The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-08
flee he held. and when he was appointed

Office he held. and when he was appointed
By Congress minister to France he was
paid six months salary in advance. Writ
ing to a friend from Paris in 17S5. he said:
Congress was pleased TO order me an
advance of two quarters salary. At that
time i supposed that might refund II. or
spare so much from my expenses. Dy the
time the third quarter became due. Prod
ably they might expect this, but IL has been
impossible. The expense OF my outnt,
though / have taken il up on scale as
small as could be admitted, has been very
far beyond what / had conceived. have,
therefore, not only been unable TO refund
the advance ordered, but have gone be-
yond 1t. wished to have avoided so much
as was accustomed by the purchase of fur
niture. But those who hire furniture asked
me 40 per cent. year for the use of il. 1t
was, therefore, better to buy; and this item.
clothes, carriage, etc, have amounted 10
considerably more than the advance or
dered.
jefferson favored adequate salaries. but
what was considered adequate in his time
would be called very low now. In one let
ter he wrote: II am not for multiplied
ton of salaries merely to make partisans."
proposed Constitution for Virginia which
he drafted in 1776 provided that mo sal
aries perquisites shall be given to any
officer but by some future act of the Leg
islature." This was rather an awkward
way of providing that the salary of no pub
lie official should be increased during his
term of office-a good provision and worthy
of universal adoption.
OF the Cabinet officers the secretaries of
state and the treasury received in 1889 sal
aries of $500 each, the secretary of war
5000. the attorney general $500 and the
postmaster general 5000. In 1919 the pay
of the four secretaries was made 5000.
that of the postmaster general $4,000 and
that of the attorney general $500. Since
1853 all have been 5000. Examination of
every department of the government shows
steady increase of salaries.
The pension system has grown with SAL
aries. For many years after the adoption of
the Constitution the only pensioners were
disabled soldiers of the revolution and the
widows and orphans of those who had
died. The idea of pensioning civilians or
retiring any class of public officers on pay
was not thought of. Provision for placing
officers of the army and navy on the retired
list at full pay was not made till 1861, and
that for the retirement of United States
judges on pay was not made till 1862 In the
early years of the government Congress
never thought of voting years salary
to the family of a deceased member; now it
is the established rule and the widows of
some public officials have been pensioned
for life. For some years past Congress has
haa hx-
fciaries of such an act to provide for re-
firing department employees on half pay
under certain conditions. Provision is made
in some cities for retiring firemen and
policemen on life pensions. and State and
county officials of all kinds are clamoring
larly enough, the Governor is the only
official whose salary, under the Consttu-
ton. cannot be increased during his term
of office. 1t should be the law for every
official, high or low.
The word graft as now used in politics
is of comparatively recent origin. The lat
est dictionaries throw no light on it's new
meaning. The nearest approach to it is an
architectural use of the word to designate
something inserted in or incorporated with
another thing to which it did not origi-
nally belong; an extraneous addition" The
new graft is something inserted in the
public treasury and the peoples pockets.
| Every farmer knows what grating means
and what milking is, but if he were told
that the modern graft is a means of milk
ing the public treasury he would probably
be bewildered. 1t represents one of the
worst forms of legalized stealing and is
found in great abundance in statehouses
| during legislative sessions.
During the first hundred years of our
national existence we have moved very
far, both in national and State govern
ments. from the high standard of official
responsibility and civic duty, the rigid
economy in public affairs and the con-
scientious regard for the taxpayers that
| once prevailed.