and vast
majority of our state jurisdictions the
master is specially named or appointed
in the order of the court referring the
case. and manifestly he can therefore
he paid only for his services in that
case out of the fund or by the Etigants
Therein tor there is no other source
from which to pay him), and on an
eauitab BILE basis measured by his serv-
ices in the case, within the discretion
and control of the court which appoints
him."
Mr.. Dent adds: However masters
may be appointed, and whether they
pc one or many, they are universally
paid by the litigants in fees controlled
by the court appointing them and
measured by the service rendered in
each particular case"
Continuing, Mr.. Dent says:
The difficulty with those who adyo-
cate this bill is that they not only fail
10 appreciate the reason upon which
the system is founded. but the char
acter of the office as we'll They think
because of the title of auditor, instead
of master, the officer is purely an ac-
countant. whose duties may largely be
performed by assistants under his d.
rections. But that is not the fact
The accounting work of a master
though often tedious, is the least i'm
portant and least troublesome as a
rule. There is, of course, some busi-
ness coming to the auditor of an al
most purely accounting nature, prin-
cipal1y the accounts of fduciaries in
trifing portion of the business, and
even in them often questions arise to
De passed on by the auditor.
Bulk of Work Is Personal.
The great bulk of the work and al
most the entire body of fees are the
outcome of the personal service of the
master. When accounts are to be cas-,
IT is not a question of what the figures
OF those accounts aggregate, but it is
the question of how they shall be as.
sembled under the application of prin-
ciples of law and varying facts 1,
frequently happens that a half dozen
principles OF law may apply to as many
ltems or an account, and always that
the 1acts govern the application of the
law; SO that the master must not only
be AN accountant, must not only be a
lawyer, but must of necessity in ap-
plying the law and the facts to the ac-
count personally cast the account az
well as prepare his findings of fac1
and his conclusions of law.
Il stated in my report to the Judges
that over 90 per cent of the fees col
lected were for masters work of &
purely judicial character. / think thai
was well below the truth, and that 7(
per cent would be nearer the mark
Under no possible conditions could this
work be done by clerical subordina tes
Naturally the question arises whether
there is any justice or merit in the
proposition to impose upon a master
work requiring his personal service
and then say to him you shall not have
the value of that service which the
httgant pays, but part of it shall &c
into the public treasury, or you shall
not be allowed to charge full value 70,
Your service to the htigant and so con-
tribute part OF your services to him
free Of charge. Moreover, even in the
purely accounting work there woul,
have to be a supervision by the audi
tor and an examination of the case, in.
VolvInS his personal service.
Must Examine Pleadings.
In practically all accountings the
auditor is required to pass upon claims
for allowances of commissions and
counsel fees. and this he cannot dc
without a full examination of the plead
fngs. well as reports of fiduciaries
10 ascertain the services of fduciarie,
and counsel, and thus be able to pas,
upon their claims. 1t results then tina
such accounting work as could be don.
by subordinates would be an incon
siderable part of the great volume Of
work Of the auditors office.
1T is III this respect that the atti
tudc Of those supporting the bill is il
grave error. II is true that the mod
crn tendency is TO abolish fee systems
but the tendency has been regulated
with some discretion. and changes hav,
been made when undoubtedly proper
not indiscriminately. The federal bank
ruptcy statute provides fees for tn,
services and expenses of referees; ex
aminers in chancery are paid by fees
masters in chancery are everywher,
paid by fees. The substitution of sal
aries for fees has almost UNIVERSAL,
been In purely ministerial offices, wher,
the official has merely to supervise :
clerical force who perform services To-
which small fees are charged aggre
eating a large income manifestly dis
proportionate for the services of such