Evening star., 1915-02-16
Justices of District Supreme
Court Abolish the I
Fee System.
ALL SURPLUS FUNDS
MUST GO TO REGISTRY
Proposition Has Been Pending in
Congress for Some Time-Dent
Refuses to Comment.

The Office OF auditor of the District
Supreme Court is to be a salaried one
after March l, 1915. The justices of the
court in general term assembled de-
cided yesterday afternoon that a COM
pensation of 5000 per annum is to be-
paid to the auditor out OF the fees OF
his office Any surplus over and above
the saiary OF the auditor and the ex-
penses of the Office, to be approved by
the court, is to be turned into the reg
istry of the court.
Louis A. Dent, the auditor declined
today to discuss the action of the gen
eral term. He had not received official
notice of the courts order he said. and
was first advised of the placing OF the
auditor on a salary when The Star rep
resentative showed him copy of the
the only comment of Mr.. Dent.
Pending for Some Time.
The proposition to change the Office
OF the court auditor from the fee sys-
tenn to salary basis has been pending
In Congress for some time.
a Dill to give the auditor a salary OF
*o.ooo year passed the House of Rep
resentatives. and is now pending in tho
senate, The Bar Association, the Board
OF Trade and Auditor Dent opposed the
bill before Senate committee. one Of
the grounds OF opposition being that
the office of auditor is a court office
under the jurisdiction of the court,
and should not be regulated by con-
gressional action as an Office of tho
District Of Columbia. The senate COM
mittee recently made a favorable re-
port on the House bill No action has
been taken in the Senate.
Inc Justices Of the District Supreme
Court were of the opinion that the au-
oitor is SO peculiarly a subordinate Of
tl,..t
the court without any action OF the
Congress to regulate the duties and
compensation OF his Office. With thi,
view the court adopted the salary rule,
TO De effective March !, 1915.
Text of the Rule.
Beginning as of March 1. 1915" the
rule says. ''the compensation of the
auditor shall not exceed $1,000 a year,
which amount shall be paid from the
fees Of his Office In equal monthly sums.
and the surplus over and above such
sums and the expenses of his Office, to
be approved by the court, shall be de.
posted in the registry of the court.
The auditor shall deposit all sums
in bank or banks. trust company or
trust companies designated for the de-
posit of funds in bankruptcy. and all
disbursements OF his Office shall be
| made through vouchers drawn on such
deposits on checks to be countersigned
by judge of the court.
The auditor shall account TO the
court on the LIST day of June. 1919
and every three months thereafter for
all his receipts and disbursements. and
generally as to the conduct of his
Office
The auditor shall give a bond with
surety. to be approved by the court. IN
the penal sum of $4,000. conditioned
~
duties"
Comment of Lawyers.
The comment on the courts order
among lawyers and members of the
Board of Trade who have opposed the
change in the method of compensating
the auditor has as its main text the
direction that the surplus of auditors
fees over S. 900 shall be paid into the
court registry.
Tho opinion is expressed that the
court should so regulate the fees
charged by the auditor that there
should be no surplus over the amount
of compensation which the court
wishes the auditor to receive. IL is
thought that to fix the fees for the
auditors work. to collect those fees
from iitigants and then, instead of
pa ying all of these fees to the auditof
for his work, to turn part OF the
amount through the registry over 10
the United States, is unjust. both to
litigants and auditor.
1t is claimed that the direction to
pay into the registry has no precedent
The purpose of the registry is to inn
pound or hold funds in litigation until
the determination of the right tothem.
on the part of specific litigants, in spe-
cific causes. The effect is for the court
to take the auditors surplus fees, hold
them for f1ve years and turn them over
to the United States. making the aud
itor do more work for the United states
than he is paid for.