The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-09-10
THB SENATB'S EXPENSES.
The Secretary's Report a Peren-
NAL Source of Delight.
MODEST SUM FOR EXTRAS.
Peculiar Morality Which Governs
Dealings with the Government.
Congressman Binger Hermann and ski
neen"-Senator Henderson Figures as a
Weather Prophet-The Live Gossip
from Washington.

WASHINGTON, Sept. S.-The annual re-
port of Secretary Arson q. McCook of the
United States Senate, who recently re-
tired from office, has been laid before the
Senate and has just come from the
printer. The annual report of the sec
rotary OF the Senate is perennial source
of delight to those persons who take an
active interest in the personal surround
ings of prominent men. From 1t they
can learn just how many cakes of soap
were needed to keep the hands OF the SEN
ators clean and sweet during the sessions
of the Senate. 1t tells them whatthe cost of
burying a senator is. And it contains a
pleasant little record of the sinecures and
the s'soft snaps which the Senate main
tains out of its contingent fund.
The most interesting feature in the last
report of General McCook was en- item
under the date of July ID, under the
heading Index of Private Claims.' This
expenditure was made just three weeks
before Mr.. McCook retired from Office.
The total expenditure was SO, 000, d.
vided among four men in sums of 81, 800
each. The work for which this $40, 600
was paid was arranging and pre-
pairing an index of private claims
introduced in the Senate during
the Forty -seventh. Forty eighth, Forty
ninth, Fiftieth and Fifty-frst Con-
gresses.' This index is prepared at in
tervals for the use of the committee on
private claims, particularly to facilitate
and make easy the work OF the clerk of
that committee. When this index was
last made up, the Senate appropriated
about s., 900 for the work, which covered
much greater number of years than the
work that has Just been completed. The
work of preparing the index was distrib-
uted among about dozen men, two Of
whom received 1915 each, and the Others
$3.50 each. 1t may surprise some people
who know that the Senate pays its en-
ployees full year s salary for an average
OF about SIX months work, to learn that
this IS, 900 appropriation was distributed
among the clerks of the secretary
Office. Possibly it will surprise them
more to know that of the four men who
received the pay for preparing the latest
index, one was drawing from the govern
ment $1,000 year as financial clerk of the
Senate at the time when he was supposed
to be earning this $500 by index
work; one was drawing 81, 400 as assist
ant financial clerk; one was receiving ST.
500 a year as assistant in the stationary
room; and the fourth was under salary
! of 81 ,440 a year as messenger to the
financial clerk. The work of preparing
| this index, according to an expert, would
not have taken six months of the time of
competent man, and probably a man
who was entirely new to the work, could
have been employed for 81 900 or at the
most S1 800 to do the entire lob.
This is q rather striking illustration of
! the peculiar morality which seems to con-
troll people in their dealings with the gov
eminent. Men whose honor and whose
honesty in their dealings with their fellow
men are beyond question, seem to look
on the general government as bird to be
plucked at every opportunity. This is no
particular reflection on the four men who
divided the 10000 appropriated for the
index. There is not man in the employ
! of the Senate, probably, who would not
! have been glad to have had
slice of this appropriation. 1t has been
the common policy of the Senate for
many years to make large appropriations
for the preparation OF special indexes
and compilations and this money is
usually put into the hands of the secre-
tary of the Senate to distribute as he sees
fit. 1t is always understood that the
work is to be done in the Office of the
secretary OF the Senate and that the
money is to be divided there. Sometimes
this work is done out OF office hours, but
usually it is done during the regular
hours of Office work. The clerks of the
Senate are employed for twelve months,
at salaries ranging from So 900 to g, 100 a
year, and usually the Senate appropriates
an extra months pay for some reason
not thoroughly understood. The actual
work of the secretary g office is completed
in about nine months of one year and
about three months of the next. So the
Senate employees average six months
real work in year. Any business man
who employed clerks by the year would
find work of some kind to keep them busy
for eleven months in that year. At least
he would not give them extra pay for
work which he required of them during
the period when his business was slack.
Uncle Sam pays his clerks for twelve
months work and then frequently gives
them a large bonus for work done during
business hours.