, 1870-03-20
cpoK COUNTY SALARIES.
:. .
Remarks Of Mr.. Turner, HI. Fitch
cook, Mr. Kediu, and 0thsrs, :.
=. in the Constitutional :,
Convention

The following Is IN extract from the proceed
iugs Of the Constitutional Convcntinu ral..iy
| to the fees and salaries Of Judges ad Clerk
In Cook County:
s1IAKs or JUDGES, ETC, OF 1n1 sppKH1o
COURT or CHICAGO
The CHATHAM. Nr. Hayes-l The GW1
viii rad tha ne1t section-Sectioa IS,
The Gest reAd Section 36, a. follows:
sEc q Ths 5adRes Of ss!d coura, and Z.
same salar.ea- payable oat Of The statc Treasury
such further compensation, to DC patd b. the Coun
compensation anall NOT be changed during shci,
IT. Roes. Nj. Chairman: We hsve made
no provision, so Tar, for paving County Attoe.
neyB out OF the State Treasury.
think it is not the theory Of the convention,
It wo have County Asto1neyst that they should
b paid out Of the Btste Treasury, but out Of
The County Treasury. think it viii be better
TO leave the provision cut.
. Ithcreforo moTe to strike outthe words " and
Stata's Attorneys" in the first and third lines.
Ar- ANTHONY. Mr. Chairman: desire to
BAY to the gentleman that 6tata's Attorneys
arc paid out Of the State Treasury 1t the pres
ent time supposed it uas fully understood
that they were to be paid out of the State
Treasury.
Mr.. HrrcHcocK. Mr. Chairman: I desire
to call attention to tho fact that II no prozi-
zion is made for the payment Of such attorneys
out Of the State Treasury, then, Of course, this
section will b inoperative- II does not re-
qulro that any compensation should in fact be
paid by the State to the State's Attorneys Of
Cook County, unless, either By the Constitu-
ton itself q by somo provision Of Law hertz
after, tho State's Attorneys Throughout the
State Ahail receive their compensation from the
State Treasury. In such case the attorney for
Cook County would take hia pay in the same
way md to the same extent; and II he is paid
any additional compensation, the burden would
be imposed upon the county Of Cook.
ton Of the gentleman from Fulton, (dr nosal
to strike out the words Estates Atto1ueys ~
where they occur in the section.
The amendment Of Mr. Ross WAS not agreed
The cuA1axAN. II there is no objection.
lection SO Will be declared adopted, ma
Clerk will read Section 80.
AA1ARIEs OF COOK coCes1Y coUHT oFT1uAIs.
The Clerk read Section SO, as follows
SEC 81. The Clerks Of Ill Courts Of Record, the
in said County Of Cook, shah receive salaries for
their services. e be NJ ed By law, which ahall be
PARABLE parable & quarterly, out Of The treasury OF said
the1r terms Of ONCE: but in no Case shall the high
est salary OF either Of said officers be as much as
tae eomgensatton allowed BY law to Judge Of the
determine By rule, to be entered Of recoru, the
number Of assistants TO be employed BY tho Clerk;
paid quarterly ont Of the treasury OF said county,
and ahAll not be Increased during their tesms Of
once. ~ fees, pelqulsMtes. M and emoIuments Of
shall be collected In such manner as ahal BE- pro
sidea BY Law, and paid into the treasury Of said
NJ. Tcasn- Nj. Chairman: 1hayo bean
opposed to that section all tie time, for the
REASONS which will proceed to give. l move,
therefore, to strike ont Of this aection the last
clause: AL fees, .peEquisites, and emolu-
ments Of ereg kind, Incident to litigation in
sa'd 9, courts, shall BE- collected il such manner
treasury Of said county," -
It is charged that the Clerk Of the Circuit
Court receives salary Of $4,000 8 year; the
Treasurer, about s6oo00; tho Sheriff about
SO oo9; the coroner 9l5, 900 to GO, 900 these
gate Of from s45,Qo0 to $50 900; the Connty
Clerk &3o, ,o0o; making grand total Of 9270,-
O0o- Now, By this section, We provide that al
these faea aha]l BE- paid into the treasury OF
Cook County, and ont Of that large unm there
% ahan be drawn ona for the psyment of the sal-
a1tea Of these officers, say It the rate Of q, ,oD0
making the maximum Of salaries e18, ,0oo, 1eay-
ing balance Of t253, 900 IN the treasury to pay
the interest upon her debt, or to be distributed
~ the Board Of Supervisors SOC proper by
appropriations. That EouM pay tie interest
Now, lot Us see where that sum Ia derived from.
