Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-02-08
Jackson Tribune and sun

Jackson Tribune and sun.
We do not wish Ia be understood
q as being hostile TO the present Gen
, eral Assembly. The majority Of 10
members are our political, and
number OF them our persona
e friends. 1t Is painful TO US TO disa
e gree with them IN any matter o
! public policy. We freely accord
. honesty of opinion, and yet Il Il ou
D duty to warn them that there /
such q thing as over reaching
? of even I'm matters oN
} economy and reform. We have
, felt il our duty TO remind them oN
this fact, and perhaps with litiId
too mach irony to bring their at
tentiOn to the consistency of theiE
economic policy.
Now we do not regard any Of the
salaries paid by the State as tod
large and we feel sure that official
salaries have very little to DO With
the hardships of our people. AS q
principle official salaries should be-
large enough TO command the high
est talent, and at the same time to
furnish no excuse or temptation forN
the prostitution of official power.
| If the policy of cutting down official
salaries obtains i'm Tennessee, the
door of bribery and corruption will
! be thrown wide open; men Of in-N
I ferior ability will principally aspire
/ to the position men Of ample8
! fortunes can alone afford to honestly II
aspire and to fiji official stations I;
men of humble fortunes, or poor
men will be barred from aspiring to
! positions of trust and honor, and
wealth and kuavery viii nave a
monopoly of publicstationsi Iva Tenn
essee. This is not an oVerdrawn
picture, and we insist that the idea
of reducing to paltry figures the sal
aries of men in high and response
bile positions, will operate To shut
the door of advancement to old aud
young men who happen 70 be poor.
'sNNe have not the space to illustrate
our idea upon this point fully, but
to thoughtful minds we have said
enough to encourage calm and
earnest consideration.
Another thing-the Legislature
seems Inclined to fix the maximum
ofclerks fees at 50, 600 and to require
all clerks receiving moro Than this,
to pay the surplus into the treasury
of the State. in all our observation
and experience Of incOnsiderate leg
islatiOn, this principle is the most
unjust and unwise. Stripped OF its
demag0guery, ii simply means that
q clerk who performs large labor,
shall not receive more than clerk
who performs less labor. To Illus
trate--a clerk i'm Williamson county
receives in fees, for the performance
of his official duties, say exactly II
-. 900. a clerk in Davidson county
receives in fees for the performance
of his official duties, say ~, 900 doing
Just twO-thrds more work than the
Williamson clerk. Now under tho
bill proposed to equalize salaries or
fees, the clerk IN Williamson gets
full pay for the labor he performs,
while the clerk in Davidson county
is robbed by the State Oi three
thousand dollars Of his hard earned
labor. In other words he has $4,000
more work than the Williamson
county clerk and gets nothing for
il. Is this equalizing salaries? j.
this honest? Is il even respectable
demagogueTy
If the fees Of clerks be too large,
cut down the items Of cost that ac-
crue to them, hut i'm the name Of
common honesty and fairness to the
''poor taxpayers" don't establish a
that legGlize robbery.
Again, il Is not the mass Of ''pOCr
taxpayers" that pays the fees of
clerks, but the comparatively few
And right here we would
kindly warn the Legislature that il
is not the people who demand this
demagogueical economy, and that
the people will not be deceived by
the miserable "make believes
which we fear is the alpha and
omega of the policy. One thing
is absolutely certain, and that IL
the people will have no respect for
2 body that cuts down all other II
salaries and fees save its own, and
that applies principles OF economy,
and facts to every other
of the State government,
save legislative per diem and that
sweet little oasis I'm the shape Of
mileage, which they enjoy to the
music of 20 cents per mile for riding
IN free passes,