Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-07-12
The Cost OF Influence.

Washington Special:-A new MEM
Der of congress came here a few DAYS
ago to make some arrangements for a
winter residence. He speedily ran
across an old member from his own
city, which will not be named here, but
it is in the northwest, and the political
recruit asked the veteran where he had
better lcss ter /; Lcuse. '.How many
are there in your family?" asked the
old member. ''Only my wife and l."
was the reply. ..You don't want
house at all, said the old member.
'Where shall 60 to board?" go to
the. That is just the place for you
swell style there for great deal less
than it would cost you to keep house.
A. lived there all the while he was
in Washington, and B, who tried
every hotel in town, spent his last poll
teal days there
what did A--pay?" asked the
new member.
He had his wife and his daughter
with him, and he paid 800 a month"
"Whewm whistled the new member,
who could pay 800 a month if he really
wanted to. ''l'm not going to pay 800
month know where can get very
good Accommodation fvr &IoU Il
month";
Put another $3.50 with that and
compromise on $780," said the old
member, land 90 in for some of the
ct ceteras. have been here for some
years" he continued, '.and can give
you Il few points. You don't want to
bury yourself in any $3.50 place. If
you were a common citizen you and
your wife could get very good accomo-
dations for the figures you name. but
congressman can't do it. You want to
go TO a place where the people will
know you are member of congress and
will advertise you-give you boom.
You haven't any idea how totally OBJ
scurc you can be next winter if you are
not careful. Every new member of
congress is looked on as an accident.
If he gets reelected it is assumed that
his constituents did it on purpose, and
he gets treated with corresponding res
pect. But he is of no particular ac-
count his first two years. You come
on here next winter u new member, and
you get tackled on TO the tail end of an
unimportant committee-the committee
on Revolutionary claims or on expenGi-
lures in the state department,--and
you never catch the eye of the speaker,
and it will surprise you to find out how
small part of the government you are
and how little you count in Washing
ton, though ut home you are prom
inent citizen in one of the great cities
Of the country. Therefore you want to
live where you will be of enough ac-
count to compensate you for your OBJ
security at the capitol. Suppose you go
to that $3.50 place. You'll have good
food and a good room, but nobody in
the house will remember that you are
a congressman, or care if they did.
Now, how would you like it to put in
a hard days work at the capitol wear
ing yourself out on n committee where
there is plenty of work and no glory,
and then go to your boarding-house and
be asked where you've been all day?
You wouldn't like it. You've got
money, and you'd better live where you
can get some enjoyment out of being
congressman
by the way" said the old member,
recurring to this subject, A, whom
| referred to, used to have pretty COM
Portable quarters at the hotel spoke of.
c. called on him once and was i'm
pressed with that fact. A. said
he, you have nice rooms here. When
your term expires think I'll take them
What do they cost you?"
+" One hundred and seventy-tive dol
lars week." was the reply.
Great Cd" exclaimed c., i
don't want to buy the hotel. >"
But, of course, a man can't pay S175
n week for board unless he has some
thing besides his congressional salary
| of 800 n week to live on. Plenty of
men in congress have fortunes that
make their salaries comparatively I'M
important On the other hand, there
are senators and representatives who
are here without their families and who
don't pay more than $50 or 500 month
for board and lodging. and others bring
their. wives and board very comfortably
for S100a month, more or less. But
then they don't get quite so much adj
vertising or booming as the rich men
who can pay twice that per week.