Why is the issue of Parris’s salary raised?

Parris is in the end concerned with money and power. He decries that he deserves a raise because of the sacrifices he has made for the community. He likes to remind people that he gave up a supposed prosperous business in the Barbados to come to Salem to lead people in God's ways. Parris also equates his position to his wealth. He believes that the gold candlesticks belong to him and that a person of his stature deserves good things in the eyes of God. Parris feels that materialism and his position as religious head go hand in hand.