The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-08

young fellows, who know the whole
official routine like a book, and who
are fairly aching for congressional Sec
retaryships. Young men who have re-
ported for local papers or who have
assisted correspondents of outside dali
lies make the best secretaries when
they can be procured. Nepotism has
frequently been resorted to in the Sc
lection of congressional clerks and sec
retarles. The president Of the last
senate appointed his son as his private
secretary, and so did the speaker Of
the Fifty-thrd congress. Senators
who are chairmen of committees are
at liberty to appoint whom they please
as clerks to their committees. The
clerk to the senate committee on APP
propriations receives $4,000 year. and
has an assistant clerk who gets $2,220
The clerk to the committee on finance
gets $1,000 year. There are three 9TH
er grades of senate committee clerk
ships, which pay s2,220, s2,1O0 and ST.
440 annually In the last senate alto
gether eight chairmen appointed their
sons as their committee clerks. There
is no reason why senator's sons should
not make good clerks, but it frequently
happens that clerks to these commit
tees are mere figureheads, function
aries bluebooked as assistant clerks or
messenger" doing all of the actual
work. There was one case a few
years back where the son of a senator
was nomnally clerk to one of the most
important committees of the senate,
while in reality he was attending COLI
lege in distant city. Although given
Il menial title, the messenger to COM
mittee in the senate is usually a very
important parsonage. In some cases
he does all of the committees stenog-
raphy and typewriting. He gets 81, ,440
year The messenger is sometimes
appointed by the sergeant-at-arm out
right, but usually through senatorial
influence. There are altogether fifty
seven messengers in the senate.
SENATE'S EXTRAVAGANCE.
Statistics show that there are about
four employees in the senate to every
senator. The senate's extravaganza,
compared with that of the house, has
long been proverbal. The house costs
the government only about twice as
much as the senate, although its men,
bership is four times as great as that
of the latter The men who watch the
doors to the senate galleries get 1,440
year. and those who lift senators
from floor to floor in the elevators get
$1,000. Men who fold senate documents
get 81, 900 a year. The senate fremen
get $1,095, and the senate locksmith and
upholsterer, 81 ,440
On the house side salaries are much
smaller, and there are fewer sinecures
House messengers do not receive over
$1,000 year. Clerks to committees get
$4,000, $1,000 or $l,100. Conductors of
elevators on the House side get $1,100.
Members of the house are not re-
quired to appoint any regular private
secretary to appear on the rolls. Some
of the poorer members arrange matters
so that they may receive altogether
$4,000 year, by doing their own cor
respondence. Some pay for the cores
pondence by the folio, some by the
hour; some allow various sums for var
ious lengths Of service a day. A num-
Der have employed their sons. One
member of the last congress used his
wife as his private secretary. Repre-
sentatives of wealth, however, gener-
ally give the full 81, 200 year to young
men regularly employed as secretaries.
Few have ever gone over the full al
loWance, however, as in the senate.