The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-04
WHERE mar MS WAGES GO.
The American Producer PAYS for a sw arm
Of Jacks In Ohice.


TO THE EpiToR or THE SUN-SW: Are
YOU not ashamed that New York should
lag behind Pennsylvania?
William penns open handed Common
wealth. looking out for some new way
Of relieving a considerable number of its
people of the damnable wear and tear
and stress and strain of ordinary work
aday life. appointed an efficiency COM
mission to look into It's government The
commission has just made Christmas
present to Pennsylvanians in TIE shape
of recommendations "a that all public
Jobs be made permanent under civil
service regulations and GU that after
twenty-five years service every office
holder shall have n pension for the re-
malnder Of his natural existence.
Now that is progress on right lines.
BY this stroke at least seven or eight
thousand worthy PennsylvaRians will
be comfortably provided for and need
never have another bit Of bother about
the rainy day" "the wolf at the door"
the high cost Of living. trade depres-
sion. unemployment or any OF the other
demnitiun dlsagreeable incidents that
beset the unofficial workingman.
In letter to THE SUN last February
pointed out that official life as it is
, lived in this country under national,
state or city auspices needed but the
assurance Of a performance, with early
retirement on pension equal to the
| salary, To become as nearly as possible
! idyllic. and that II only extended so as
/ to include all male adults ii would at
once solve The whole social problem in
the simplest and happicst manner
| mag
| IT was on that ground that 7 ventured
to set forth and Justify the right Of at
! least every voter to an office and to a
pension. While the fact that a couple
of million or more have already, in some
| shape or other. attained the ono and
| hope for the other is n distinctly en-
! Couraging sign II the times, | Stlll feel
that It will greatly help our noble un-
| official Citizenry to support their own
| hard burdens in the trenches OF the
struggle for survival II they know that
| they are the means, each of them, Of
making life relatively easy. pleasant and
agreeable for some other fellow who
would otherwise have to work like
themselves As not all of them are
aware Of the extent of their altruism in
this particular / know of no more help
ful service THE SUN can render than to
point out that the per capita tax in the
average American city. including all
taxes Is now close to 500; that. allow
ing for the nOn-producing element OF
children, women, the lame, the halt, the
blind and the official. to every actual
producer. this means a tax on the last
named OF about $1,000 year, which in
turn is nearly il not quite half the
average workingman's yearly wage as
shown by the census.
Without emitting to continue damn
ing the trusts and the tariff and the war
and the railroads and every other sub
iect Of objurgatlon in the litany of the
able monologue artists who are running
our Government IT is still some CON
ISOLATION for "A worker TO know that IL the
cost Of living in these days does come
high he Is at least all the time paying
half his wages for the support of an
other man on much better scale than
his own. OBSERVER.
NEW GORk January 9