Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-12-14
MILEAGE
Drawn by the Legislators
Drew Large Suns While They Rode
on Passes

head for chef clerk Of the senat
will serve one good purpose in calIin
attention TO the mileage expenses al
lowed ia the last legislature We gIT
list below Of house and senzte-su
amount drawn By each member. Ii
the house Hon. Fish" Myers lead
the list, having drawn mileage o.
four separate junketing committees
IL was a cold day when "Fish" die
not propose ''jOint visiting commit
tee" that would swell his mileage ac
count. III defeated once he would
bob up again, or go and have friend
in the senate propose il and then get
IL through the house Long exper-
fence gave him the advantage Of new
members and his industry and cheek
classify him with the immortals.
Many Others did the same.
In the senate the mIlage DestOr was
A. w. GOwan, but as he travels sew
eral hundred miles by stage he was
probably justly entitled to it, as wert
many Others. The constitution al
lows members 10 cents a mile each'way
for attending the legislature, and it
Is only where members propose various
juuketing trips In the name Of visit
ing committees that the nuisance be-
comes appalling.
Mr.. Moorhead reported the mile.
age for the house members. He was
chairman Of the commit ,e. or course
his committee had to have a clerk
during the entire session, although
the only work was making one report
that would 90 on sheet Of fOolscap
paper.
1t is notorious that with few excep-
tlons members of the Legislature of
1895 passed free over the railroads and
paid no fare during the entire session.
The same legislature appropriated the
sums below to pay the mileage Of its
members. The great bulk of this
money went into the pockets Of the
legislators. The figures in detail
makes interesting reading for the
struggling taxpayer. They show
that mileBge was drawn in 1895 as fol- |
lows:
The senate drew mileage to the
amount Of uprising
that the president, who Of all men
would not be without pass, who was
only member Of the committee on
rules, drew $3.50. His constitutional
mileage would have been slO.sO. Mr..
Simon may have been on some visit
ing committee, but that is unusual.
The thirty senators cost for mileage
s74.10 each.
The sixty members OF the house
drew 90, ,374.30 mileage, or s62.31 each.
The total mileage drawn by house and
senate was s5,067.4O. The speaker of
the house drew go cents mileage and
seems to have been on no visiting
committees that cost any mileage.
Readers OF THE JoUREAL are re-
quested to cut out these figures and
preserve them. In our next weekly
political review we shall print the ex-
penditures Of the last legislature for
clerk hire, showing the amount ex-
pended by house and senate. These
figures are taken from the printed
Journals OF the house and senate of
1895.
In the list of members Of the last
legislature printed below the editor OF
THE JOURNAL must apologize for al
lowing his name TO appear as having
drawn no mileage. To have omitted his
name as a member would have made
him subject TO erroneous conclusions.
70 print his name savors of egotism.
Yet it is a public duty and must be
performed.
Lines must be drawn upon public
extravaganza upon all alike. The Leg
islator who sets an example of strict
adherence to the letter and spirit OF
the constitution cannot be asked by
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{ Cheapest, Because the Best