The Seward gateway and the Alaska evening post., 1917-03-19
AN OFFICIAL ARISTOCRACY

Having denounced Senator LaFollette for his out rageous buster against the will of the president and congress- which although it failed to prevent amng our merchantmen, did tie up government finance in hard knot 1t Is well view the other side of the remarkable t tie man from Wisconsin.
 Salaries of high officials of the United States in every department from the president himself down to assist ants to the cabinet officers have been increased from II to 50 pa cent the past years but the salaries of minor clerks remain the at slight advance in spite ot the tremendous increase in the cost of living Concerning this LaFollette said on February 26, in the senate;
 "Oh. Mr. President are we building up official aristocracy in this country? What shall be said when these figures pass under the eye Of the American people while we halt and listen to whispered arguments on this floor as to whether will let poor clerk who IS barely subsistng on salary of $1OOO 200 or $4 year have meager increase of 10 per cent or per cent as he may fall into the other of these casses Shame upon us We ought to be hsSed from places. This is democracy sr and the measure Of equal justice to every the heart of creed Look into these figures and tell me you find any justification for the course of congress and its committees appropriations?
 Riding home last night on a street car, thought would sound out the conductor and so inquired about his pay Speak of this just by way of comparison These men start in for the first year at 23 cents an hour per haps fraction above that; think they start at 23 l2 cents but am giving round numbers They start with 23 
 to 2 cents an hour They make average of 10 hours or S27O day. men who have been in the service five years That is between $500 and $1OO0 figured by the month They get one day off out of but they lose their pay for the day they off, However Mr. PreSl- dent they receive than paying many of the government clerks. l asked the with whom talked how they managed in these times to live upon Sucha wage Well he said, I single man, and squeeze aiOng He was man of rare intelligence and had been employed in some other line of business but had met with disaster and had taken this position He said to "YOu do not know how weighs down upon the other fellows who have famies and mark yOu the best paid of them are get ting nearly thousand dollars year He said, By nov ing two or three families into little house, dividing up the roOmS and cutting out everything except the bare scant necessities of life they squeeze aOng"-no flowers no music sir nothing that ministers to the artistic Side only the scant necessities of life; chance to own home The pemanency of democracy, as have always viewed it. rests upon the ownership of the homes by the great czenry of this country No homes for these men They squeeze along; they barely subsis sir But if sickness comes to the family he told me it common practice whenever any little disaster matter how meager 1t might be- afflicted family the subscription list clrcu ateS and the down what they give out of their earnings to help the of families out of their difficult ties am informed that there employed by this great government that is building battleshpS each to cost over S15OOOOOO hundreds of employees who work during the day for their meager government salaries and then go out and find employment at night somewhere, absentmg themselves from the hOme working into the small hours of the night in order that they may take of their familes
 Oh Mr. President regret to have felt constrained to make this address to the senate and put these facts in to the Record They are not to our credit"