Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-05-20
WHERE THE MONEY GOES.
Another Law Adding 81 500 to a
Sleek Office Holders Salary.
And Perhaps $4,000.

There is in the new statutes Of |
Wisconsin law under the title, "The |
Department of Insurance. Form.
erly the duties of this office were
performed by the Secretary of State.
The law establishing Insurance reg.
ulations under a separate department
we assume originated with ring of
fellows who wanted more offices and
more salaries. 1t provides for the
payment of certain fees too numerous
and lengthy for review in this article,
but the law had one redeeming fea.
ture. Its first section limited the
whole expenses OF the Department
to $4,000 and all amounts in excess
thereof received by the Commission
er were 10 be turned over to the
state treasury. This was not salts
factory to the Office holders. They
had evidently seen that in Indiana
and some other states there were
ways by which this Commissioner
made $4,000 to $4,000 per year
and why could not o Wisconsin
Commissioner have prospect equal.
ly delightful. And SO these official
fellows fixed up a law for them.
selves last winter. The new law
gives to the Commits sioner or his
agent S. per day an mileage in cases
OF the examination of the books OF
companies doing business in this
state. These companies are numer-
GUS and they are in states of New
England and California as we'll as in
the inter-states. The agent would
generally have pass but he would
get 5 cents mile for travelling to
and from every one of these compa.
MES. We see nothing to hinder him
from making trip to Europe at the
expense of the companies and indi.
rectly at The expense of the people,
to examine the books Of the Liver
pool or London companies that do
business here. The 7th section of
the new law exacts fee of one dol.
lar, annually, from each State com.
pany; one dollar from each life and
and accident company and two dol
lars for each agent of Inside compa-
MES and then follows proviso like
that in the first section of the statute
law. This proviso instead of limiting
the expenses of the Commissioners
Office to $500, allows his compen.
sation out of the fees named in this
18th section to run up to $1,000. That
is to say that at the very mildest con-
struotion of the two laws the Commits.
sioner gets 81, 500 more than before.
But this law is evidently framed
for the purpose of doirg away with
provisions in the old law Especially
the first section, viz. 1867 on page
SOY Inconsistent with" its provis-
ions. If section 1867 is thus repealed
we do not see why the Commissioner
cannot pocket all the moneys that
come into his hands except the ex-
cess of $4,000 in the accumulations
under the 7th section of the
new law. True the section reads
that this, "shall be in lieu Of all com.
pensation now allowed by law" but
on strict construction the words
which follow-"both for salary and
for all expenses of the Department
of insurance"-give this away. Five
cents mileage and five dollars day
for travelling all over the United
sStates by an agent is not Commits.
sioner's salary and it is not "expen.
ses." The Insurance Commissioner
may, under the law we have framed
for him, be making out of the people
the hard worked, honest people
ten to twenty thousand dollars a
year. The official snobs, will of
course puff this away and make ordi.
nary mortals afraid to urge the facts
as here presented, but we are telling
what happened in other States, and
we give Indiana as an example, and
if it can be done in others it can be
done in Wisconsin. Here, then, you
farmers, mechanics, merchants, la.
borers, whose toll makes all the
wealth given to your office holders,
is another law you want to select
three competent men from Grant
county to deal with next winter.
There are more Of them. The new
law to which we refer is chapter 24O,
given in the HERALD Of April lst.
ONE hundred and thirty eight
million dollars worth of wheat were