Every man Who goes to Chicago and buys \
tract OF lind must pay dollar md half, or
such matter, 70 get his deed recorded. Tint
doltar and bali goes into tho County Treasury.
Now the point desire to make and to irnpresa
this latter clause, which AJAX to hAye stricken
out, we should insert another section, which I
shall be prepared to ot1er when the proper
tune comes, II this ia stricken out, providing
that the GenarA Assembly shall graduate the
ices Of othee,s in Cook County, go as to pay
e5s: l admit we cannot tell exactly what rate
Of fees will be necessary; but will it not be
better for Us to leAve that section just Is It will
be with tho clause stricken out, and let the
General Assembly reduce tho fees in Cook
County,
do hot wish the Cook County delegation to
s!1Jnsnese ~ that AN opposed to that county IN
the section upon principle. Il is imposing bur-
dens npon Euitois and purchasers Of land to
pay tho debB contracted for the benefit Of
Cook County. Two hundred and seyenty-two
Thousand dollars ID rough estimate Of the
amount g gathered from newspapers. and
!fom Cook County. The people ought not to
bc thus indirectly taxed to that amount OF to
any other large amount
Mr. MEpm Mt. Chairman: EARLY in tho
session offered N amendment, which was
sent, / think, to the Committee on Counties,
gentleman from Stephenson has here proposed
t provided that the fees paid in Cook County
for recording deeds should be one-hAH Of those
prescribed by law, !. e., ono-hAH Of those AZ
lowed in Ill the other counties Of the stato !;
and that the Shcri1's fees should b one-hAN
that tho fees OF tho Clerks Of tbeTxrious courts
should be one-haf Of the fees allowed in the
residue Cd the State; and then provided
that those ofsce1s should be paid by fees
out Of the rcsiduo; and the proposition
was in fact N article covering the very ground
that the gentleman from Stephenson proposes
The people Of Cook County, and those OF tho
whole State who do business in Cook County
through our public ofieezs would s2ve 1Azge
expense But my proposition received no con-
side.stio9. Il WIS lost cut Of Eight and have
not beard Of it since, until the gentleman from
Stephenson alr- Turner has resuuecsed the
very idea Incorporated in It.
Nov, while thie article provides that yatioua
officers herein named. ahAn be paid limited
sA1aries, and that their deputies shall only be
determine, and that ali the fees shall be p1id
into the treasury. out Of which these expenses
arc to be- hquidated, hare grave doubts
whether, after ne hare reduced our officers
down to limited salaries, there will ever
.be collected more fees than enough to par
them and their deputies.
Now, IN regard to the ccmpensation OF Cook
County officers, wish to make candid state
mcnt. They receive, unquestionsb1y. inordi-
nate compensation for the services Performed.
l think the amount stated, in the beat Of our
political CANVASS last fan, BY the newsnapesa
that were assailing what Was called s4the bar
nacle ticket was considerably exaggerated in
regard to most Of these officers. I do not be-
Geye any Of them received 580, 900 ! year. I
do not believe the sheri6's office netted a40,-
MI rf "a Tra. &
worth s5o, 900 year clear profit. Still, there
IL no doubt these Offices yield great deal too
much money. The terrible, disgraoefu1, and
demorA1xing scramble for thcse Offices which
occn1s IN any county, prove they are exceed
inSly lucrative and this convention can do
the people Of Cook County-ths Republican
party OF that county--no greater service in
the interest Of purity, Peaee, and unity
than By making the compensation Of these fat
odbceH comparatively lean I pledged myaeK
to my constltucnts, BY voice and vote, to do all
in my power to reduce the pecuniarJ v&1ue Of
Sas !hese of oesa They &c too t.t qRdonbtsdly
be cut down largely. In my mind, it i on1y
question whether the people would not receive
more benefit BY reducing the fees and saving
the money to the individual aud taxpayer, IN
the first instance, than BY attempting to. col
place The residue to he credit Of the Treasury.
I am fearful that very ama11 residue ever
weuld find It's way into the treasury an
apprehanRiso thai, With the multiplication Of
Deputies there would be little OF the uney
Il On ahs e. "Gaa r &c st oss. sa Of md t'5 II
fidelity also. They would be constantly
pressing the Judges to add more Deputy
Clerks and sheriRs, more Deputy Recorders,
more Deputy Trsasmers, and to Pay them high
Inst dollar Of fees collected from these immense
ec11rr4A nf income and the refnrr, vnn1d h. .