The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-09-06


make a canvass of the whole of
Florida, in which he will take d.
rectly to the people-as many as he
can reach by voice, pamphlet, and
newspaper column - the question
that he was unable to get the Leg
islature to decide (by taking action
on the bill that he introduced for
that purpose, of whether county off,
Gals shall be paid adequate but
reasonable salaries like all federal
and state officials, or be still longer
permitted to collect from the people
of the county, fees which have
grown, as the counties have grown,
so big as to be out Of all proportion
to the service rendered, and to bear
no ratio whatever to an economical,
as we'll as an efficient handling Of
the counties business
When Mr.. Wood told me that he
was going to introduce bill chang
ing the fee system of compensatins
county officials into salary system.
l told him that there was scarcely
a chance of getting the bill through.
because of the opposition coming
from the present holders of these
county offices, who would at once
conceive the strange idea that they
were being robbed Of something that
belongs to them by the abolition Of
the fee system, Notwithstanding the
fact that no change could be made
until they had served out their pres
ent terms, and after that they could
choose whether they wanted to run
for the same officeagain or not. I
recounted to him briefly the efforts
that Singleterry, member Of the
House, from Jackson county, made
in 1911 to abolish the fee system.
and the efforts to kill it that were
made by the lobby OF county officials
which camped in Tallahassee in such
numbers, stayed there with such
persistence, and importuned the
members with such vehemence at
all hours of the day and night, that
the members seeing that they could
neither eat nor sleep, nor attend to
any other business as long as this
Office holding contingent remained
in Tallahassee, finally let it be quiet
ly understood that the Singleterry
bill would not be reached on the cal
endar so as to come up for con-
sideration this time. After which
the sheriffs, the tax assessors, the
clerks, the tax collectors, the county
judges and solicitors, and justices Of
the peace, went home, each man de-
termined to come back again If any
such vicious piece of legislation
ever turned up again. Mr.. Wood
listened to all of this with polite at
tention-even with some show OF
interest, but he went right ahead
and introduced his bill just the
same, because the more he went into
the thing, the more determined was
he that the change from fees to sal
aries was necessary as an act of JUS
tice to other ofiice-holders, and the
O, er-burdened taxpayers. as we'll as
- promote economy in handling the
business of the counties.
And, the county fficials' lobby
came and talked against that bill,
and the gentlemen from Pinellas
had it out with them in committee
meeting. In this discussion Mr..
Wood made bold to say that county
officials had no more interest in the
bill than any other taxpayer, be-
cause the bill would not become ef-
fective until their terms of Office ex-
pired, and he suggested to them
that, as taxpayers, they should help
instead of hindering the passage OF
the measure that would save the tax
payers, of the different counties %
the state, many thousand dollars
every year in excess salaries paid for
reasonably good service performed,
Those thousand of dollars in each
county added together. Mr.. Wood es-
timated, would make total of
quarter a million a year over the
whole state. Mr.. Wood, being a
banker, in inclined to be the least
bit conservative. From my obser-
walton. | take the liberty of dis
agreeing with him as to the saving
that may be effected. Counting the
"aving on criminal prosecutions
which would be made when justices
OF the peace and county solicitors
are paid salaries instead of fees, and
the consequent saving in sheriff's
expenses for arresting and feeding
prisoners, ! figure that the saving
will be at least one hundred thous-
and dollars per year more than his
figures
Well, the lobby was not very
numerous or powerful. but like
Mercutios wound lit served" to pre-
vent the bill being called up out of
tic rao,,Iar ordar and thiS amnupta.,