Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-12-12
RAISES OWN SALARIES
State Officials Add Employees
and Increase Wages When
They Wish, is Claim.

EDITOR Goodland of the Racine
Ilmes-Call, in a recent editorial
calls attention to the increasing
OF salaries by state officials when
he says: News comes from Mad
lson that it is the practice for the
heads of the different state de-
partments to increase salaries and
add to the force in their depart
ments at will, and that apparently
there is no check on them, no cen
trial authority which they must
consult before adding to the cost
OF their departments"
Mr.. Goodland says that it is
stated that the secretary of state
recently increased the salaries of
forty-two of his employees, adding
sos month to his pay roll.
Twenty-Five employees of the De-
partment of Markets received in
creases in salaries and the railroad
commission added eight more en-
ployest to it's force.
Neither the governor nor the
legislature seems to have anything
to say about this, says Mr.. Good
land, but it is wholly up to the
desires and the discretion of the
heads of departments.
| Continuing he says: rs it any
wonder that the personnel of the
state government has grown to alb
normal size or that the cost of
government has greatly increased
of late years."
The state maintains a depart
ment to teach cities how to insti-
tute budget and correct account
ing systems. Why not turn this
department loose in the state
capitol and have it institute a re-
sponslble system of check and ac-
counting in the departments there.
What would be thought of a
private business organization that
allowed each of it's department
heads to increase salaries and
force at will? There is no more
justification for that in the state
government than there would be
IN private concern"
Mr.. Goodland goes on to state
that he understands certain legis-
lators are preparing a bill to fix
salaries to be introduced at the
next session of the legislature. It
is also stated that they will incor-
porate in the bill a plan for Great
ing a pension system for state en-
ployes.
The editorial states that the peo-
pie of Wisconsin should block this
scheme at the outset and we agree
entirely with Mr.. Goodland on
this scheme to pension state en-
ployes, and we have on previous
occasions taken some decided
stands against pensioning all en-
ployes of the state. Why should
state employees be pensioned, who
are under civil service, who have
a good job with full pay and with
short hours? Are they any more
deserving of pensions than the
man who works by the week or by
the month whenever and where
ever he can find employment and
who is thrown out of work when
there is no further use for his
services and without pension or
any thought of consideration for
his future.
This question of state pension if
allowed to start will lead to SER
ious results. The recent session
of the legislature proposed to pass
an old age pension law which,
had it become a law would have
cost Wisconsin taxpayers $780,,
900 year, and should state en-
ployes be pensioned all such al
lowances would have to be borne
by the tax payers of the state.
1t has come to pretty serious
condition of affairs when state of
fcials may increase salaries and
add employees to the service and
then endeavor to pension them, all
of which means that taxes under
this kind of state government are
going to continue to increase, and
as Mr.. Goodland says, if the pen
sion system is once incorporated
it will spread until it becomes
great incubus on the taxpayers of
the state Wisconsin Agricultur-
it's.
More than 1000 COWS owned by