Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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State Employees Get Generous Travel Items (Second Installment) Editor The Herald and News: State ^ Superintendent of Education The American people deaidy like to be supervised and it seems particularly dear to the American man to organize hie affaire with a numerous staff an<kto carry out hi* advertising oh a quantitative basis, sending out tons and tons of printed matter in the hope that some few pounds may be effe?ti?UMin&tead of thinking out more clefmy how to reach prospects by more direct and persuasive (methods. . This habit has been growing upon us in South Carolina and it comes' to its full flower in some of our public offices. The schools of South Carolina are supposed to be supervised by their respective principals and superintend- j ents' of the adult schools and th? rural supervisor and the high school * supervisor and the supervisor of rural and elementary schools. There is also a supervisor of home economics and a supervisor of trade and industries. This is some.of our highpowered supervision. The superintendent of education has a large office, a very large office^ Re.cords, papers, cards, graphs,* surveys, indices, charts, life-histories ad nauseam abound. We are no longer content to teach tho fundamentals" in simple, direct and thorough manner, but now we must teach --that is to say, offer courses in? everything under the sunr The children come out with a fair smatter-| ing and uttefly bewildered by the whole business, bilt whether he knows I anything or not each child must be weighed, studied, measured, investigated, surveyed, analyzed, pampered, petted, patted, diagnosed and diagrammed. >- . j The superintendent of education receives $4,250 a year?which is the same $3,(500 of 'the others with that same bonus, but in this case, as in the case of the attorney general, the. bonus and the salary are one and the same thing and is properly called salary. The little matter of $200 for travel for the superintendent is not to be understood a? being used in the supervision of schools, for the state superintendent seldom visits schools unless to make a speech. If we look down the list we will see where the travel comes in. and we note $500 for travel of the supervisor of adult schools; and! $700 for the travel of rural school supervisors; then $700 for the supervisor of high schools and $1,400 for the supervisors r' of rural and elementary Schools and then $1,800 for the travel of those supervisors of agriculture, home economics, etc.?a very considerable amount of travel for the state department of education and indicatirig that the state maintains a body of tourists and all of this in addition to the travel of the county superintendent, who is supposed to visit, inspect and supervise, etc. Quite a large service, as will be seen?a ver'y'heavy overhead. # ^ There are man*' items that our 1 poverty-stricken state might think proper to eliminate, although some command more attention than others. Note this very interesting little item I ?$27,500 as "Aid for employing I teachers." A very small matter for , a very rich statd, surely! What is $27,500 between friends and the I grand old state can build parallel roads and connecting roads at a coat ft" hundreds of thousands of dollars for some special fancy, while county I seats remain unconnected. Why, surely $27,500 is a mere bagatel! Then there is an interesting little K- matter of vocational education?how B mouth filling that expression is! How utterly progressive it seems to be! I; ^et how little it really amounts to as tauirht! And all this costs us only B~~ $160.2i ! And even of that sum find an item, "Training teachers in servj eM?$ 14,218.62. 7 while the state struggles to devise the moans for teaching thd elemenK.t*ry blanches to the children of the Jtate; wnile devoted fathers- and mothers wrestle in prayer for their children and we cannot see where a "'c^c i* coming_from, we maintain this useless overhead. Every dolne*"i!i'ssly spent fiwe is a dollar might be used fruitfully at Soak's cross roads and Ruffin. Historical Commission I serv?c? costs the state $5, 404.60. I The State Library L^Thia costs the state $3,979.00 a m W an } is in no * rnBe a state library F t should be a part of the state uiii . IArsity' giving this office space to ?;; J"? stat(! department which is now B-rF118 a couple M hundreds off dolrent {or s sk7* Confederate Relic Room | is a matter p? fU70.Q* Why should this exist at all? The relic room should be in charge of the secretary of the historical commission and he should do what is to be done without an assistant. Board of Health Here we find another of those highpowered .organisations ?uch as the jtate department of education. It started out as a very simple thing and even today should be of great use to the state in the matter of the prevention of contagious diseases and epidemics. It^ has developed, however, by first the whim of one and then the other until South Carolina has as much organization in Columbia as though it were a populous and wealthy