The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-08-26
JUST FINDING THINGS OUT.

MS expenses aS soecIeNdJN ol otdte ""p
of the financial necessity which he is
under to lecture for pay so that he can
get money enough to meet his expenses
through the year. He is quoted as say
ing, in answer TO the question why he
is not able to live upon a salary of sl2,-
900 year:
II ought TO have occurred 70 anyone
who wes tempted to ask the question
that the question is not whether q cabl
net officer could live on $4,000 a year II
he had nothing to consider except the
expenses attendant upon living In Wash
pense OF official life 10 his other expenses
and meet them all out of his salary,
Every man who has reached post
where Inc Is likely To be appointed to
high office has assumed obligations
which cannot be suspended when he en-
ters office. My obligations TO church.
charity, education and for my insurance
ca nnot be discontinued They amount TO
more than $6S0O per year, and these;
though The largest are by no means All
and will absorb more than half OF the
salary which receive.
All these things, however, were
known to Mr.. Bryan before he took
Office. and in spite of them he has boon
unsparing in his criticisms Of those who
60 to Washington in official positions
and speedily acquire habits that call for
the expenditure Of large amounts of
money, and which are always urged as
reason why salaries should be In
creased AS to this increase in salaries,
Secretary Bryan has always opposed it
in the past, and he states that he would
not now advocate an increase, although
his position as Secretary Of State car
ries with it more entertaining than any
other position in the Cabinet because
of it's relation to the outside world,
and my acceptance of hospitality
Throughout the world has increased the
amount of entertaining expected of
me- Other Cabinet officers, as ex
planned, have drawn from their private
incomes to meet these special expenses
of Office. He draws upon his principal
source of income, his popularity as
lecturer.
But undoubtedly the criticism Of Mr..
Bryan has been sharpcned by reason of
his own criticisms upon public official
dom in Washington heretofore. He has
been unspariug in his dcnunciations Of
high salaries and extravaganza; and
yet. when he is in Cabinet position he
finds all at once that his criticisms
were misdirccted, and. although the
salary of Cabinet officers was increased
80 per cent a few years ago, his salary
is not enough for him.
or course the American people do not
at all care if they are to be called upon
for a few thousand dollars for the ex-
penses of Cabinet officers. We believe
that if Congress would pass law pro.
viding for the payment Of the cost of
all the official functions required of tho
Secretary Of State especially, and in
less degree Of other Cabinet officers the
American public would quietly approve
of such an enactment. There is no
reason why Cabinet officers should be
obliged 10 pay from their salaries or
from their private wealth for any Off.
cial function required Of them in
their positions. Their case is practi
cally the same, so far as this is con-
cerued, as the cases of foreign Bmbas.
ent failure to provide for our Embas-
sadors and Ministers, the positions have
TO be filled By men Of wealth, since
poor man would not be able to make a
showing that would redeem him from
utter insigni6cance at the gorgeous
we pay TO our foreign representatives.
We should meet all these official obi
cations from the public treasury,
whether these obligations arise at home
or abroad.
Mr.. Bryan is quite right in saying
that the position Of Secretary of State
entails far larger expenditures in this
direction than any other Cabinet officer
is expected to meet; for he has to deal
with foreign diplomats, and it is eX.
pcctcd that certain official functions
viii be rendered TO the representatives
Of the foreign nations from time 10 time
in Washington. This is not only an
international courtesy which it is quite
right to observe, but it is one the cost
of which the public should pay. Mr..
matter to the American public in the
way he has done is calculated to do a
good service in bringing the whole
question fairly before the people. The
solution would appear 10 be an enter
tainment fund al the disposal Of the
Cabinet officers, so much for each mem
Der Of the Cabinet, altogether aside
from the salary OF the office.
Joined to the awkwardness Of the
presentation Of this matter by Mr..
Bryan was the fact that at the very
time that he began his lecture course,
foreign affairs were pressing upon his
Office in an unusual degree, We had the
Japanese question to deal with, the
Mexican question, the Panama canal
question. and other less important mat
ters, but always enough to take up the
! time and the attention Of the Secre-
tary Of State, and require his presence
in Washington. 1t was his absence from
duty at the time that his presence there