The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-05-20
IT SAVORS OF A GRAB.
Clerk Hire For the House Dur
ing Recess.
NOT OBJECTIONABLE in ITSELF.
but the Money IL tn he Paid To the Con-
gresham Himself and Not at First to
the Clerk, and the Matter Causes Crit
icism.

WASHINGTON, May 19.-[Special. l-One
act Of the dying congress will DO pretty
sure to return to plague those who are re-
sponsible for 1t. The people OF the United
States once set the seal of their condemna-
ton most Enthusiastically upon anything
savoring of a salary grab, and for this rea-
son the vote of the house to pay each mem
Der 500 q month for clerk hire during the
recess will not be popular. In discussing
this matter 1t Is we'll to avoid extremes,
that injustice may not be done to either
side. The facts are plain. During the ses-
sions of congress each member of the house
Is allowed 800 a month with which to
hire clerk TO attend to his routine public
business, the letters from his constituents,
etc. This is not wholly Objectionable. 1t Is
true that many OF the members OF the
house are annoyed with letters and re-
quests of trivial nature so numerous as
to take all their time In attending TO them.
Constituents think it all right to ask their
representatives to look after pensions, pat
ents, claims, copies of papers, public docu-
ments, garden seeds and a thousand and
one things. Every request OF this sort takes
time and trouble
One Kind OF Statesmanship.
know members of congress who never
do anything Of public nature that at
tracts the attention of the country. They
take little part in the work of the house,
either ON the floor or in committee room.
They apparently do not care TO be irfluen-
tial and have no ambition except To please
their constituents and secure reelection as
reward for doing small jobs at the CAPT
tai. This Is not very high plane upon
which to put craftsmanship, but ii is a
useful one. These men spend nearly all
their time writing letters and running er
rands. 1t Is their stock in trade, their
sole political capital, and quite effective 1t
seems to be- for their constituents send
them back here term after term. And yet
it is an open question whether that is or is
not the very work for which they are en-
ployed, for which they get their So, 0G0 u
year, $3.50 stationery allowance per annum
and mileage, which In many cases runs
up to very comfortable figure.
1t should be understood that only q
small number of the members of the house
are overburdened with correspondence and
requests from their constituents. Perhaps
half of them are able TO get through with
all such work without assistance, if they
are reasonably Industrious But because
some of the members are overburdenod the
house, leaning TO the side of generosity TO
itself, decided to give every man "A clerk to
do his work for him, on the plea that it
was public business. Members said to
themselves there was no reason why they
should wear out their lives us errand boys
for their constituents. They must have
some time to attend to the more important
part of their duties, TO devote 10 the study
of public questions. One member said to
me:
Il have made reputation on the silver
question, and my speech on that topic is
in great demand. desire TO keep in touch
with this question as 1t develops and to
have some influence upon it. But how
am going to do SO If i must spend four
ffths of my time running about after gar
den seeds and pensions and patents and
writing letters about themY"
Money Paid to Members.
This is the argument which justified the
employment of clerk for every member,
and there is a great deal of justice in it.
The mistake was in paying the money to
the member of congress and not directly
TO his clerk. In the senate the names of
senator's clerks are borne on the rolls, and
the clerks themselves receipt for their sal
aries, just as the senators do. III this had
been done In the house much Of the scan
dal would have been obviatcd. Instead,
the money Is paid TO the member, and he
may dispense it as he pleases. l could IL
wished tell some queer stories as to what
is done with this 500 "a month, but re-
frain. 1t is enough to say that many MEM
bers pay out all the money in good faith.
Many Others hire members of their fam
lilies, their sons. daughters or even wives.
Still others, perhaps the majority, employ
young men or women at $40 or $50 a
month to do their work and pocket the
difference. a few-I am happy to say only
few-put all the money In their pockets
and make 1t mere addition to their sal
aries. A few more, and perhaps only
very few, pay the money to persons who
make only "a pretense of working for 1t,
but who are favorites social, personal or
political, of the member. The less said
about this the better.
A Cause For Scandal.
Whatever justification there is for the
employment of clerks during the sessions
of congress- and there is a good deal, there
does not seem to be any at all for hiring
them during the recess. No one believes
that 25 per cent of the members will use
this money in good faith. Some of them
know of, who voted against the grab, will
to cover 1t back into the treasury. While
it may be admitted that most of the mem
bers will have some correspondence with
their constituents to attend to during the
summer, that is what they are paid for.
Their own salaries do not stop. Besides
every one knows that the great bulk of
this correspondence is personal to the
member, relating to his canvass for re-
nomination or reelection or to his private
business affairs. Considered as u whole,
the clerk hire appropriation is salary
grab a sneak upon the public treasury,
and nothing else can be made of 1t.
If the clerks were put on the public rolls
and the money paid to them in person,
there would not be much scandal. In
that case $50 or $50 month would be
ample compensation, for there are hun
dreds of young men and women in Wash
ington-yes, Misunderstanding to work
for those wages. But members objected To
having the matter made of record, as IL is
done in the senate, because they wanted to
employ members of their families to do
the work and pay them the money. "A
few might be courageous enough to say:
Eyes, the work Is of public nature, IL Is