Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-09-17

Al R,BBEsoN.
FRANCIS HENRY.
BENZ. HARMED
prm. COUNT Central Committee.
Let Us have an Equitable Adjustment.
In commenting on the salaries laid
to the teachers of our public schools,
the Ne0 Transcript expresses the
opinion that 800 per month is not
too much for the principal, and very
positively afirms that the man who is
capable of managing our public schools
can 20 elsewhere and readily obtain
$l25 per month for filling the same
exalted position. Now the question
very naturally rises, If this is SO, why
does not our present incumbent 60,
and why does he stand on the order OF
his going, if call is in sight for an
advance of IS per cent. on salary ?
The fact is, it is much easier to make
IN assertion than ii is to prove one.
There are doubtless communities that
are able to pay larger salaries than
this, but it is safe to assume that the
burden OF taxation il no heavier, and
that ordinary wages is higher, and this
would probably make the relative pro-
portions about the same. If there were
an equitable adjustment of values in
this matter of service and labor, there
would be no decided opposition to any
special tax levy for any reasonable OBJ
ject; but when the relative compensa-
ton is disproportionate, it leads cynics
irresistibly to the conclusion that
there is privileged class who regard
the earnings of labor as a legitimate
object Of prey. This feeling is deep
seated in this community, and We may
look in vain for any other explanation
for its existence.
The flush days Of yore have passed
away. The high rates paid for labor
; in all branches Of industry are rapidly
disappearing under an adjustment Of
values made by the relentless hand Of
Necessity, and there is no sense in
paying an individual whose labors are
mostly mental two or three times the
rates that muscle and Drawn, COM
bined with skill acquired by years of
application, can command. The doc
tor who charges poor man the ac-
emulation of years steady toll for a
months attendance ON sick child !;
or a lawyer who takes q mortgage on
clients pocket for enforcing lien
upon some of the products of his labor,
may justify his course by presidents
long established, but the time is COM
ing when broadcloth and hOmespun,
salaries and wages, fees and pay by
the job, will be placed on a more eQui-
table basis. Equality is the rock upon
which free government is founded,
and the wider the distinction is drawn
in estimating the value of professional
services and mechanical or any branch
Of industrial labor, the further we de-
part from the true principles of Demo-
cracr.
1t is impossible to close our eyes to
the fact that there has been steadily
fostered under American institutions
an aristocratic feeling which has no
sympathy with the toiling masses.
The demagogue, Oh the stump, may
uphold the dignity Of labor by mean
ingless platitudes, but his dealings
with fellow men, and his reverence for
the environments set up by social law,
shown more plainly by actions than
words, often portrays in unmistakable
colors that he has no other sympathy
with the mudsills than to use them for
footholds to scale the political super
structure: The people are becoming
aware of this striking anomaly by the
bitter results of experience. They are
learning to scan the motives of men
more closely, and to place their pro-
LESSONS on a proper estimate.
These reflections, which have very
naturally flown from the observation
OF our contemporary, are not expressed
in any uncharitable spirit towards our
public educators, or those who have
spent large proportion of their lives
in fitting them for the useful profess
sions, but simply to call the attention
of the people to the fact that when the
time comes that the scepter of power
for brief period is placed in their
hands, they may use it for their own
good. They are all-powerful if united.
Their will is law, if made to act direct
ly upon the means for securing re-
form. Large salaries and big fees
bring heavy taxes; and the converse of
the proposition is equally true that a
reduction of both will leave money in
every taxpayers pocket. A change
IN the laws embracing thorough re-
vision Of the fee bills. is an imperative
necessity. No man should be elected
to the Legislature who will not pledge
himself to use all proper effort for
making the compensation for public
services depend solely on a fair valua-
ton OF labor performed. If the peo-
pie arc united, harmonious, and led by
wise counsel, reform is inevitable.