St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-10-29
THE RAMSEY COUNTY FEE
HITiyI

Gen. Sanborn's defense OF Gov. Mel
son and, incidentally, OF himself III the
matter OF the Ramsey county fee bill,
found access to thu public where it
should first have sought it, In the c9l-
uuns of the governors personal and
party organ. Trimmed down to the
bone. 1t is that the fee system is an evil
when fixed by special act; that he eX-
pecied the legislature to pass general
law; that the salary act was unsound
and unsatisfactory to the officers Ut
Ramsey county," that 10 general act
was introduced because ''avarice and
greed did its work again." that rather
than have the officers paid a salary of
$1,000 year. with the fees turned into
the treasury, the governor granted the
request of some of the delegation for
permission 10 Introduce the repeating
act that ''cut the officers from the pub
lie treasury" aud threw OH the next
legislature the responsibility Of passing
general act regulating salaries and
fees.
Gen. Sanborn defends his opinion that
the fee, and not the salary. is the right
mode of compromising these officers by
cOntending that their work is largely
for private persons, and it is not Just
that "the mechanics and iaborerS nav
ing their small homes in st. Paul should
be taxed 10 pay the fees of the clerk of
courts and the sheriff incurred in litiga-
ton between" private parties. We own
To being a little surprised that MIR. SAM
N cI, Ia.,x 2 ~ 70 Of
gument to invoke the favorite appeal
OF the pot house politician to the me
chanics and laborers," and we doubt if
the latter will be obliged TO him for thus
singing them out for his comparisons.
The mechanics and labOrers of st. Paul
are willing to pay their share of any
proper public tax. and their only regret
is that so many of the gentlemen with
whom MIR. Sanborn associates are so
successful in escaping their share.
We hope that the legal opinions of
Mr.. Sanborn are S0undsr than are the
grounds of his opinion as to the relative
merits of the fee and salary systems of
compensation. If they are not his legal
and private clients will fare as badly at
his hands as did his public clients in
this case when they retained him TO rep
resent them i'll our general court. Let
us state the case and take the general
opinion. The income of the sheriff and
clerk of courts from fees is conceded to
be around $4,000 year. and that OF the
register around $4,000. The larger por-
ton of this, all in fact, except the fees
of suits in which the public is party.
is paid by private parties. The act of
1891 gave these officers a salary of $4,000
year and required them to pay into the
treasury all fees earned by them. This
involved taking from tax money 49, 900
a year, but 1t also involved putting into
the treasury some $4,000 year. Ii the
small homes of the "mechanlcs and
laborers" were taxed to pay the salaries,
they were relieved from taxes to the
amount of the $50. 900 gained by the
treasury.
Thus much for the merits of the de.
Tense. The general prudertly avoids
the statement made by the GLOBE as
to the manner in which this bill was
worked through the legislature, the
tricks by which it was advanced, the
means used to prevent the public from
knowing of its tendency or the fact
that Gov. Nelson approved of the act
when advised Of its nature and charac.
ter and against the urgent protest of
representative citizens of all parties.
This is the really serious part of the
matter, the one that touches public in
tereSiS most nearly and vastly out
weighs in Importance the difference in
the emouments of the officers named.
1t directly affects the fitness of Knute
Nelson to be the chief executive ufhcer
of the state, and, set beside his conduct
in the land grant matter, shows him
utterly Enthusiastically as a guardian of
public interests.