Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-06-21

EnOrruouS Expenses Are D1NAueos
The country is getting ready to spend
rather more than million dollars in
nominating a candidate for the presi-
dency at Chicago in the three or four
days beginning June n, when the Re
publican national convention is to be
held.
In three or four days beginning July
6 at least as much will be spent for a
like purpose by the Democratic nation
al convention, to be held in st. Louis.
As the Democratic convention seems
likely to be the more strenuous of the
two and may last longer, more money
will probably be spent in st. Louis
than in Chicago. 1t will certainly cost
100000 to place the two leading
presidential candidates before the peo-
pie, and this big sum will be consid-
erably larger If either nomination
should be holly contested. These fig
ures may seem excessive, but here are
a few facts to bear them out:
Needs Small Army.
In the first place, it will take be-
tween 1000 and 5000 men and women
to run the convention and report its
proceedings. This small army will be
divided into five general classes, of
which the delegates will be most i'm
portant numerically as well as other
wise. They will number about 1900,
half being actual delegates and half
alternates To be exact, so far as the
Republican convention is concerned,
there will be 972 delegates from the
States. and an average of four each
from the six territories of Alaska, Ari-
IONA. Hawaii, New Mexico Oklahoma
and Porto Rico, or "a in all. making a
total of 996, or grand total of dele
gates and alternates of 1892.
The convention staff" includes dep
uty sergeants-at-arms, ushers, messen-
gers, pages and doorkeepers. Based on
the average of past conventions, there
will be 200 deputies, 200 ushers, 200
messengers, 200 pages and 100 door
keepers-900 ali told-and there may
be more.
Next come the newspaper men-and
women-includina shorthand reporters,
correspondents, photographers, artists,
telegraphers and messengers. There
will probably be about a thousand of
them in all; between 400 and 500 press
seats are always reserved in the con-
vention hall, with the assumption that
at least half of the newspaper repre-
sentatives in the convention will do
their work elsewhere than in the hall
itself-at the hotels, in committee
rooms. etc. Possibly the number of
actual working newspaper folk at the
national convention may not be more
than 400 or 500, but at least a thou
sand press credentials are undoubtedly
given out always.
Last comes the miscellaneous class,
and it is very miscellaneous indeed. 1t
includes the national committeeman
(45 in number. one from each State).
their private secretaries, stenograph-
er3 and clerks, the working Office force
of the sergeant-at-arms (as distinguish
ed from his convention staff'D, the
employees. at the various candidates
headquarters, and "all not otherwise
classified" These latter would swell
the miscellaneous class to 500 at least
at q convention before which several
candidates We're to be placed in nomi-
nation, as may be the case at st.
Louis this year. The visiting attend
ance' averages about 10000.
Railroad and Hotel Bills.
1t is safe to assume that the aver
age round trip railroad fare paid for
the 400 persons who run and report
the convention will be $15 each, or
$66,000-some of them will pay good
deal more, for they come from all
parts Of the country-and that the
visiting attendance" pay So in round
trip fares each, or 00,O00-$I66,0 900,
all told, for the railroads. The returns
to the hotel and other entertainment
purveyors will be much larger, even
If the convention lasts only three days
This will be its minimum length. no
matter how peaceful its deliberations.
Figuring the hotel and other expenses
of the "a, 400 people who will run, re-
port and attend the convention at $40
a day each, the total will be 1872 600.
and the grand total of money paid to
the railroads and the city will be $685.
600.
The Associated Press will probably
be called upon to expend $4,000 in
convention reporting. 1t takes about
ten stenographic reporters and fifteen
correspondents and editors to cover a
convention for the Associated Press.
The cost of convention reporting is in
direct ratio to the length and strenu-
BUSINESS of the gathering.
Nearly all the big daily newspapers
of the country depend upon the Asso-
ciated Press for their routine corven-
ton reports, though some receive them
through other sources, and there are at
loasr 100 that send from one to ten
or fifteen people of their own to the
convention city 70 do special stunts of
one sort or another. At a low est
mate these papers will spend $4,000
for special reports, telegraph tolls, pho
tographs, etc. Besides, there will be
special expenditures, extra wires, pri-
vate messages and the like along tele-
graphic lines, quite outside the news
paper service, of at least $4,000.
Thus a grand total Of 81, 10000 for
a three-day excursion is at the rate of
S367,333 a day, or about one-third as
much as it cost to carry on the war
with Spain.