state. The health officer receives $8,528 a year, somewhat less than the heads of some of the other departments, and is allowed only $450 for travel? which seems to indicate that he is not expected to travel. Even so, where does he travel? There is a bureau of child hygiene costing $7,280, of which $1,000 is for travel; and there is a bureau of vital statistics costing $7,377, of which only $50 is for travel. Now where is the director of that service to travel on $50? Then there is a hy gienic laboratory costing $11,114 but without travel. The big money we shall find in the bureau of .rural sanitation and health work, $42,133.50 with field director, and county personnel costing $30,700, with $1,000 for travel. Then we come to the con trol of contagious diseases, $30,080, of which $000 is for travel. This is followed by a department of sanitary engineering at a cost of $11,026, of [which $1,800 is for travel. There is an-item of $10,112 for crippled children. One can hardly wonder at the military pomp of the state army headquarters on taking into consideration the expahsiveness of the health bureau. * The Tax Commission The budget of the tax commission, like that of the highway department, may indicate the total sum of money expended without giving you very much information as to the details. The chairman receives a salary of $5,100 a year, which is more than the state treasurer receives and even more than the salary of the attorney general. Then we have two associate commissioners at $3,300 each. The peculiarity of the tax commission is that its work is so distributed among the directors of divisions that one chairman and the two associate commissioners are almost unnecessary and might be put on a per diem basis for occasional meetings of several days in the month, serving at the snm? time as a tax board of review, saving not merely a considerable part of the amount now spent in salary as well as the small amount paid to the board of review. As we have said before, the tax commission is divided into many divisions and each division has a complete organization and a complete budget, a very complete budget, including travel. Our state officers are strong for "travel. But this raises the question: Who does all the travelling for the $1,440.00 noted as B-2 and indicated in that part of the budget for the chairman, ;the two commissioners and perhaps the gett? eral counsel? The only one of these gentlemen who has to travel is the general counsel; but there it 1A* f ^ 440. Then there is telegraph and telephone, $750, which seems very, very, very liberal. They may spend it, but they convict themselves of extravagence if they use it. The property tax division, of the state tax commission, has a director and tWO "auditors, three stenographers, five or six field agents and two very interesting items: Travel, $5,600, and offico supplies and stamps, $3,500. Then we come to the income ax division which has a director, three or four stenographers, several clerks and field agents, all for the sum of $16,524, without saying how many, but with $7,000 for travel and $000 for office supplies and stamps. The license tax department has a director, a chief,auditor, and more auditors and bookkeeperg^Jor ' $12*650, without saying how many, a Corporation license clerk, a gasoline license clerk and then some more clerks for the sum of $6,460, without saying how many, and two stenographers and fourteen field agents wit $14,400 for travel and $600 for office supplies and stamps. There are those who say that the tax commission should be generously dealt with because It makes collections at a low coat per ? thAt ia no argument at all. This is no time for useless expenditures, even if a dollar, r. . ? -^^tnaaranee Commissioner One of the striking things to remember ia that the .state is itself en gaged in the insurance business t\nd that it is the insurer of state and i county buildings and pchool houses. From all account this has bee* a well conceived and well managed department, although it is pne of which the public knows little. . The insurance business of the state is under the control of the sinking fund commission indirectly and the management directly of its competent secretary. It would appear that the sink-, ing fund commission might take over the insurance commissioner's office with a marked saving in the cost. There ar? men who look with indulgence on the expense of some of our departments, such as, that of insurance commissioner, commissioner of agriculture, the game warden, the highway commission, the bank exam-, iner, and the railroad commission because they collect special fees from business institutions which they supervise or control. It seems to bp, overlooked that every dollar which is spent needlessly in salary, travel and equipment, is a dollar which might bo available for some other, service of the state. It is, therefore, entirely foolish to be indulgent with extravagance on unnecessary expenses in any department. The state needs every dollar that it can possibly find and it should find these dollars through economies and retrenchment and not through