150 
TJrdalil—Historical Survey of Fee Systems. 
treasury. On the other hand, this comparison will not repre¬ 
sent adequately the change; because the number of fee-collecting 
offices has increased, owing to the differentiation in public 
functions which has already been explained. 
Furthermore, the transference of political functions and con¬ 
sequently of fees, from state to municipal bodies, has been very 
general in all parts of the country. But even after all due 
allowances are made, the evidence is everywhere very strong to 
show that the salary system is gradually gaining ground, and 
that in time, if the movement continues, it will displace the 
fee-system. This does not mean that the fee-system is likely to 
disappear entirely. It simply means that more and more fees 
are required to be turned into the treasury instead of being 
absorbed by the officers collecting them. It is a movement 
toward economy in the management of public affairs which is in 
line with all the ideas of the age. 
CHAPTER X. 
THE EVOLUTION OF THE FEE-SYSTEM AS REFLECTED BY THE 
AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS. 
No series of public documents can be found which can serve 
as a better index of the sober, conservative public sentiment of 
the United States taken as a community, than the national and 
state constitutions. A study of the provisions which may be 
found in the state charters and constitutions, and which relate 
directly or indirectly to the fee-system, from the first settle¬ 
ment down to the present day, better than anything else shows 
the questions which were most important in the minds of the 
framers of the constitution. Besides, each state constitution would 
naturally reflect that part of the fee-system which in that par¬ 
ticular locality demanded regulation. 
