The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-05-02
STATESMEN WITH MONEY
WHos SPEND THEIR s SALARIES IN
ora doiiiH HOTEL BILLS.

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gentlemanlyJ .Congressmen can't liv,
Elegantly on 5000 year, much less :
Sehabos.ai Il Ieii .5fao9,51
IoA sayithis much in the outset for tn,
beneGt, Of the, cranks who grind ou
their little Thunder against an incress,
of salary. 9nii : ne eisiil1I
Ii is ormznv-years agolhat every
body. theught $4,000 a year an abun
dant salarY for a Senator or IA membel
qf,the House Of Representatives. but
Of Late there has ha been plenty Of com
plant, and one Senator has. even
writte8a a long Article about the mad
egaacyo OF the Sen atorial salary 7'.
Between fthet time when So 900 d
year was considered good salary ful
"a Congressman and the time when tie
compiam tsief its meagreness began tc
he hssGl there had. come to Wash
lnston yas lnembers ofeboLb HOUSES q
number of niitiidnaiires. who cared little
aboIlsitheiresa'arieb ,zand whose expen-
dlturesr bose no soht of relation to the
moaeyI n shs ,Govsrnment paid them for
their services as Legislators. a few OF
theotker leg alatofs wflb we're without
the large piiiYateioptuns $. and obliged
to ,Sfp Sdffpesssdd ssdd 'tttpen HI iahs salaries, have
found the persiant princes. oil, luin
fet, 'faiiwAy ahd mining mhbiiin Ii fkin9s 9.,i going
away beyond thelpnin9 cost ar,d
ln44llplnlseFss n44llplnls + gf living, ard-then fthey talk
7 and write about the nis2aldliness, Of
II, wy 7 ,sslts
.jority of.SenatDrslfand Ea,tilbers, like
the, sensible eoIlegt aboys, manage to
live very e3mtortably On their salaries.
a majority OF them even save Il little
moiieylhThe .iieti who spend ten
tlmes heirs & salary are written and
talked ABOUT, while 40 notice is taken
of those Who live economically. So it
'haPpees that erroneous ideas, as to the
hard dats of the poor fellows who only
6aya -, 900 a year between them and
starvation, get abroad, .,
The Corgressmen who are saving
money do not advertise that fact or
tell jastt how much it costs them TO
i've, but there are department clerks
with f:inilies who only earn $1,000 Il
year who 1--we quite as well as many
Congressmen. Probably i majority
spend more than that, but some spend
even less. That does not leave much
margin for entertaining, but nos all
Cnngfessmen do entertain. 1t alsD as
sumes that. if the Congressman plays
poker, ne plays a good game.
Probably the largest lump sum ever
paid By a member Of Congress for his
board and lodging in Washington was
$4,000 for the session. a Western
Senator paid that amount several
years ago at the Arlington for one
sessioh. 1t has never been repeated,
although several times since then neg
citations OH that basis for the same
Accommodations have come very near
to a conclusion. For that price the
Senator had an entire house, the John
son aniiex, for himself and family ex-
clusively. A butler and full tolee of
servants were furnished him, and he
had carte. blanche in ordering sucl,
things as he wanted The Senator's
wife simply indicated her desires as to
the menu and it was furnished. A
private dining room. for the family
was, among the ACCOMMODATIONS, and
the Senator could fill his table with
guests at every meal if he wished, and
the hotel provided for them without
extra cost. But if he gave set din
ner fortalarge number of guests be
was charged for it same as anyone
else .aaoaiefna + 81.
,dJThere are some extrayagant notions
about the cost Of banquets. Tales
are told of dinners that cost $50 and
$500 a plate. Fine dinners are ex-
pensive enough,i but they do not cost
that muchznThe finest dinner given
iii Washington cost not more than SO
a plate. OF this SO is for the dinner,
So for the wine, So for the flowers, and
So for the menu cards. That is the
best and most expensive dinner given
at hotel. In private house when
the Kitchen appointments are such as
to permit OF the preparation of a first
class dinner, the cost is considerably
less Probably 3l5i for each plate
would coversthe, cost of wine, dinner,
flowers, and extra service Il Not many
large dinners of this class, it is appar
ent, could be giYend. on a $4,000 salary
i About the cheapest living for a
single Congressman at a first class
hotel is $25 week, and if his wife is
with him the3icSsU is doubled. Be
tween this and the $4,000 fo. the ses
sion there arefal tnsorts Of, accomeda-
tions, and the cost,s ,sof course, depends
largely upon the size of the family
The highest price paid by any mem
Der Of Congress at .his time for hote
accomod atoms is about 1900 j
| month. Senator Mcmillan and pos
sibly two or three others pay that. A
bill of $1,000 month has been paid
several times within the past few years
for board and lodging at a Washing
Iton,hotel, but nobody is paying thai
now. Quite a number of Congress
men pay at the rate Of $500 a month
| for room and board and twice as many
pay $400 month. The latter sum i
not much above the average for Cou
gressmen who have their families will
them and live at hotels.
| Boarding house life is undoubtedly
the cheapest as well'as the least com
fortablesfo 1t is only in the boardin.
house that the, CONGRESSMAN save
much money. The cost runs from 81,
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