added taxation. The total amount authorized for the insurance commissioner's office is not overwhelming and yet appears ' capable of considerable reduction, though it would be better to unite that service with.that of the sinking fund commission and save a very considerable part of the total expense. Hank Examiner .. , This is an office that has been under severe criticism for some time. The merit or demerit of the administration of the office is not the object of this study. It appears that the office has one examiner, three associate examiners and $8400 worth of assistant examiners (without saying how many,) one secretary at $1680 and. one stenographer at $1464. Just below that we see an item of clerical help, $7068 more. All this appears to be an extremely heavy overhead for a mere handful of banks, What in the world can^all the^e examiners do to find any interest in life? The total number of banks operated under state supervision in South Carolina on the first of last January was about 186; and the total number of banks operated today is 135. Of course, there is no reference to National banks for they are not inspected or examined by the state bank examiner. When the legislature autorized this expenditure there had already been the colossal failure of the Peoples State bank, yet we find in addition to nil those examiners and 'this special item for* clerical help ($7068) an item of $10,400 for travel and motor vehicle. $10,400 for travel! When1 comes -to auditing the state institutions?what surely must be a comparatively, simple task which any competent auditor should be able to make in the course of two months ?we find & salary for that also, there being a state auditor for that purpose drawing $2952 and an assistant state auditor drawing $2304 and $1?200 more for travel! The World iWar converted many Americans into tourists and they gallivanted all over the United States and Europe, but there is a sharp repercussion of the 'World war found in the state government of South Carolina, for each department is heavily charged for travel as though our officials were engaged in a progress of state with a numerous retinue up and down the paved^- highways - of the Iodine State! Just why the comptroller general's office should not audit these institutions it is hard to say, because that is supposed to be the one office of audit of the whole state. It might be also wondered why the comptroller general's office and it could do so probably with about two examiners and a stenographer and possibly only $5,000 for travel! Auditers Hud Treasure*? There i9 no need for the payment by the state of South Carolina of the total sum of $138,147.24, which is the* sum paid by the state to county auditors and county treasurers for the collection of state taxes, and is in. addition to the sums paid to these same officials by the respective counties for the collection of county taxes. The first obeervatien which might be made is this; either the. treasurer or the auditor is superilous, for the auditor is not an Auditor in any sense of ther wind. ll fgf taking return# for Veal and personal property, transferring them to the books made for that purpose and then preparing tha books for the ' refer-? treasurer from the seme data. The auditor makes these entries in hi9 books between April and October, with very little work to do in the early months; and the treasurer begins to work about the 15th of October, and usually has very little to do until about December. In recent years, the treasurer seems to be occupied principally in writing executions. There is no doubt that the average county in South Carolina, one official with one clerk at $75 a month could do all the work of these two offices, !i Railroad CommisHion ' This is a body which perhaps probably might be legislated out of existence for the railroads have already suffered almost all of the harm that we can do to them and are gradually improving in tbefr own conduct through the compulsion of the competition by trucks. We might removo all railroad renulations and say to the railroads in tho polished phrase of another day, "Root. or die." ^ find, however, that* this commission is expensively maintained, although the expenses are borne by the railroads and other institutions regulated by the commission. It remains true, however, that every dollar noodlessly absorbed by the commission might bo wholesomely used by tho state. The railroad commission scoats $61,576 without including this new rate regulation business?a branch of . an already top-heavy commission adding an additional eighteen persons to an already heavy^ staff, including two lawyers! The railroad commissions themselves are allowed $10,000 a year ?for the sjjj, of them?the chairman having a special salary of $2,664. They also have for experts, etc., $7,500, not to mention a very juicy little Item Of $7,000 for travel. Who does the traveling does not at the moment appear and the item is a surprise to many people because it is tho common belief that even today tho humblest employee of thai commission rides on railroads and busses on what used to be cpUed