The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-09-11

There has been considerable agi
tation of late in the State of Florida
relative to the method by which
County officials are compensated fol
their services. Up to the present time
these officials have derived their re
Enumeration by the retention of all
fees and commissions exacted on the
business that goes through their of
fee. There is a decided movement
on foot to change this Anticipated sys
TEN, by putting all County officers up
on salary basis. So important an
issue has this become, that many OF
the most influential citizens of the
State of Florida, have deemed it nee
essary to have an extra session of the
legislature convened for the purpose
of enacting remedial legislation along
this line. In discussing this matter
with Hon. F. A. Wood, of st. Peters.
burg. Florida, Member of the Legis.
lature for Pinellas County, he has this
to say, in part:
There are two things about repre-.
sentative government which have
been known from the beginning
These two are: that the business of
GENTLY and economically.
1t Is an aphorism that the peoples
servants are poorly paid This is so
because the public service carried
with it a badge of honor and distnc-
ton that is rightly considered part
of the compensation Of those who de-
vote themselves to it, For many years
in the history of this country, Off
cial salaries were so small that pub
lie service was not only an honor, but
a sacrifice, and man who devoted
himself to it, at the same time devoted
himself to genteel poverty.
J.. Conditions Years Ago
A generation or so ago, when Flor
ida was sparsely settled, the job of
being County official went begging.
The duties Of the Sheriff, the Record
er, and all the other functions of the
local government were so limited that
1t scarcely was worth while for any
one able-bodied, competent man to de.
vote all of his time to the task. AS a
consequence the village blacksmith
or some other local citizen assumed
the Sheriffs duties and received as
his pay, fees for the actual service
he performed. Likewise, the mer-
chant who had spare time acted as
recorder of deeds, mortgages, etc,
and was paid in fees.
For many years in this State, the
Governor of Florida received $500. 90,
and the administrative officers known
as the Cabinet and our Judges, had
to content themselves with a beggar-
ly S2,500.00. We are doing better by
these high public servants now, but
they are still poorly paid, considering
the value and importance Of the serv-
ice rendered.
When we first started out to pay
our County officials. the county bust
ness was so small that il was found
impracticable to fix salaries common
surate with the service rendered; so,
We adopted the expedient Of allowing
fees for actual service, so that our
worthy Sheriffs, Tax Collectors, Tax
Assessors, etc, could make a living
out of their chosen trades, business
or professions and when called upon
to perform public service. they receiv.
ed compensation for the actual time
they devoted TO ii. The state made
these fees high, for the men who filled
the Offices did their work largely as
an accommodation, and the few fees
which came their way had to be com
mensurate with the time and labor
they took away from their regular
business.
Times Have Changed
As the business of the county grew
with the increase of population, the
revenue to these officials grew, and il
soon came about that man had to
devote all of his time to public serv.
ice, but the fees that were made high
when the business was small. had
not been changed when the business
grew large. so that now the total of
fees received by County officials is
far in excess of the value of the serv-
ice that they render, or the market
price of this service as fixed by equal
service in other lines of business.
We have changed the compensation
of our higher public officials, but we
have not changed that Of our County
officials: so that we are now con-
fronted with a state of things that
might be termed anomalous, which.
being translated, means strange. un.
natural, out OF proportion.
There are several counties in the
State OF Florida, in which, under the
fee system, the Clerk of the Circuit
Court is paid more than $4,000 a
year for his services. There are sew
eral counties in which Clerks are
paid more than $4,000. There are
many counties in which Clerks are
paid more than $1,000. Sheriffs, Tex
Collectors, Tax Assessors ana Caua-
ty Jud--@s - pa ,,-.le-. thc zee sy-.