Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1879-02-04

We Wupt hkicU WIN soO ""~UN
the salaries Of our Legislators are too
low. They have to pay from % to slo
. week for room and board-it used
to De Sl2 and &l5-and only get IS a
day for their services, and yet, strange
to +Hy, there are always plenty OF men
who want to be sent there, and when
there were really election contests they
would spend almost the amount Of their
salaries to have themselves elected.
We must recollect, however, that our
legisl ators have strained every ingenu-
ity TO increase the salary, and have
succeeded admirably in doing so, while
it remains technically at So per day.
This is done by charging for every day
in the week, Sunday included, while
they are never in Dover more than five
days in the week, and if We were very
particular in making reductions for
parts OF, Monday and Friday, they are
really not in Dover more than four
days in the week We will, however,
give our law makers the benefit Of the
lost time on Mondays and Fridays,
aud reckon the time of their working
service at five days in week. A strict
construction OF the law would allow
them SIS for these iiv. days service; if
otherwise i: would have said $lj a
week, which would not include Sun
days. We cannot tell how far back,
but Tor a long time anyhow our legisla-
tors have strained the law to mean IS
a day for every day in the week,
whether the Legis lature is in session
or net, and also including Sundays,
making total of S2l week. But
this is not all the strainiDg the law
has had to suffer. During the war,
when gold went kiting away up TO
81. so and higher, the Legislature took
advantage OF it and paid themselves of
in gold or its equivalent in other money
which made their per diem, as the law
calls it 81 So per day, or $3.50 per
week. This was getting along up in the
scale pretty fast towards IS each day
in the week, including Sunday, but re-
duc-d to the five working days to which
the legislators are really only entitled,
i, would be $3.50 per diem.
But this is no, the whole Of the pick
ings and perquisitss Of the Legislature.
They are paid mileage to and from the
State Capital, one time during the SEES
sion, at the rate of Is cents a mile.
This could as easily be construed by
the Legislature to mean mileage one
time every week, as to allow themselves
pay for Sunday and to pay themselves
in gold when it was $50 and 200. We
have never heard though that this part
of it was taken advantage Of. Then
there are little perquisites in the way
of postage stamps, stationery, pen
knives, k-stands and law books, and
it is not true that they drink nothing
b"t water as the Gazette asserts. Now
tina. gold is worth no more than silver
or green backs, it is unfortunate for the
Legislature, and unless they make
State Bonds, or United States bonds,
which are alone above par, the basis OF
money value, they will have to keep
themselves down to hard PANS a
day. We only mention these things TO
show that our Legislature has not been
toilng and struggling along at So a
day, but to show the many subterfuges
resorted to to raise their pay above that
amount, but after all this is only an
argument to show that the pay of our
law makers should be increased, so that
these little subt-rfuges alluded to- may
be avoided in the future. The pay
ought not to be less than IS a day, or
fixed salary of $500 for session not
exceeding three months, would be rea-
sonable. We heartily join the haze'te
in its demand for increased pay for our
Legislators.