U ."frtTo pass.' There is another mem of rents of $1,666.67. .Where is all this rent? Then another little note is that of association dues $775! It will be observed that they have another fruity little note of $900 for office supplies. Now the railroad commission seems to have overlooked the chance of .creating an office or two, because there is ho superintendent of railroads listed; but as soon as we come to the motor transport division of the said railroad commission, we find a superintendent at $2268 with a stenographer at $1548 and a steno-clerk at $1464 and a group of inspectors at $4280 and $2000 for per diem of commissioners and $810 more for a reporter. And along with all of this we come again to this very precious item: travel, $5000, office supplies, $900, etc. , Would anyone looking at these services say that this total of $61,576.00 is a proper charge when hogs are selling at 3c per pound? Now, in addition to all that, the legislature further authorized $35,00 < for" regulating the power companies! - * Chief Game Warden's ,Off ice ? This is one of the offices that might be linked with some other office, j Surely the board of fisheries and the game warden's office are so close akin as to suggest a consolidation. Th*. office cos to the state $12,910 for the Columbia set-up and apparently might be operated for about half; but if consolidated with the board of fisheries could be operated at a complete savihg of the total sum now spent in slaving such poor adjustments as nice large cruisers in both departments, according to common information, and general excessive provision for the administration; of the-office. Board of Fisheries The average citizen has no idea that here is a service costing the state $21,370 and with such sums as $2064 for chief inspector and $5280 for district inspectors and $1900 for travel, etc. Like so-many other servicesv this began very modestly. Joint Committee on Printing Here a secretary receives $2624 who has time also to serve as clerk to the finance committee of the senute at $700 for 40 days and extra pay at the same rate if the session exceeds 40 legislative days. Although he has ample time to serve the finance committee in addition to his regular-job on -the-joint committ 6 5*n printing, he is allowed an office assistant at n salary of $1056. There is a little item of $900 in that budget for tiravel to take care presumably of the travel of four members of the committee?a somewhat extraordinary expense in view of the fact that the committee draws a whole year in per diem only $640. What then would cause four gentlemen to use $900 for travel t If the four men did not draw the $900 then who else travels?and jyhy? Mrtw&n* Agriculture, Commerce and Industry This U an office that was conceived at a great office, but little by little the duties which it should perform *. Canning Meats For Home Use A few years ago it was not thought practical to can most < in the home ami there was always the problem of supplying the family with fresh meat other than chicken. When a beef or hog was killed there was always an over-abumlaitce of fresh meat while it lasted and then there w^s a scarcity the rest of the year. With outwarm winter last year thor? was the problem^df^keeping even the hams and middlings. With the steam pressure cookers at reasonable prices, the meat may be canned in /the home and stored for future use. In canning meat wo may use tin qans, screw top or glass top jars or tfce self-sealing type of cap and lid. if they are used properly. We must, however, use a steam pressure cooker in order tjO insure, the high temperature necessary to keep the canned j product indefinitely. Canning meat is not hard work noi is it difficult if w? plan ahead and hhve the equipment ready and begin early in the day. \t takes time, energy, patience and enthusiasm to do j the work well. The best way to prepare meats for canning is to prepare them the way tho family likes them best. Cook th?| meat as you would for serVing except! you shorten the time and then can it. The processing (cooking in can in steam pressure) is for sterilisation only, The flavor is developed by the method of cooking before it is placed in the can, so be sure to use a little aage, bhy leaf, <fchUi powder or other i seasoning, according to tho dish you I are preparing. Palates grow tired of meats that are cooked the same way day aft?r day. We should remember this in canning and prepare othe meats in a variety of ways. Along with the j roasts, steaks and chops wo may make sausage meat loaves, hartrtburger cakes, head cheese and th^ sundries may bo made tnto liver paste, sand-1 wich spreads and luncheon tongue: Anyone interested in , canning I meats should get in touch tarrth Miss Sadie Craig, the home agent. j One of Uncle Sam's newest flying lifeboats flow from Cape May, N. J-? Tuesday 22 miles out to sea, picked up a, sick coast guardsman from a ship and brought him back to a Cape May hospital all in the space of 30 minutes. _ Three men were killed near Oh??lepton, Ark., Tuesday. A train hit I their automobile on*a grade crossing. I have been undertaken