LOUISIANA. 



459 



At the regular session, or that of the " Halm 

 Legislature," a joint committee had heen ap- 

 pointed to investigate the accounts of the Au- 

 ditor and Treasurer. A report was made during 

 the extra session exonerating the Treasurer, but 

 charging the Auditor with keeping his accounts 

 in a contused and irregular manner, issuing war- 

 rants for fraudulent claims, distributing money 

 among the various funds in an arbitrary and 

 unauthorized way, and not properly accounting 

 for considerable sums which had come into his 

 hands. The committee recommended that 

 " Charles Clinton, Auditor of Public Accounts, 

 of the State of Louisiana, be impeached for 

 high crimes and misdemeanors." A resolution to 

 this effect was adopted, the proper committees 

 were appointed, and a concurrent resolution 

 passed the House suspending the Auditor, pend- 

 ing his trial before the Senate. He was not 

 brought to trial, however, and the subject was 

 disposed of by the adoption of the following 

 resolutions : 



Whereas, At the regular session of 1875, the General 

 Assembly of the State of Louisiana appointed a joint 

 committee to examine the books, accounts, vouchers, 

 and other official documents in the office of the Au- 

 ditor of Public Accounts ; and 



Whereas, Said joint committee have made at this 

 present session a full and detailed report of their 

 said examination to both Houses of the General As- 

 sembly; and 



Whereas, The said committee have made an unfa- 

 vorable report, and found that the said Auditor of 

 Public Accounts, to wit, Charles Clinton, has not per- 

 formed the duties required of him by law, and 

 that he has been guilty of high crimes and misde- 

 meanors in office ; and 



Whereas, Said report has been duly; approved by 

 both Houses of the General Assembly, it is therefore 

 ordered by the Senate and House of Representatives 

 of the State of Louisiana, in General Assembly con- 

 vened, that the Governor be, and he is hereby, di- 

 rected to cause suit to be brought against Charles 

 Clinton on his official bond as Auditor of the State, 

 and to cause the said Charles Clinton to be prose- 

 cuted for a misdemeanor. 



Suit was accordingly brought by the Gov- 

 ernor in the Superior District Court, before 

 Judge Hawkins. The charges against the Au- 

 ditor were eleven in number, including the re- 

 tention in his possession for some months of 

 moneys paid by collectors, instead of turning 

 them over to the Treasurer as required by law, 

 misapplying money belonging to the school and 

 other funds, and illegally issuing warrants for 

 the payment of claims for which no appropria- 

 tions had been made. The trial began on the 

 28th of June, and, after continuing five days, 

 and the evidence being all in, the court decided 

 to leave the question open until November, be- 

 fore hearing the arguments. A criminal indict- 

 ment was also found against Mr. Clinton at 

 the June term of the Superior Criminal Court. 

 In this he was charged with misdemeanor in 

 refusing to issue a warrant when required by 

 law, and in taking $2,000 from the special loan 

 fund and crediting it to the general fund; 

 with extortion in corruptly receiving a fee of 

 $1,000 for issuing a certain warrant, and with 



embezzlement of $20,000 of the public money. 

 His trial on this indictment resulted in a dis- 

 agreement of the jury on the 3d of July. On 

 the 21st of July Mr. Clinton tendered his res- 

 ignation of the office of Auditor, to take effect 

 on the 15th of December. 



In accepting his resignation, Governor Kel- 

 logg wrote : 



I desire to state that though in the discharge of 

 my official duty 1 ordered investigation to be made 

 into your accounts, and directed the law officers of 

 the State to prosecute the charges preferred against 

 you, I have never for one moment believed you to 

 have been personally guilty of dishonesty or cor- 

 ruption in the administration of your office. Before 

 the experts made their report I had examined into 

 many of the charges urged against you, and was 

 satisfied they were for the most part groundless. 

 The official report of the experts, whose capacity 

 and disinterestedness no one can doubt, and espe- 

 cially the views and information with regard to your- 

 self conveyed to me personally by these gentlemen, 

 together with the testimony adduced in the civil and 

 criminal cases recently tried, have only confirmed 

 my previous opinion. You have had very difficult 

 duties to discharge. Under the extraordinary cir- 

 cumstances surrounding your office during the past 

 few years, it would have been almost impossible 1'or 

 any one to till your position without incurring hos- 

 tility. Possibly a greater amount of political expe- 

 rience and tact might have enabled you to avoid 

 some of the antagonism and difficulties you encoun- 

 tered, but I have not failed to recognize the fact 

 that your official acts have been mainly actuated by 

 a singleness of purpose to serve the interests of the 

 State. 



The committee of experts alluded to was ap- 

 pointed by the Governor for the purpose of 

 examining the books and accounts of the Au- 

 ditor. They found these very imperfectly kept 

 and containing many errors, but not such as 

 to impeach the integrity of the Auditor. Many 

 of the discrepancies were due to clerical care- 

 lessness and the lack of systematic book-keep- 

 ing. The interception of money, and its use 

 in buying up depreciated w r arrants, were de- 

 clared to be a benefit to the State, whether 

 strictly legal or not, and in no way to the per- 

 sonal profit of the Auditor. The division of 

 funds was also declared to have been intended 

 for the public interest where payments on be- 

 half of certain funds were required, and the 

 special resources to meet them were wanting 

 on account of delays in the collection of taxes. 

 The conclusion appeared to be that while there 

 were much looseness and carelessness in the 

 Auditor's accounts, and wide discretion had 

 been exercised by Mm in the performance of 

 his duties, there was no evidence of intentional 

 fraud or criminality. 



No formal action was taken by the political 

 parties of the State during the year. The 

 Democratic and Conservative State Central 

 Committee, however, held a meeting in Octo- 

 ber for the purpose of calling a State Conven- 

 tion of the party. After some discussion as to 

 whether it should be in December, January, 

 or February, the following was finally adopted : 



Resolved, That, without reference to past > party 

 affiliations, all who are now opposed to radicalism in 



