The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-05-09
KANSAS COMMENT
THE PRESIDENTS SALARY


THE PRESIDENTS SALARY.
Judge Gray, Of Delaware. man with
conscience, was recently offered a
position with one of the big insurance
companies at 5000, 900 a year.
He declined the offer. giving several
reasons, one of them being his convic-
ZION tnat no marin the United States
snouiu draw more money than the
president. This theory unfortunately,
IS not apt to gain many enthusiastic
aonerents. but 1T is highly creditable
to the judge
A recent utterance Of Mr.. Cleveland,
70 the erect that some provision should
pc made Tor the ex-presidents of the
Oniteo states, caused much discussion.
ana there We're few who argued the
negative side Of the proposition. We,
the people, with whom wisdom will die.
are unaccountably stingy in the matter
OF salaries. The idea Of economy in
remunerating public servants original
ed IN the early days Of the republic,
when presidents rode to the White
House On horseback. and statesmen
USED Snanks' old mare in traversing TO
the capital, and simplicity was tho
watchword; also, in those days, dol
lar was as large as a merry-go-round,
and would buy as much as five dollars
will buy now.
The old conditions have passed away.
with the abnormal value of dollar
but the idea Of economy continues to
/
and consuls and other Representatives
to foreign courts on such pitiful stip-
ends that unless they have money OF
their own they have to board at the
chop houses and get their clothing at
secondhand stores; and this fatuous
sort of parsimony has made the diplo-
matte service a thing of contempt and
ridicule the world over.
The salary Of the president Of the
United States, as measured by the sal.
corporations is ridiculously small; and
it is still niggardly when measured by
his expenses and necessities. 1t would
be more creditab1e to pay liberal sal
aries to the presidents while they are
| in office, than to hold oyster suppers
or donation parties for their relief after
| they have retired.
Stinginess is most unbecoming to as
big chap as Uncle Sam.-Emporia Ga
zette.
-
MR.. MAxIM'S VISION.
Hudson Maxim, the inventor. in a
| speech he recently made to the mag
azine editors OF New York, said that
| the value of the airship as fighting
craft could hardly be over-estimated
and averred that a feet OF airships
would, in the future, do much toward
securing permanent peace on earth.
The inventor takes a more sane
view Of the use of airships in war
than do most airship enthusiasts. In
stead of running battleships through
the air, with which death can be dealt
| out by sixteen inch guns, he says that
| the war airship will be used almost
exclusively for scouting purposes. es-
pecially to locate torpedo fiotillas and
inform the water ships by wireless of
the result Of their trips. 1t is in this
way that the airship will become a
part of the navy, according to the
speaker, and it must be confessed that
his talk sounds more plausible than
that Of many others who have under
taken to tell us what the future holds
| in the way of aerial navigation.
Any active fighting the airships
may participate in, thinks Mr.. Maxim,
will be limited to dropping bombs on
torpedo boats and other light craft.
| There will be mo- roar. of heavy artil-
lery nor will great fighting forces be
transported across seas and landed in
| the capital of the. opposing nation by
moonlight. Mr.. Maxim's vision into
the future seems to be more likely OF
| realization than any of which we have
heard SaIina Journal.