Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-11-04


OF buying OF fayorites. Then they
filed these establishments-these great
institutions Of the state-with politi-
clans, from cellar to garnet and pro-
ceeded then to raise their wages. To
give you just one illustration. At
Kankakee, during the Democratic adj
ministration. they paid to the treas
urer, the man who acted as both secre-
tary and treasurer, eight hundred dol
lars year. The Republican admin
istration came in and il made two
offices. It gave the one $500 and the
other $1,400. IT PAID TWENTY
TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR
THE SAME WORK THAT WAS FOR
MERLY DONE FOR EIGHT HUN
DRIED DOLLARS, AND 1T IS TODAY
AT KANKA,>EE PAYING TWENTY
TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR
WORK THAT WAS FORMERLY
DONE FOR EIGHT HUNDRED DOL
LARS. They had a politician in Kan
kakee named Small, and who is said
to be the actual superintendent. He
runs the institution. There is the
chairman OF a Republican committee
at Kankakee named LETTERS, I believe,
who runs a little grocery store across
the river. There is not much business
there. and he is supplying the institu-
ton with groceries, not on bids, but on
prices that he and his friends agree on.
Here Is Honey for You.
The other day this report reached
me: A FARMER DROVE TO THE
INSTITUTION WITH SOME HONEY
AND OFFERED TO SELL 1T AT TEN
CENTS A POUND. HE WAS TOLD
THERE THAT THEY DID NOT
NEED ANY HONEY JUST NOW. BUT
IF HE WOULD GO OVER TO JEF'F-
Frs GROCERY LETTERS WOULD
BUY 1T, AND HE DROVE OVER,
AND JEFFERS BOUGHT 1T FOR
TEN CENTS A POUND. AND THEN
THE SAME HONEY WAS SOLD
BACK TO THE INSTITUTION AT
TWENTY-FIVE CENTS a POUND
(APPLAUSE).
Now, my friends, that Is an illus
tration that gives you the spirit run
ming through this thing. Under the
old system there would have been at
least bid or rather an application
made to six or eight houses dealing in
honey, and the lowest bid would have
been accepted, and been probably ten
cents a pound. Certainly II they
would have wanted honey they would
have bought it from the farmer direct
Under this system you see it costs an
institution more than double what it
formerly cost to get its supplies.
Plumber at Jacksonville.
Over at Jacksonville, at the Deaf and
Dumb Asylum, the first thing they did
when they got there was not only to
swell the pay roll, create all sorts OF
new offices, but they thought that the
salaries that were being paid were en-
tirely too Democratic. They didn't
have the air of the gentlemen about
them, although the salaries were pref
ty high; more than in some cases,
thought, that the same men could have
earned outside, but they were good
men and were retained. But when the
new set came in-when the politicians
came in to run it-salaries had to be
raised. And they took first the super
intendent and they raised his salary
one-third. Then they took the farm
boss and raised his salary one-half.
Then they took the assistant engineer
and raised his salary one-third. Then
they took the electrician and doubled
his salary. And then they took the
foreman of the shoe shop and raised
his salary one-third. Then the fore
man of the painting and raised his
one quarter. Took the night watch
man and raised his one-quarter, and
they raised the salary of every new
fellow they put in. Politicians, you
see, need more to live on than the
people who had formerly done this
work, and they were experienced peo-,
pie, too.
All for the Machine.
They have since started a system of
assessing employees, and at Kankakee
this happened last January. 1t oc-
Cured to the management that they
had waited little too long, so they
levied an assessment of from five to
ten per cent on wages. A man who
got a hundred dollars a month would
pay ten dollars each month to the Re
publican state committee, and they
doubted whether that would bring
them money enough, and so they made
it relate back. and they deducted six
months assessment out of the Deem
Der pay roll. If man was getting
one hundred dollars month they de-
Quoted sixty dollars from him, to go |
70 the Republican state committee. |
From small salaries they deducted |
five per cent That system is at work |
now. At the end of each month they |
deduct from the salary five to ten per |
cent. It is estimated now that this is
going to amount to $4,000 in the |
state.
You can now see the reason. my
friends, a reason which in part ex-
plains the raising of salaries They