The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-19
SALARY INCREASE
 BILL IS SIGNED BY
 GOV. HENDERSON
Creates Sensation of Day by Attaching Name to Meas ure for Making the Gov
 ernor's Salary S7500.

Montgomery. January 1S.-(Spe-
 ciaI.)-Governor Henderson. who
 goes out of office the chief ex-
 ecutive at noon Monday, created
 the sensation of the fifth iesisla-
 tive day of the house md senate of
 Alabama Saturdny by signing the
 bill which will increase the salary
 of Gov. Thomas E. Kilby, who will
 be sworn in nt high noon Monday.
 The bill was passed in the senate Saturday morning. and at o'clock Saturday evening Governor Henderson signed the bill and sent lengthy mes sage to the two houses which explained his reasons for changing his mind re- garding the salary bill
 There had been speculation in the city all day Governor Henderson had said he would not sign bill increas- ing the salary of the governor from S5000 to s7500. Five minutes after the senate had recessed until 2:30 o'clock Tuesday afternoon and while the house members were enjoying an informal recess, the message was sent up from the governor The house was kept in session, pending the receipt of the mes sage. but the senate members had be- fore been informed in an unofficial manner that Governor Henderson would sign the bill
 Moments that elapsed while the house was recessed informally, subject to the call of Speaker Merritt. were the tensest and most serious of the five-day session. The signing of the bill will permit Governor Kilby to draw s2boo more than the old law au- thorized.
 The message of the governor says: ITO the senate and house of represent atives: I am returning herewith house bill No. l, reading as follows:
 :" Section 1. Be 1t anacted by the legis- | lature of Alabama, that from and after the passage of this act the salary of l the governor of Alabama shall be S7500 per annum, payable monthly by warrant of l the state auditor
 Tt has not been customary for outgo- | ing governors to act upon such bills that have been brought to their desks in the closing days of the administration I am ! possessed, however with desire that in- so-far as it is practicable, the desk of 1 this office shall be clear of all pending
 matters when the incoming governor takes his seat. 1 have also been informed | by those who are in position to know | that this bill has been sent to my desk this early in the session with the expec- tation that it will be acted upon either l by approval or disapproval. The salary
 of s7500 which the bill carries is not an unreasonable sum for the governor of l the great state of Alabama to receive. The last legislature passed an act re- ducing it to s5o00. I did not give my ap- proval to this bill, but did permit it to become law without my signature
 This was a strong disapproval of the act
 As conditions at that time justified, sub sequent events have only confirmed my opinion that the salary of s750o was near CT a proper sum to be paid to the gov l ernor than 5000.
 Therefore. any objections that might be entertained by me in reference to the
 bill is not in the amount of compensa-
 ton but pertains to other conditions.
 CITES DIRECTIONS
 '"These objections, briefly summed up,
 are as follows:
 That if it is the purpose which the
 act indicates upon it's face to enter the 1 salary of an incoming officer who was | elected in November that it is gross
 violation of the spirit of section PSI l of the constitution, which reads as fol- lows: (Here the governor quotes the | section regarding increases in salaries) l ''rhe practice that called forth this
 section of the constitution was that of
 increasing the salaries of the officers l during their term of office. It evil dently was not contemplated by the framers of the constitution that at 1 tempts would be made to increase the ! n ti of off bad d
 been elected and before they had en- i tered upon the duties of their office
 as there are only five legislative days intervening between the time of the as- | sembling of the legislature and that in 1 which many officers of the state as- 1 sume the duties of their respective of 1 fees. The practice of attempting to l change. the compensation of those who
 had been elected to office is a danger 1 ous one, and it seems that it is be- ! coming more popular with the assem- bling quadriennally of the legislature. | taking tAis view of the act, together with this growing practice. it would
 appear that house bill No. 1 would meet with my disapprova1 but after all linn | itations of law, let them be ever so
 rigid, there at last must rest with the | conscience of the individuals who have | to do with the administration of law what is right and what is wrong in the discharge of their respective duties. It l is not so much the form of govern | ment, but those who administer the | government, that determines whether
 or not 1t is just and efficious. 1 Believing as I do that $7500 per an-
 mum is a just lary and leaving It's i application to those who may be inter ested I have determined that it was ] in the line of my duty to approve the | bill, and this measure is merely to give you this information"