State ex rel. Gilmore v. Brittin

Citations

• 52 La. Ann. 94

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.</p> <p>1. 'At the time of the adoption of the Constitution of 1898 the salary of the City Attorney of New Orleans was, under the Constitution and laws then in force, $3300 per annum. The present- Constitution,. in superseding that of 1879, declared that all officials then in office should hold their respective offices until their terms expired and should receive the compensation as fixed by tire Constitution and laws in force at the date of the supersession, except as otherwise provided in the new organic law.</p> <p>2. This can be given no other meaning than that the officials holding under the ' old Constitution should continue in office under the new during their respective terms and receive the salaries thereto attaching, and none other, to the end of their terms. This, of course, not applying to those officials coming within the exception “as herein otherwise provided” (Art. 323, 5th Clause.) whose salaries are established by the Constitution itself.</p> <p>3. One claiming an official salary greater than that which he has been receiving must point to the provision of law which, with certainty and beyond doubt, authorizes it. Otherwise the courts cannot sustain his demand.</p>