The Washington times., 1915-02-18
THE COURT AUDITOR


that a fight should have been made
against placing the Office of the Su-
preme Court Auditor on q salary in
stead of fee basis. The town needs
to have Congress think we'll of it;
wants Congress to believe that there
is body Of intelligent, enlightened
opinion here worthy of considera-
tion. The opposition to SO elemental,
obvious, and indubitable a reform as
this in the Auditors Office, justifiess
Congress in doubling whether there
is any use paying attention to what
the supposedly influential forces in
Washington want.
The bitter warfare against this
little reform has been waged in
some quarters with a zeal that
might have led to the belief that
some great principle was involved.
Yet the particular case was rather
unimportant, and the principle was
all on the side Of the change that
has been made.
How are the supposed refectors of
Washington opinion and interest to
hope for serious attention at the
hands of Congress, when they take
the general attitude of being "agin
everything?" Imagine a Congress-
man who wants to do the right thing
by Washington, and who feels uncer-
tain whether the present fiscal part
nership ought to be abolished. He
listens to arguments advanced by
newspapers and business organiza-
tions, and is impressed. He guesses
they have a pretty good case.
d Then, CHANGING to have his atten-
ton called to the affair of the Audi
tors Office, he notes that the very
same influences which he had been
disposed to heed in the matter of
fiscal relations, are lined up solidly
against abolition Of a pitiful relic
Of the archaic and repudiated sys-
tenn!
What will he think?
He knows that for generation past
the progressive policy of his home
State, city, county, has been to get
rid of the fee system just as far as
possible. He knows that it breeds
bad political and bad business con-
ditions. He knows that, outside
Washington, everybody understands
and accepts this fact. He has long
understood that present-day public
opinion is disgusted and done with
making political pudding Of such Of
fees as the shrievalty, the county re-
corder, the city clerk, and like posi-
tions in which fees must be charged.
That public Offices should be made
private snaps, with rumor telling
vaguely about the huge swag Of fees
piped into an official pocket, is bad
for all concerned-except, of course,
the owner Of the fortunate pocket.
It is now argued, in one of the
oldest defenses Of the old order at
Athe Auditors Office, that if fees are
to be collected, they ought all to 60
to the Auditor-no matter what the
amount. This is not altogether un-
like the argument that the people at
the mint should own all the money,
because they make it! Or the COL
lector of taxes keep the revenues be-
cause he collects them!
Time was when the clerks Office
was under the fee system; but that
was abolished many years ago, and
now the balance of fees collected be-
yond a reasonable salary is covered
into the Treasury.
= Likewise the district attorneys Of
fee collects fees for services; but the
fees are not perquisites. The official
retains enough to pay his stated SAL
ary, and turns in the balance.
The register of wills and record
er of deeds collect fees; but it is a
long time since anybody advocated
SO preposterous an idea as that they
should keep all they got. They mere
ly retain fixed salary, and turn in
the rest to the public authority.
It is inexplicable that when the
unlimited fee compensation system
has been abolished almost every
where else, and even in almost all
Offices here, so insistent a fight
should be made for the preservation
of this little relic of a political sys-
tenn that has been discarded because
it was bad.
! Attacks on the Supreme Court will
not gravely worry the gentlemen OF
that bench. They have the satisfac.
ton of knowing that they have done
the right and the modern thing; and
they have saved the self-respect OF
the court by doing it on their own
motion instead of waiting for Con.
gress to order it. The whole per-
formance has been unfortunate
chiefly because, as already observed
y,