Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1894-05-19

Selves WIFI uncovered faces. uc
British House of Lords composed of
nearly seven hundred men, about
eight times as many as are in the
Senate of the United States, draw
from the British treasury for its en-
tire expenses not so much non as
our Senate throws away in the I'M
considered trif which may be de-
nominated as extras. Bat 20 British
nobleman who has sest in the House
of Lords would dare for one moment
to saddle his priva expenses upon
the public. The Eaglish public would
not submit to s. ch an imposition for
aday. The House Representa- ives
of the United Sta s, with its 356
members, takes $4l5, 900 per anr UNI
to pay its employees. The Senate,
with eighty weight members, has taken
| $418,0O0 for this year for the same
purpose, and, as it constantly in
creases its filcbing, next year it will
no doubt take more. 1t requires
$4,000 to pay the mileage of men,
bers of the House, but the Senate
cannot get along with less than $45,-
900 annually for the same purpose.
In all probability there are not more
than half dozen of its members Gf
so many) who do not travel on rail-
road passes and coolly drop the mon
ey which belongs to the people into
their wallets. The House contents
itself with fifty committees,
one-third at least of which are of no
use, but the Senate cannot get along
with less than sixty.
The innocent reader will ask,
Why, then, do they want to bother
with so many committees Simply
because the chairman has then pri-
vate room for his use and that Of his
friends and clerk to attend to his
private business without any cost 10
himself. The titles of some of these
committees are highly amusing.
When ingenuity was finally exhaust
ed in devising names for committees
and its H. ! grown to sixty for a
body ol ,ioAty-eight men, it might
have been supposed there would
come halt. But, oh no. The bull
was taken by the horns, and the
Senators for whom no committee
names could be found were voted
clerks any way. And so 1t is that
every member Of the Senate has q
clerk Of bis own, at his individual
beck and call, with no drain upon his
private purse therefor. The clerks,
messengers and employees Of one kind
and another abound the Senate wing
of the Capitol are as thick as flies
around q sugar barrel. Each Sena-
tor does not cost the country less
than $4,000 per annum. In other
words, each one gets $4,000 for
wages, and it is much niger wages
than the majority of them are worth,
and in addition some 81 1000 more to
provide him with clerks and walters
to minister TO his comfort generally
while he lives and pay his funeral
expenses when he dies.
You must know it takes a great
deal of public money to bury aSena
tor. Fancy what a howl would come
up from all England if the govern
ment was called upon to foot the bills
for the burial of q deceased member
Of the House of Lords. A Senator
who dies must, like an Egyptian
king, be embalmed at an expense
ranging from fifty to hundred dol
lars. He must have casket to cost
$3.50; kid gloves in quantities must
be provided +; attendants and hangers
on of various kinds are paid per diem
from the time the breath leaves his
body until he is put in the ground.
Carriages must be provided for all
who wish TO ride. If he is to be
taken home, Pullman cars must be
had for the funeral party at an ex-
pense Of one or two thousand or
more. 1t matters not, as the cost is
to be loaded upon the broad back of
Uncle Sam. Meals and lunches for
the trip, with the liquors to wash
them down, run up to hundreds more.
The government is even called upon
to pay the ministers who say prayers.
Well, prayers for some ofthem ought
to come high.
1t would be superauous to go
through the long list of drugs, cos
metics, toilet articles, perfumery,
books, and all sorts of knick-knacks
purchased with public funds for Sen
tors. Has not all this been told be-
fore? Many thousands of dollars
are spent every year in the summer
junkets of Senators, gotten up under
the guise of special committees to
make bogus inquiries and investiga
tions. Pullman pa'ace cars and first
class watering-plaee hotel bills figure
largely In this species of legislative
pastimes. A very few years since it
was found there was not space in the
Capitol for Senators who insisted
upon having rooms for their own
private accommodation. The House
was deluded into giving its consent
to the purchase of the Maltby build
ing, large apartment house under
the shadow Of the Capitol. The
promise was held out to the House
that it shold share in the additional
accommotions. But the House never
got foothold in the building. By
an act of grand larceny unparalleled
the Senate took absolute possession,
and when the House growled and
grumbled, simply said, "What are
you going to do about it?' 1t has
been fitted up to the most luxurious
style. Magnificent clocks of onyx
have been put into therooms staff
of some twenty employees, more or
less, have been put in charge almost
remuneratige wages, and Senators
can step across the way from their
onerous legislative duties to find
themselves rest in the midst OF ORR
entail luxury and elegance.
Is it not nice thing to be Sena-
tor of the United States? What do
they care if it does cost the country
$4,000 for every working day for
their Observation-Disclosures Sun.