The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-02-14
THE 4SENATORSHIP.s
Ono Of the Most Delightful Of
Public Offices
FlATTERED AND PRIVILEGED mEn


oAsS1v9xD oUU9os
New FORA onu.
WAsnISsrox Cgrr. Jan. IA-The recent
sharp discussion in Ne HOUSE between The
Hon Roger g Mills. Of Texas. and The Hoa.
William 4 Holman, At Indiana. in relation
% tne salary Of Hcuss employee. seems 70
have attracted nati0nA attention. The
employe Was Isaac r Hin. Of Ohio.
he VAS . Democratic deputy sergsant-at-
arms IN the last House. and - such ~
ceised salary Of 5000 . year. The Re-
publican majority in tho present House, g
= usual. offered the appointment Of an
assistant doorkeeper to the minority. The
services Of such doorkeeper are required
when the Democratic members are in
cancus- The Democrats selected Isaac r.
Hill for the office, and he was appointed
under special resolution offered by Mr..
CARLISLE The ex-spsaker. however, un-
willingly left the salary 1t $2,uW . year.
The Republican assistant doorkeepsr, APP
pointedby the Democrats. had only 81 500
year salary.
In time Mr.. Carlisle discovered his mis-
take and moved that the resolution be ~
considered. The Republicans were par
fectly willing 70 leave the salary ct 5000,
provided that their doorkeeper received the
same. Mr.. Mills, Mr.. Morgan and other
prominent Democrats were willing TO agree
70 this. bat Mr.. Holman insisted that Hillss
salary should be reduced to $3.50. He
said that he noticed that the equalization
OF salaries always went upward In reply
ing Mr.. Mills said that Holman's speech
Was the same that he had been hearing for
sixteen years. He added that he himself
had always fought against the reduction Of
the pay OF officers and employees Of the
House, while the pay Of the officers and
employees Of the Senate vas increased. The
increase on the Senate side had been per
mittsd year after year by Holman while
Mr.. Holman was member Of the commit
tee on appropriations.
Judge Holman replied that II the House
had been more considerate than the SEN
ate in the expenditure OF public money. the
fact added 70 the honor and credit of the
House. He insisted upon the passage Of
his amendment reducing Mr.. Hills salary
to 81 500. II was adopted by vote Of 96
70 10.
The situation il anomalous. whenever
the House increases the salary Of an en-
ploye the fact is blsxoned abroad and the
newspapers arc aroused. Editors stand
aghast ct the outrage. Representatives
seem to BE- more sensitive to newspaper
comments than senators. This is probably
because they come before the people for re-
election every two years, while the senators
are elected by state legislatures and hold
Office for SIX years. Whenever resolution
comes before the House increasing the pay
Of an employe. or calling Tor extra en-
pioyes, the members appear to be afraid 70
60 upon the record. Such resolutions are
frequently passed on division, but the
Representatives run TO cover ~ soon n the
roll call Ii demanded. Twice last session
an effort was made to allow each represcn-
tative TO employ secretary ut the expense
of the government. Each time the resolu-
ton would have been passed II the yeas
and nays had not been secured. Senators
for years have enjoyed private secretaries
ct government expense.
Senatorial duties are certainly not %
onerous ~ the duties OF the members OF
the House. A senator may put . bill
through the Senate without trouble, but Q
representative who tries 10 put . bill
through the House will find that he has 70
work night and day and employ much
finesse TO even get il out Of the committee
and up for consideration. Then each rep
resentative has scores OF pension claims 10
attend to, and multitudinous requests that
can only be granted by visits to the depart
ments. His constituents look 10 him for
public documents and even seeds. Many
senator's. when they receive requests from
citizens Of their states, simply ascertain the
congressional districts from which the re-
quests come and refer them 70 the repre-
sentatives from such districts in the
House. This practice increases the need
OF the secretaries for the members Of the
lower House. Upon . division today.
without yea and nay vote, the PROPOSE
ton 70 give each representative clerk
would probably pass by . twothirds ms
jority. Under yea and nay vote It would
almost certainly go TO the wall.
The Senate seems to Be extravagant
While the House Is economical. The econ
omy OF the House probably costs the peo-
pie more in the end than the extravagance
OF the Senate. II Is . singular TACT that the
House OF Representatives. elected directly
by the people. pays poorer salaries for
everything than the senate, which 50 many
say Is elected through the influence Of cor
porations. Messengers in the House re-
ceive from 81 600 10 II 40 year. Mes
sengers OF the senate receive 81 40 year.
The stationery clerk In the House gets
81 80 year. in the Senate this clerk re-
ceives 81 100 The chief engineer Of tbs
House wing gets $i,10 year; In the SEN
ate wing the engineer gets $3.50. An
assistant engineer in the House gets 81 DO
q year; in the Senate these assistants re-
ceive 81. 40 a year. Firemen in the House
get 500, and in the Senate $i.0so. To 20
stili higher, the clerk Of the House receives
only 3i,5uo . year. while the secretary OF
the senate receives e o96 year. The SER
yeant-at-arms OF the House has 1900 a
year, while the sergeant-at alarms Of the
senate receives "a 40
These are specimen bricks- The Senate
usually adjourns ON Thursday over 10
Monday. The House remains in session
throughout the week. The eixhty-fonr
senators employ forty-five messengers, and
the SIS representatives and delegates only
lsf,v-one. The ratio Is fully as great as 70
other employees. The duties Of the House
employees are therefore far more arduons
than those Of the employees in the Senate.
They work SIX days . week, while the Sem
ate employees work only four. and gct
nearly - per cent more salary. The
xerTeaas-ai-ayfns Of the Hotse certainly
has more work 10 keep the accounts of its
IS members than the sergeansst-arms Of
II 81 -