I find this very interesting. Too bad it was not adopted.
Nonsense. If government posts were unpaid, only the wealthy could afford to be involved. Which is exactly why the British didn’t pay members of Parliament until well into the 20th century. It kept the riff-raff out.
FWIW, when he was President Washington accepted his salary of $25,000. This was during a period when a reasonably decent salary was $500 to $1000 annually.
Depending on which method of adjustment one uses, this corresponds to $591,000.00 to $1,910,000,000.00 in 2009 dollars. Obama’s official salary is $400,000.
Of the six numbers given, I suspect $11,600,000.00 is the closest approximation to equivalent value of Washington’s salary today. It is surprisingly difficult to compare prices and wages from one era to another.