The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-09-10
THEY SHOULD SERVE WITHOUT PAY.

" create Boards of Road Commits
sioners, prescribe their duties, and
those of Road Supervisors" was
being debated in committee of the
whole, Mr.. Wight proposed to strike
out a sentence providing for the
compensation of Commissioners
other than the Supervisor. This
was opposed by other speakers, who
thought the Commissioners ought to
be paid for their services, and the
compensation was ultimately fixed
at five dollars per day for each
Commissioner other than the Super
visor, when on actual service. Mr..
Wight was of opinion that " if a
district cannot find two men to act
on the Road Board without pay, the
district deserves no road" We
fully agree with the honorable gen.
tleman. 1t does not require wealth
IL
his district in the capacity of Road
Commissioner, or member of a Road
Board, without pay. A little of that
love of country which every citizen
should feel is all that is needed.
We take it that the chief duty of the
Commission or Board, is to meet.
deliberate, and devise measures to
be executed by the Road Supervisor.
This can be done. rs q rule. at night
time, when the days engagements
have ended, and fortnightly or
monthly meeting, on an average,
should be sufficient. The poorest
man in the country can afford to do
this much for his district without
pay, and if he is unwilling to do so
he should be willing to do without
roads. A man that wants pay for
eyerythino- !, D. -
....s ne uoes III the public in
terest is soulless image, whose loss
his country would hardly feel or
mourn. The disposition to connect
pay with every little public service
has pernicious tendency. TO
attach mercenary incentive to the
fulfilment of every trifling Office is
an appeal to the selfish instincts of
human nature, which are usually
strong enough without state foster
ing. Rather should the national
polity be shaped in a way to en-
gender and cherish that genuine
patriotism which considers gra-
tuitous assistance of the public
welfare an honorable and pleasing
duty.
In some countries it is considered
right and proper to pay a fee for
every description of public or semi
public service, from parliament
down TO local school committees.
Putting it very mildly, the entire
governmental systems of these coun-
tries have tendency to corruption
and inefliciency. Men are liable to
seek office, and are in danger OF
using corrupt means to acquire it
simply for the sake of its emOlu'
ment. Thus unprincipled and in
efficient men sometimes get into
positions to which they are dis
honor, and which they would moi
accept at a gift were it not for the
pay attached, while men of modesty
capacity, and integrity, who woult
fill the same positions with hono
and ability, are ignored. This il
the natural tendency and outcome
of the pay.for-every-service system
Then, in some other countrie
every department OF public ant
semi-public service is managed AM
controlled without fee or compensa
ton. Parliaments, city councils
and various boards, general ant
local, are all unpaid bodies. Th
executive officers, who are not mem
bers of the bodies by whom the
are employed-except cabinet min
listers, who are members of parlia
ment-are the only persons entitle
to compensation. The natural ten
dency of this system is toward
purity and efficiency. In the frs
place, no man desires seat in an,
of the governing bodies, supreme o
subordinate, for an accompanyin,
emolument because these is n
emolument. And, in the secon
place, no man is likely, under tn
circumstances, to seek the positio