Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 April 1902 — A BAD LEAK IN THE TREASURY [ARTICLE]

A BAD LEAK IN THE TREASURY

The recent rise of Milton E. Ailes to the assistant secretaryship of the treasury pleased hosts of friends, and, to those familiar with his ability in fiscal administration, the salary attached to the office, $4,500 per annum, seems far from large, but to a certain old lady in Ohio the fact that the boy she used to know is now drawing that sum yearly will have all the force of a sensation.

“This dear old friend,” says Mr. Ailes, “knew me when I was a barefoot urchin, and it is well nigh impossible for her to associate me with public office. Her world has been a small one, the boundaries of the county have marked her most adventurous traveling, and when I go home and call on her my accounts of life in Washington, which I have to make exceedingly tame lest her wavering faith in my truthfulness he utterly destroyed, fill her with vast perplexity and apprehension for her country’s future.” Mr. Ailes paid this aged mentor a visit while he was private secretary to Secretary Gage. “Milton,” said she, “tell me honestly how much you get in your po- < Sition?” “Two thousand a year,” he replied. The good old soul gasped and all but fainted. Recovering, she exclaimed: .“Two thousand dollars! No wonder the United States isn’t able*to pay its national debtl”—Saturday Evening Post.