The high figure of the salary made him reflect that on that side Stepan Arkadyevitch's proposed position ran counter to the main tendency of his own projects of reform, which always leaned towards economy.

"I consider, and I have embodied my views in a note on the subject, that in our day these immense salaries are evidence of the unsound economic _assiette_ of our finances.

" "But what's to be done?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch.

" Suppose a bank director gets ten thousand--well, he's worth it; or an engineer gets twenty thousand--after all, it's a growing thing, you know!" "I assume that a salary is the price paid for a commodity, and it ought to conform with the law of supply and demand.

If the salary is fixed without any regard for that law, as, for instance, when I see two engineers leaving college together, both equally well trained and efficient, and one getting forty thousand while the other is satisfied with two; or when I see lawyers and hussars, having no special qualifications, appointed directors of banking companies with immense salaries, I conclude that the salary is not fixed in accordance with the law of supply and demand, but simply through personal interest.