The Sentinel=record., 1915-03-07
CITY ATTORNEY
 M'LAUGHLIN REPLIES
DECLARES HE WAS WITHIN HIS OFFICIAL RIGHTS IN SETTLING
 THE MOODY CASE.

l ing, which purports to be a criticism l upon me by $. A. Buchanan, l wish to say that l was never "prodded" by the communication written by Mir. Buchanan and addressed 10 the City Council, because l considered it colossal joke,
 It is true that l compromised the
 case with AIr Moody, because l really
 believed l was doing right, and the matter was entirely within my pro-
 vince as city attorney Mir Moody
 was charged with violating Section 10
 of the plumbing ordinance, which
 reads as follows:
 Any person, persons, firm or cor
 poration who may undertake to per form or have done any such plumbing
 or connections as provided herein without procuring and filing with the
 proper authorities an approved sure ty bond in the sum of five hundred ($50000) dollars, said bond to remain a force for term of one year from date of same; and without first obtain | ing such permit or who shall make fin l al connections or turn on water on any such job, or cause the same to be | made or turned on without first pro- curing from said inspector such clear ance and before the fees are herein after provided have been pad to tle city collector and his receipt issued therefor, as provided herein, or Who shall otherwise violate any of the rro- visions of this ordinance shall te deemed guilty of a misdemeanor ald upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars or more than fifty dollars"
 As you can readily see, MT. Moody was guilty of violating the ordinance by turning on the water in his house without having first paid his fees to the city and procured clearance from the plumbing inspector The fine prescribed in the ordinance for such violation is from ten to fifty dollars. Mir Moody was found guilty under the ordinance and was fined ten dollars in police court, and ap- pealed to the circuit court. He was fined for not paying the fees he owed to the city which amounted to $120, and, as you can see from the above
 section of said ordinance, if a jury found him guilty of violating the or dinance, they could assess a fine in any sum from ten to fifty dollars. l received S60 for the city as a compro-
 mise from Mr Moody. The city paid the costs. which amounted to $5.50.
 Shortly after the case was settled,
 the mayor went to the city clerks of-
 flee and filed a communication 10 the council, which communication had
 been written by NIT. Buchanan, but.
 owing to the tact that no name wa signed to it, the communication was never presented to the city council.
 Later I inquired of the mayo. WIy Bu- chanan had written the cOmmunicl- tion, and he stated that some one was objecting to the way 1 compromised the case; but | have until t3.s day
 been unable to find anyone who ob. iccted, with the exception of Mr. Bu- chanan.
 A second communication was then written by Mr. Buchanan, and upon my suggestion, il was signed by Al. derman Rigsby and presented to the city council on February l. Up until this time I had no desire to have the | matter brought before the city coun- cil. simply because I thought it was
 a matter entirely within my power as I,sV .s.,.,- a. would he eyerlastingly stirred up and agitated by Mr Buchanan. l was de sirous ot having MT. lRigsby sign the communication so that it could be brought before the city council and finally settled After explaining to the city council why had cOmpro missed and settled the case with NIr Moody, the communication was tabled by the city council, and was thereby sustained. The following aldermen were present and voted to table the communication Aldermen Petit,
 Rigsby, Ledwidge Williamson, Cart ney, Shepherd Borman. Sigman,
 W pod and Burgauer. Alderman Me.
 l-aughlin and Peden were absent and not voting
 Mir. Buchanan states that l work 10
 the satisfaction of the City Council
 and conduct them to my safisfac- tion.' His insinuation against the
 members of the City Council is re. spectfully called at this time
 1t is true that there is a hearty CO., operation between the City Attor ney's office and the members of the
 City council; but why should this | provoke any criticism from MT
 Buchanan? It is possible that ne could be wiser than those ten alder
 men who voted to sustain my action 1 in this matter?
 The gentlemen further states that
 my action, in his opinion, is an as sumption Of authority In my opin-
 ion. however, he is the only man in | Hot Springs wno is assuming any official authority. and I desire 10
 serve notice on him that will, so far as l am concerned continue the