Speech #580087949

The next statute is this: No clerk of a district court shall be allowed by the AttorneyGeneral to retain of the fees and emoluments of his office for his personal compensation. over and above his necessary expenses. including necessary clerk hire. to be audited and allowed by the proper hccounting officers of the Treasury. a sum exceeding $3.500 a year for any such district clerk. or exceeding that rate for any time less than a year. Again: Every clerk shall. at the time of making his halfyearly return to the AttorneyGeneral. pay into the Treasury. or deposit to the credit of the Treasurer. as he may be directed by the AttorneyGeneral. any surplus of the fees and emoluments of his office which said return shows to exist over and above the compensation and allowances authorized by law to be retained by him. Under this statute this clerk collected $3 for every naturalization paper. It was the custom for years-