Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-09-21
four years of their administration.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY co?

four years OF their administration.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY cor
The people are becoming greatly
interested In knowing what all this
great increase of expenses is for.
Were the governor OF this state
and had full access to the books, l
might perhaps be able To tell. As
it is | can only imagine know
that the salaries OF practically every
officer in the state has been in
creased. And l know that new Of
fees and appointments have been
made and pobs given out for the APP
parent purpose of only paying poht-
teal debts and perpetuat.ng politi-
cal machine. And I know that the
expense OF practically every public
institution In the state has been in
creased out OF all keeping with
what has BEEN necessary. And /
know that these institutions could
receive thorough ovsrhauling with
marked benefit both IL tho institu-
tlon and to the state. Machines and
like luNuries come high and look
good. But when the people become
wise. beware OF the wrath to
come
LEGISLATIVE EXTRAvAGANCE.
| cannot so into detail at this
time as To these expenses and OK
travagances. But one OF the most
glaring OF them all. because il Is
too open TO conceal. consists in the
clearing house that politicians seem
TO be making of our legislature to
even up their political Indebtedness
Compare the Democratic senate for
the session OF 1898 with the Repub-
lican senate OF 1907. The senate
of 1898 employed assistants as
against 16 in 1907. stenographer
as against .: committee clerks as
against %: . pages as against 16;
or in all Fl employees in 1898 at
cost of 1927 per day per mem
Der. or total OF 1881. as against
III employees in 1907 as cost of
$l5.42 per day per member. or a
total of S2O.S23. many OF which
employees did not do a single hour
OF work during the entire session.
Think OF II, III employees To stand
around and look at 80 senatorsl /
am told thai IL required 4 great
big colored gentlemen to hang up
the hats ana coats OF these self
same senator's in the cloak room.
Further. in 1898, the contingent
expenses of the senate wer, S1.Ab
per member, or total of only 81
700. as against $14.S1 per mem
Der, or a total of $4,000 in 1907.
The same unnecessary increase of
| employees and salaries Is found in
practically every department and
branch OF the administration Take.
for instance, the office OF attorney
< neral. When Thos s. Riley, OF
Wheeling, was attorney general. the
entire expenses OF that office cost
the people $4,000 a year, and the
work was done well, and without
danger of his health breaking down
under the strain But the appro-
priations for that office for che year
1906 shows that for that year It
took $27,41S to run that Office. of
which sum $4,000 was expenses Of
gfH
for fees paid 90 others for work that
the attorney general should have
performed. And none Of this in
cludes the $4,000 that was appro-
priated to pay lawyers in the Vir-
ginia debt suit. and It is altog eth
or likely that the next legislature
will be called upon TO make further
appropriations for attorney fees for
outside work already done, and yet
unpaid for.
PEOPLE REBEL.
And so it has gone and still goes
on. a few hundred here, n few
thousand there. few hundreds OF
thousands somewhere else. No won
der that the people are beginning to
cry aloud for relief from cxorbitant
and unjust taxatIonl No wonder
that they are beginning TO rebel
against such conditions! AS IL is
now the average tax payer Is pay
ing more taxes than he ever paid
That what he now pays will have to
be increased to pay off the deficit
that Democrats will fall heir to. and
the large amount that must be
raised to repair our public buildings
even TO putting the rate in part that
the late law reduced, is almost 4
certainty And God help the peu-
pie, If on top OF all that we have
20 pay OF the alleged Virginia state
debt which has been so mismanaged
under Republican administrations
as now to be sued for I'm the feder-
al court, though under Democratic
administration no serious effort
was was ever made TO press or col
lect IT,
VIRGINIA DEBT
The people OF West Virginia be-
J..