The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-22
STOKES ADVOCATES A SLASH.
WANTS PAY OF GOVERNMENT EN-
PLOYES CUT 80 PER CENT.

Says II Is the Only Way to EquaIize
1.-The Enhanced -XnIne-nf Monex 50
With the Fall in the Prices of Com
mOditics-The Proposed Cut in Sal
aries Intended to Begin With the
President and Run Straight
Through the List to the Scrub
Women.
Washington, June H.-Representative
Stokes OF South Carolina proposes to i'm
mortalize himself by appearing in political
history as a public officer willing to reduce
his own salary.
To-day DR.. Stokes, who was formerly
president of the Farmers Alliance in his
state, introduced a bill to reduce the ex-
penditures of the government by cutting
down the salaries of all public officials and
pensioners 80 per cent. His cut begins at
the President of the United States and
runs down the scale to the poorest paid
scrub woman in the departments.
The bill provides that after March 4,
1898, the compensation of all senators,
members of the House, officers and en-
ployes and pensioners of the government
shall be readjusted to the changed value
of our money standard. The President
and the United States judges are exempt
until their successors shall be selected.
The readjustment of salaries shall be
based upon a comparative statement Of the
average prices in the first five years in
comparison with the last five years in the
preceding decennial period. The disbursing
officers of the various branches of the SER
vice shall readjust their pay rolls cores
pondingy, so that the pay of each officer
or employe of the government shall bear
to his pay in the previous decennial period
the same proportion that the average
prices for the respective periods compared
bear to each other.
Representative Stokes says in support of
his measure: 1.-The bill emphasizes in a
practical way the growing evils of an ap-
preciating money standard. From 1872 to
1895 the average prices Of 223 commodities
in common use have decreased fully 331s
per cent. During the same period the COM
pensation of officers employees and
pensioners of the government
has steadily increased, either in
salary or perquisites, or both. From 1888
to 1889 the average annual expenses of the
government were $263, ,016 47S.1s. The aver
age annual expenses from 1898 to 1896 in
elusive, reached the alarming figure of
1858 6S3, ,3A. .40-an increase in less than a
decade, of unparalleled distress among
the people of nearly 80 per cent OF course
all of this was not salaries and pensions;
but the greater part was. I do not think
the servants and pensioners of the people
are any better than the people they serve,
and there ought to be some such method
of maintaining an equilibrium between
salaries and pensions on the one hand,
and prices of commodities on the other"
"rhe bill also illustrates in a very prac-
tical way the good old democratic way of
keeping the government out of debt and
relieving the burdens of the people by
cutting down expenses rather than by
piling on taxes. Upon a rough estimate
such an adjustment as proposed in the
bill would save the government more than
$50, 10000 a year, without injustice to any
and without detriment to the public serv-
ice The legislative, executive and judicial
departments of the government are re-
sponsible in a large measure for the con-
ditions that brought and perpetuate fall
ing prices, and there is absolute justice in
the proposition that they should share
with the people at large in the conse-
quences of their own actions. Under pres
ent conditions they actually profit by the
distress Of the people"