The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-12

Washington. Sept. 1l.-(special. )-Desul tory discussion of the ever-recurring prop osition to increase the salaries of ta' members of Congress grows as the ses sion approaches. and many members hav' recently expressed the hope that by thu time Congress convenes the project rnal ncsume a more definite form.
 Every member of Congress who is de pendent on his salary for his support admits that it is with difficulty he is en | abled to make both ends meet and fl many instances all that the member can earn during vacations is swallowed ! up in maintaining his position. Fear oi political disaster has heretofore prevent ed action toward the desired end and the memory of the fate of those who sup | ported the salary grab bill still exer- cised a powerfully deterrent influence Yet the cost of living has advanced very rap l idly within the past few years, while m | the same proportion the necessity or maintaining a suitable establishment to | secure political prestige and proper rec | ognition of qualities of statesmanship, l has correspondingly increased with the natural consequence that the line of dem- creation between the richer and poorer l members is more sharply drawn with each succeeding Congress.
 New and more sumptuous hotels are be- | ing erected. while others are being exten- sively altered and renovated with the result that rates are being raised all along the line and where the rich and poor members had a common ground a score of years ago, they are being more widely separated year by year.
 The contrast between the situation of the poor members of Congress and that of tba;r u,ooItby fotiaaDtiaS yS ao oreat that to describe them both it is scarce ly necessary to more than outline the difficulties which the former encounter and then to add that the latter are free from such embarrassments.
 As a general proposition when a man without a private fortune Is elected to Congress his income has been under s. 600 year, and to him as we'll as to a majority of his constituents. a salary of this size looks very attractive. But from the moment of his election 1t shrinks When Representative Wayback comes to Washington next December he will be first confronted with the proposition of suitable quarters, and find that if he is single man he can do fairly well for $1OO month upwards. This sum will pro- cure him a modest room in fairly good hotel or possibly two rooms and board in first-class boarding house. If he is married he can get along on from $150 to $500 a month, according to the size of his family. This does not mean that he can live luxuriously but he can live mod estly for this amount.
 MT. Wayback will next learn that he is expected to expend a considerable DOT tion of his salary in entertaining; recipro- eating the courtesies extended by his colleagues and other men in public life, on the one hand, and on the other talk ing care of his constituents when they visit Washington. For the latter he pays his car fare or cab hire. entertains at lunch or dinner. the theater or at his own hotel or house, according to their impor- tance in the community at home and how much they are willing to accept at his hands. The more important are his guests at his hotel or at his house. If single man, he will need many clothes in order to .maintain fairly decent wardrobe, but if man of a family the wife and children must be clad so as to move in at least modestly respectable circles.
 Presuming Representative Wayback to be married man with children, he is confronted with the problem of letting the family remain at home and maintain an establishment there or bringing them to Washington. In either event he must have a place at home to return to at the
 
 money. As a general proposition, when Representative Wayback has paid rail- road fare for his family to Washington and return, and their expenses here for the session, he will find he has expended the whole $5,OO0 allotted him for the year, and 1t Is up to him" to produce more money to last through the summer. Meanwhile he has already been called upon for campaign contributions for the nrim a raS and the m vention. Presuming that Representative Wayback has been hOnored with a re- nomination. he will scarcely alight from the train next July or August before the campaign committee of his district will call on him for funds They will be fol- lowed by the various county committees and State Central Committee, each ex- pecting a liberal contribution. MT. Way back throws up his hands and pleads poverty, but this don't go. Is he not re- ceiving S5.000 a year. What does he ex- spect? to save it all?
 The demands on the purse of members of Congress for campaign contributions appear to be growing heavier each cam paign. Three years ago a member of the House confessed to the writer that he spent $17.000 in trying to secure renomina- tion alone, and was defeated because his millionaire opponent spent $5O,OOO. Yet the defeated member during his two terms was a non-entity and his successor is figurehead who sought the position merely for the prestige it gave him in his district.
 It is therefore safe to say that by the time Representative Wayback returns to Washington for the second session, re- elected, he. settles down to eke out his salary by petty economies knowing he has at least three more sessions to serve. It would be hard to convince those con- stituents who think their representatives are having a "howling time" in Wash ington and ''are right in the swim" that as matter of face a comparatively small per centage of the members of the lower House are known socially in Washington outside of very modest circles. With a suite of rooms at first class hotel cost