Sunday Washington globe., 1902-02-16
A wOMAN'S NOTES
On Various Topics of Interest-The
Coming Female Masonic Bur
lesque and other Items

One Of the abuses of political position
which has long attracted my attention and
against which wish to enter nv protest is
that practiced by the private secretaries of
Congressman who are holding down two
Jobs" by also acting as correspondents for
the various newspapers in their respective
localities. While it is easy TO understand
why an editor would prefer the news letters
of a Congressman's secretary TO those of a
professional newspaper correspondent, and
equally easy to understand why Congress
men should prefer to be interviewed and
written about by their own private secre-
taries, il is not easy to understand why
these secretaries are willing to compete
with regular correspondents aud, % IL were,
crowd out the men and women whose only
means Of livelihood are the news items they
can sell to out-Of-town newspapers.
Congress allows each Senator SI2S per
month and each Representative 500 per
month as salary for private secretary. The
small amount these secretaries can earn in
addition TO their salaries by representing
their home papers at the c pital of the Ma
ton would not seem TO repay them for the
time required to keep up with such mat
ters There may be other motives which
prompt them to this work, but the self
evident one is a desire to increase the al
ready liberal salaries they earn.
An instance in point CAME to my notice
recently, and il so accurately illustrates my
position on this matter that 1t seems Citing
to relate it in detail here
A young newspaper correspondent re-
Gently complained that it was well nigh i'm
possible now to earn a competence in this
line of work in Washington, whereas in
former years, sending news from Washing
ton to papers published in other cities was
profitable business.
Only last week, this correspondent
said in a dispirited way 81 had an oDpor-
tunity to add a new paper to my list, and
was shaking hands with myself and making
a list of the purchases 1 intended making
with the proceeds of the FIRST check to come
from my new paper, when a telegram came
from the editor asking me to obtain certain
information for him instanter. In order to
do this 1t was necessary to call on certain
Congressman from that district, which /
did. The Congressman was not in his
Office, but his secretary was. During the
course Of conversation / learned that this
private secretary was also the Washington
correspondent Of the paper I expected to
serve, and realizing that if by chance I
should sometimes send TO this paper an
item Of news which might not please Mr.
Private Secretary, the paper would not
print my item, but would Kill it" in favor
OF my political competitor resigned
then aud there and decided to defer my
purchases until I could find paper honest
enough to print the news, all the news,
nothing but the news and which was not
subsidized by politicians or their private
secretaries.
1t seems to me the press representatives
in Washington might make this a vital is.
sue and make II so unpleasant and unprof.
table for private-secretary reporters that
they would of necessity withdraw from the
work and leave the field clear for those TO
whom it legiimately belongs
There seems to be no dearth of social en-.
tertainments planned to take place before
the solemn Lenten season casts its mantle
Of charity over the sins Of omission and
commission-chiehy the former-of the
past ecclesiastical year.
Notable among the announcements that
have reached me is one which Is entirely
under the auspices of ladies', and since nv
pen is always at the disposal Of the enter
prising women of the day, take pleasure
in noticing IT, Here it is
Female Masonry, a burlesque, pre-
sented by the members of Adah Chapter,
No. 9, Order of the Eastern Star, at Wash
ingtou Light Infantry Armory 18th and E
streets, Friday evening, February 7r, at
eight O'Clock. Dancing until H."
RosAL1E GoULDMe.