The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-01-07
A Daniel Come to Judgment.

sional advocate OF practical reform as well
as constant shrieker for militia and mar
tial law in the upper counties of the State,
prints capital article urging the General
Assembly, refreshed by Christmas carousing,
to compel men to pay the poll tax. The
Union suggests that ''no man shall vote
''untii he has first paid the tax" With all
our heart. But the State Constitution, article
| 10, section 5, provides that ''no person shall
"ever be deprived Of the right ofsuffrage
sfor the non-payment. OF said tax" This
proviso was intended to prevent the enforce
ment OF the collection Of the poll tax from
those who haveno personal or real prop
erty. And it does it very efectually.
The Union next recommends that some Of
the useless and unnecessary salaries now
paid to school officers be cut of andsthe
amount added to the pay Of school teachers.
''Poor pay, poor preach" is an old adage-
as true Of the knights and danes of the
ferule, as it is untrue OF most Of our officials,
whose public utility is in the inverse ratio OF
the amount of their salary. Our contem:
porary wants to cut down the pay Of the
county commissioners, and is amazed be-
cause many who went into Office poor as
church mice, roll in carriages and dress in
fine clothes every day. 1t cannot conjec-
ture how this is done on salary of three
dollars a day. The Union is too innocent
Discounts, percentages and direct stealing;
do it all!
1t is recommended by the Union that q
bill be introduced in the General Assembly,
fixing the salaries Of County TTeasurers at
$500 per annum; County Auditor, $1,000;
School Commissioners OF from $3.50 to $500,
in proportion to population of the county;
and County Commissioners at $3.50 per an
mum, with no perquisites. Another feature
should be incorporated in each bill, and that
is, to make the County Auditor the clerk Of
the Board OF County Commissioners. Throw
the Land Commission and the Bureau Of Ag-
ricultural Statistics into one and place one
officer at the head, with a salary of $4,000
per annum. Upon such scale as this. there
could be saved to the State, every year, at
least one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
This is healthy talk, and we print, in its
own words, the aguments Of the Union in
support of it's views:
stJust as competent, faithful men can be Sc
cured to discharge the duties Of these officers
at the salary indicated above, as we now have.
Iadeed, we think, men who have other dutr
to perform, besides that of attending to an
Office that does not necessarily require one-
half their time, are better fitted for such po-
stion, and will do better service for the State,
than those who expect to make a living from
their office. We ,ooaldlake TO see this pernic,ous
system of making a liuino from minor Office
broken up. There is nothing to prevent
school commissioner, or county commission
ers, or even auditors and treasurers, from do
ing other business at least halt the year, but 1t
is useless to expect these gentlemen to do any
thing of the kind so long as they are paid the
salaries now given them.
'There Is not another State in the Un.ton that
pays so literally for such limited service. Some
Of our friends in office, particularly school
commissioners, In writing to us take issue on
that point, and say that nearly all States pay
these officers the same salary that Is allowed
by law here. We do not intend to dispute
this assertion in the abstract, because we know
it to be true; but what We tlo say is, that the
officers In other States are compelled to render
FIVE times as much service a-s can possibly be
required of officers of this class in this State.
Let us illustrate.
"Pennsylcania pays county school commits
soners at the rate of $1,000 per annum, but in
that State there is scarcely q county that has
less than one hundred and fifty public schools,
while in this State there are but few counties
that have one-ffth of that number. There the
commissioner is compelled to be at work at
bis official duties all the time, and then lie can
visit the various schools in his county but
about twice year. Here commissioner has
no such duties to perform, and consequently
should not receive any such salary.
''.In New Jersey, which has an excellent
school law, the commissioners are paid ten
cents per head for every child in their respec-
tive counties between the ages Of five and
eighteen, but no commissioner is allowed
salary to exceed $1,000 per annum. Very few
receive more than two-thirds Of this amount,
and yet there Is not a county In the State that
has less than one hundred public schools.
Every year the children, In each district of the
State, are enumerated, and from this enume-
ration the scholastic population of the State is
accurately known. In more than half the
counties Of New Jersey the school commission
er has other duties to attend to, which yield
him large portion of his income. This is
what Is required here. Let our poorly paid
clergy, nearly all of whom are competent
teachers, assume these laboru, in addition to
their spiritual duties, and the State would be
mach better served than it ia at present, when
many of these officers cannot read their. own