Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-02-03

what ~ Dsmecrsssc Members Of i,
0sy Coscssnaps it, wosk

lcs1oay Correspondence Bostoa Globe.
IAe cennissisue1s up 10 tia dme hav.
remained fsO1 expressing themseises il
any vsy and have taken no nodes Of Ii.
aeese hfsp<d upon them. bot the attack
nese been - vicious snd the motive y
pAasn, that he tso Demoefa.s on the CON
13esson. Hon z. c. Alien Of Aueusts and
hpn-- Henry Ineaiis II WiscalSst, tedsy
esoesnged 70 give their sids Of ~ uory "a
yosf ceRfsspondent. Mr.. Alien sid
The amount paid the commissioner
eons1oexino the VS.. amsun: Of work they
osd' vss ex0emefy inadequate, in compas
ison e vhst has been freely accorded %
co1ntssionefs elsewhere. ! sm not pre-
pased - believe inst the intelligent people
o. NJ Comnonvesith Of Maine will for .
moment think that the smouas 10 excessive
Certainly no one viii after . careful in
,est9stton sf the facts.
"Rstnt out another public building the
Equal Of this, thst has not exceeded the
cfss Of this one. The United States poet
omes IN this city, unfusnished. cost sons
WIS 900; the addition to the State Houss.
unsssnished, less than $3.50, 600. Compa,
ison vii not be unfavorsbIe to the latter.
"le sss xide-svske, careful snd eau
/
has Given to the State = building which.
you'd have cost many thousands OF dollar,
more With but ordinary attention.
Nov il Ii fact not dfficuls for any in.
.e!iSent man TO aseeftain, tina. through the
an9ent ineelligen. care Of tie commits.
non much lager sun than their email
salarles has been saved to to the State and
mas matesializsd IN the building over sgd
ssove whss would have been possible with
ont such csrs.
Gov. BuYleigh was elected a. chair
man OF the commission. He took deep
interest in the work, spending more time
sod working harder than any other CON
missioner, and there was no good reason
why be should not be paid the same a. the
other commissioners.
The efiicieat secretary, Mr.. Hichborn
gave good yalue to the State for The $500
per annum which he received.
The work Of the commission aud the
outcome will stand upon their own merits.
when viewed ID the fall light Of impatiaj
criticism after the fulies. investigation"
Hon. Henry Ingalls, Of Wiscasseg,
another member of the commission. said /.
There was nothing whatever in III
work Of the commission that was in tn.
least discreditsbie to any of its members
They spent great deal Of time aud thought,
and worked very hard to make the add
ton In every way worthy Of the State.
THE Governor did his full share Of the
work. / considered that, under the re-
solve. he was act ng only - commits
sioner. and not ia any sense a. Governor
At our 1rst meeting he was chosen o.
chsirman Of the commission, and acted H.
that capacity till the close Of the work,
The selection of Mr.. Hichborn as sec
rotary of the commission was al excellent
one. There was vast amount Of cieriesl
work TO b. Gone. Many letters had to b.
written, great deal Of figuring done.
large number Of checks drawn and record
TO be kept. Mr.. Hichborn proved q very
efficient ard valuable man for this work.
and fully cared al he received.
The compensation received by the
commissioners was in no sense exorbitant
l am informed tina. the Massachusetts com
missionefs have each $1,000 year salary.
Near the close of the first year Mr.. Bar
ker brought up the question of salaries.
That was matter left entirely with the
commissioners, subject only to the approx
81 Of the Governor and Council. Their
had never been claim anywhere that the
members OF the commission were not en-
titled to remuneration. All that talk has
been made since the report. Had there
been any ground for this objection II l.
scarcely probable that i. would have
escaped the attention Of Mr.. Barker, who
conceded to be one of the ableM lawyers il
the State.
Mr.. Barker thought that $500 year
was moderate and reasonable compen,a-
ton, and The other members concurred in
that opinion. The commission bad held
great many sessions which had consumed a
good deal Of time. They earned all they
received and more
The chairman of the commission was
treated as = member Of the commission, and
was entitled fairly and honorabiy to the
same usage that was accorded the other
Of it. There is no reason what
ever for attempting TO put bin upon . dir
ferent basis. The commission did its work
faithfully. 1t gave to the State An i,emized
statement Of its expenditures and completed
the building with the resources available
for the work. There is nothing whatever
in its lsbors that any member has reason TO
be ashamed Of"