by other bodies I and so today one has no idea what 1 is the function of that office. There is a commissioner and chief clerk and cashier and a steno-clerk and another [clerk. Then we see that ubiquitous I item, namely, to-wit: Travel, $500. At first this seems ..very modest, but! quiekly one is reassured and convinc- 1 ed that this office is in full flower by I that precious item B-2, said item be-1 irfg traveT again, $12,000; SO eager I is the desire in our state service for this "tourist outlet th^t there is an-j other. B-2?being travel for a measly little $60?this item being under the bead of personal service for the| | chemical laboratory. Now. where would anybody travel for $60.00" < *It bias been observed eleswhere that the state of South Carolina I maintains three or four official laboratories. Here In the department of I commerce is one of those | ties, operated at an expense , of l*v I 008. * There should be but one official laboratory. It has been observed also th*t i* the state of South Carolina sfk>u!9 bring under one bead the multitude of hien'on the payroll of the I Hate and, going about as inspectors of this, that arid the other, it might greatly rOdUce 'the total number. On one day in the city of Florence there were *17 inspectors kinds. This one department shows a bureau of inspectors which costs the state $37,620. Then there is a chief inspecJ tor, inspector."at ports, 9.* other in* spec tors and 2 factory inspectors. Warehouse Commissioner's Office We think this office might be abolished, but if not abolished then surely consolidated with that of the commissioner of agriculture. , It began with the noble dream of John L. McLaurin and has settled down to being just a job with n few more jobs j thrown in.~ We bave a commissioner fund- a chief clerk "and a 'steno-clerte and a file clerk and then we have I $600.00 i<Sr' travel and $500,000 for telegraph and telephone, $4000 for of1 flee supplies?the total administration costing $14,349?and then we j have some more expenses; $13,620 in order to take care of cjtton gradorr# lsrtfd warehouse inspecWrs; and for j travel -$5,000! . It has appeared that even $600 might prove excessive for I an item of "travel, but one quickly is I disillusioned by finding B-2 ttarlng him in the face?travel, $50001 iBBcjlfi# ^jjrand total for that office of I $27369.?CiTIZBN. V I (Reprinted from the Newberry I *. Hear Id and "Newe) (To Be Continued) S-T7. > < ' ??- TL* r <' t . 3 * ' j ' i > ' -Tj --gr-y! -j-,..i.. - ' The number of cases of influensft all over the country a* reported to the 4gpbl)o health bureau irv Washington on Wednesday- totaled 33,823. But -.J few deaths have been reported be-< cause of the disease. 1 ; Sydney, Australia, claims to be the ,,, healthiest city in the world, her death 'rate the past year being but 8.71 per ? 1,000 of population. Teaching of by- 4 gieno in the public schools if given credit for the showing. Thieves in Detroit stole a box of candy from Jbclfu to mobile of Walter Kwart, a-l?amly salesman They won't 4 be ablo to enjoy it much, as ' the "candy" was made of wood, for dis play purposes. ? .TAX RETURNS Office of Auditor KershaV County, J, Camden, S. C., December 17, 1932 Notice is hereby given that the Auditor's Office will be open for raoelv* y.& ing Tax Returns from January 1st, 1933, to March 1st, 1933. All persons ^ owning real estate or personal prop- 58 erty must make returns of the same > < within said period, as required by law, or be subject to a penalty of 10 Wft per cent. The Auditor will attend in person or by deputy at the following places in the county on the dates indicated for receiving returns: Bothuoo?January 10th and 11th. Kershaw?January 12th and 13th, > Haley's Mill?January 17th, Liberty Hill?January 18th, Blaney<?January 19th. Westville?Janurfry 20th. All persons between the ages of 21 * r * and 60 years, inclusive, are required to pay a poll tax, and ail persons bo tween the ages, of 21 and BO years, inclusive, are required to pay a Road . tax, unless excused by law, A11 Trustees, Cyandians, Executors, Administrators or Agents holding property in charge must roturn same. Parties sending tax returns by must make oath to same bofdro some kV'.f officer ami fill out the same in proper manner or they will be rejected. ! ' -i B. E. SPAltROW, ? Auditor Kershaw County . ' "Don't bring Ethel" Do you know why she wasn't welcome? Sho, herself, didn't. ^ Halitosis (bad breath), the social fault no one forgives, was the reason. Yet no one . ^9 need have halitosis. Gargling with. Usterine instantly destroys mouth odors and checks Infection. Use it dally. Lambert Pharmacol Company, St. Louis, Mo. * usterine j ends halitosis ' " . tmjmmSi ??THE DOUBLE TESTED DOV&M ACTING TOpBAKlNG IVt POWDER SAMEMIICE fOROVER , 42 YEARS Buy glov?s with what ltsav?> pty ??? ?mt? to gm r1'*? hi tfliiiiHi*, mmm ivjrMiii lag* ato at a?T Wi3r^-4 hUW It d?u?, nrj protocw you* lattk 1??> "V" *\ :;j NiltMiw^irrMahMMljrStjarmSOftaii A - ' it ja ^ ? - _ - _ 1 .?ah?t , | nt- , * -jr B?/ I"?fi fi wl? l*? 99Tll|?^P9 " t N||Mii<n. I-an.htrt PtuatwiOa- -~ LISTERINE ^ K>o^rpAST?