The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-03-14

Editor Advertiser: 1t has been re
ported that there is to be a reduction
of all Territorial governmental salaries
1t would be we'll to ascertain what pro
portion of the bread winning popula
ton are in the Territorial employ
Why should this part of the bread
winning population be taxed while the
rest are exempt? When the Legislature
framed the law creating an income tax
they exempted all persons receiving in
comes under $1,000 year. Now it Is
proposed to tax large portion of the
| incomes exempt under the law and that
at the enormous rate of twenty pei
cent.
The necessity for this reduction, or
rather the necessity for retrenchment
of some sort, has arisen from the un-
wise administration of affairs and the
gross Incompetence of the Legislature.
The whole body polite should be re-
Sponsible for the unwisdom of it's legiS-
lative representatives and the evil re-
suits of the mistakes made by the Leg
islature should be borne alike by all
the people and not by one class of the
| body polite, the salaried officials of the
Territory.
Il
| the salarieG official as overpaid, if so,
then why did the people ever give him
that salary. However the vast major
| ity of salaried officials do not receive
fat salaries. Many are merely making
a living by practicing strict economy.
The government employee is regard
| ed as the servant of the people. Still
according to our twentieth century rem
dering of servant it is very far remov-
ed from slave. The government official
gives or should give full service for
| the salary received, but if the govern
ment gets hard up he could hardly be
expected to put his hand in his own
pocket to help the government out.
When the government demands that he
shall render up twenty per cent of his
salary, he is reduced to the position of
slave. When the government reaches
this point it takes on that same char
acter which is so much deplored in the
capitalist who reduces wages when he
is losing money on his investments.
or when he desires to accumulate great
er wealth.
However in the case of the govern
ment official the situation is far worse
than it is with the laborer for the latter
may have recourse to unions, but the
former must bear it. Il he kicks he
may lose political influence and as a
rule he can not afford to give up his
Job, so he is compelled to become a
cringing slave to his employer.
Unions can not be formed, or strikes
made, because of the everlasting poll
ties connected with it ALL
Take the Educational Department OF
the Territory alone. Exclusive of the
heads of the department the salaries
are very meagre. There are in the en-
ploy of the department upwards of
four hundred teachers, about one-third
of whom receive from one hundred
and twenty to six hundred dollars per
annun or from ten to fifty dollars a
month. With a reduction of twenty
per cent the fifty dollars melts to forty
and the ten to nine dollars and eighty
cents a month This too in a country
where living is high so that even our
Governor has asked the United States
government to raise his salary fifty
per cent because of the expense of liv-
ing When board and washing have
been deducted from salary of forty
dollars a month little remains and
lust think what is left in salaries be-
low that.
OF the teaching force less than one
hundred receive seventy-five dollars TO
two hundred a month. Many people
who look upon teachers as overpaid
idIers will feel no conjunction at the
reduction of their salaries. but there
are many families who will feel de-
cfded change in their affairs if the
teaching member is cut off twenty per
cent. Many of the teachers will be
compelled to give up their much need
ed summer change because of this in
Justice. Furthermore the majority OF