The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-26
QUESTION OF SALARY
EFFORT BErNG MADE TO INCREASE
 PAY.
Many Government Employees Who Are Doing Onerous Work Receive Smaller Stipends Than Hold
 CTS of Political sinecures.

washington, Dec. 25.--( -(Special.) )--At the beginning of every congress for midable movements are inaugurated in the departments for an adjustment of certain salaries. The ineoualities in this respect are more astonishing than are known to the reading public.
 The heads of departments, spurred on By the assistants and the bureau chiefs have this year made numerous | recommendations for better pay for officials acknowledged to be receiving much less than many who do not have rear so much work to do. But if the l managers of legislation up on the hill | have made up their minds to favorably | listen to the appeals of the department people they have rot publicity men, tioned the matter. and the chances are the salaries will remain just about | the same.
 The register of the treasury has an | easy time comparatively speaking, and yet he receives substantially the same pay as does the public printer. The public printer has to run the biggest shop of its kind in the world. In tke | course of year between 4.000 and 5000 men. womeR and boys are employed | in that establishment. It costs Uncle | Sam more than s5,000.000 a year to keep the printing office going. The register of the treasury as before stat | ed has very little to do. That office l appears to have been pre- -empted by the negro race Another negro will be appointed just as soon as Judson W. | Lyons of Georgia, steps out. and his 1 selection will not be determined until l after Prof. Booker T. Washington and
 the Kansas crowd get through wrang- ling over the proposition.
 During the last Congress Hon. John | 1Yl1tz al nf fnf n al revenue, was before the Senate appro- priations committee in the interest of the collectors under him. Mir Yerkes thinks that some of these officials should have better pay and nas been trying for six years to bring about an
 increase. Under the present law the collector of the Peoria district in Illi- reis who collects upwards of $3o.ooO.- eco year for the government does not receive any more money for his hard II work than does the collector of the smallest district in the United States. MT. Yerkes suggested that in the 1arg- CT districts the collectors should have
 $6,000 year salary. At present the maximum salary is $4.500.
 H A member of the Senate committed
 stopped the commissioner and said: That would never do. Why, many of the collectors would be receiving as
 much as you are paid, and do not think that Is good for the service" The commissioner reminded the sena-
 tor that the secretary of the Senate is
 paid ss,0oo per annnm, or $i.000 more than senator receives. He also
 mentioned that while the attorney general of the United States gets the
 paltry sum of $s.00o a year the United States attorney for the New York City
 district was getting in salary and fees combined in the neighborhood of $60,- 900 year. That Is $1, 900, ,000 year more
 than is paid the President of the Uni- ted States As Congress considered
 the New York district attorney was dO- ing too we'll his fees have been curtail. ed. and the office is not now worth near so much. The counsul-gereral at London makes more money than any member of the consular or diplomatic service, the fees and salary aggregat- ing, 1t is believed, more than $30,000 8 swear, though on the face of the re- I turns to the state department it would Iapparentiy appear that he receives on an average about $22,00O per an9un1. Homes For Ambassad0Ps.
 1 The bill introduced in the House the ether day by Representative Nick Longworth, of Cincinnati. to spend in the near future $5,000,000 for the pur- chase of residences for ambassadors and ministers to foregn countries is not meeting with as much favor as it's
 
 who have been heard to express opin- ions on the subject contend that plenty of men can be found who will take the lposts even if the salaries are reduced. On the other hand congressman in fav- or of the Longworth proposition say Ithat as long sS the salaries 1re so small and the government does net supply the residences and an entertainment fund besides none but very rich men or men who have married fortunes can afford to go into the diplomatic service of their country.
 It is estimated that Mir. Whitelaw
 Reid. the United States Ambassador to
 Great Britain, Is paying in rent for his
 town and country places fully $70.000 a
 year. With the expenses of living in
 proper style. having the army of ser
 wants required and the carriages and horses 1t will be seen that MT. Reid
 and his better half cannot get through
 the year without expending probably
 s150.000. But 1t makes no difference
 to this interesting couple. The New
 York Tribune earns large money for
 the Ambassador, and the father in law
 of the editor-diplomat staked the cou-
 pie with several millions at the time of
 their marriage, and they care not fig
 for the cost
 Nearly all of our Ambassadors now in
 the service have private fortunes, and
 many of the Ministers are also well fix
 ed financially. Any member of the
 corps who gets tired will find plenty
 of wealthy, ambitious citizens ready
 and anxious to take their places, and
 that is why Congress will be slow in
 giving favorable consideration to the