The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-31
MANY POOR MEN
SENATE ID NOT CLUB OF MILLION. AIRES AS GENERALLY SUP.
 POSED.
Not Over Foufteen Members whese Wealth is Estinated in Seven Ffgures CT Over-Men With.
 ont Meane are Real
 WoGkefs.

Ffgures er Over--Men With.
 out Means are Real
 Wo1kefs.
 
 Washington Letter.
 Recently at q dinner in Washington someone made the statement that the United tSates Senate is a millionaire" apolis Sergeant -atArms of the Senate. who happened to be a guest, ehal- lenged the truthfulness of the asser- ton. Colonel Ransdell vigorously condemned the idea. more or less prev alent throughout the country. that the Senate is composed of rich men.
 .C,f the ninety United States Sem ators not over dozen are million aire." he declared. Tt would be im- possible to select as many eminent business men at random from the va- rious States without choosing a large number of millionaires. More than half of the members of the United States Senate are poor men who are dependent on their daily wages for support of themselves and their fam flies 3t
 Col. Ransdelrs declaration brushes aside what has grown to be a pop ular misconception of the highest law-making body in the world. The thought LIldt 0dlI Oi tue uiStiuBuieHcu Senators of the United States depend upon their wages for support would likely be discredited If 1t did not eman- ate from such good authority as Col onel Ransdell, who knows the Sena- tors as no other man knows him.
 Certainly there are not over four teen Senators who are millionaires. This would be liberal estimate. It includes the following names: Clark of Montana. Aldrich. Proctor. Elkins. wetmore, Platt of New York, Depew. Kean. Patterson. Dryden. Alger. Cor man. Newlands and Crane.
 Senator w. A. Clark. the copper king, is the richest of all. His wealth Is fabulous. He Is richer than all of the United States Senators and all of the United States Representatives com bined, and the President thrown in for good measure. He Is the one man in the United States, If not in the entire world, who is unable to estimate with any degree of definiteness what he himself Is worth. Any guess that he might make probably would vary from the facts a little matter of few mill lions. His wealth changes from day to day with the vacillations of the stock emarket, but conservatively es- timated, his holdings are worth at least $1O0, 0,000, ,000. The palace which he is building on Fifth Avenue. New York. will cost probably as much as any other United States Senator Is worth.
 Other Millinaires.
 Proctor, of Vermont, has made a fortune of a few millions out of gran ite quarries. EfkAs Is a very rich man, his fortune being made in de- velopment enterprises in West Virgin ia. Aldrich, considered one of the Sem ate's rfcnest men, has made his mil- lions within the last fifteen years mainly in the traction business in Rhode Island. Wetmore married a Peabody. His fortune. which is large. came with his wife. T. c. Platt has made a fortune of a few millions in the express business and politics His colleague, Senator Depew. barely comes within the millionaire class.
 Tom Patterson, of Colorado, Is be- lieved to be a Senate millionaire. When a boy he was a workman in a jeweiry store in Charlottesville, Ind. and he learned to set type there. He Is now a very extensive property own CT in Denver Senator Dryden, the head of one of the largest insurance companies in the country. is rated sew eral times a millionaire. Senator AL ger, who has just served notice of his intention to retire from public life at the expiration of his present term (March 8, 1907). is a millinaire. He has large holdings in Arizona. Cor man has piled up wealth of several millions in investment and develop ment schemes with his cousin. Henry G. Davis, and the latter's son-in-law. Senator Elkins. Senator Newlands. of Nevada, married into a very wealthy family, and Crane. of Massachusetts, has made great wealth out of busi- hess enterprises, chiefly manufactures. Some Rich Mem.
 There is another class of Senators who would be considered rich accord ing to the ratings of a country town and we'll do according to the ratings of large city. In that class may De mentioned Hale of Maine. Teller of Col orado, Spooner of Wisconsin. Piles. Bailey. Taliaferro. Lodge. Scott. Per kins, Warren, Knox, Foraker. McEn- cry, Shoot, Penrose, Ankeny and Nixon. Hale obtained large property interests by marriage. Teller is exceedingly se- cretive as to his holdings, but he is considered rich in the ordinary accept ance of the term-possibly worth half n million. Bailey has been making money rapidly as attorney for big fn- terests operating in Texas oil and other resources. He is worth probably $300.- | 900. Lodges family connections in Massachusetts are rich. Warren has very large interests in Wyoming and l bids fair to become a millionaire. For aker Is a rich man. and is making mon- ey rapidly. He has large traction in- l terests. It Is not believed by those who should know, however. that he Is yet a millionaire. Penrose is an overrated man financially. A man high up in Pennsylvania politics Is not likely to remain poor long, but Penrose Is not | millionaire by any means. Nixon, the new Senator from Nevada. Is In com fortable circurlst stances. and Is making | money hand over fist. He is yet young man and no doubt will become rich.
 Poor Men are Real Workers. If is an interesting fact that the poor | men in the United States Senate arc tho men who do the work of that great | body Senator Allison. after thirty-two years of continuous service in the up- per branch of Congress, is a poor man. Senator Cullom and Senator Frye, two | of the most useful men in Congress. are l two of the poorest. Francis M. Cock rell. after being a Senator thirty years continuously. was so poor when he gave up his office last spring that he was ex- ceedinely glad of the opportunity to earn his daily bread by serving on the Interstate Commerce Commission. The late Senator Platt of Connecticut, the Nestor of the Senate. depended on his salary to support himself and family. A list of the Senate's poor men would be a long one. It would include Ciark of Wyoming. Nelson. Deliver. Dilling- ham, Clapp. Carter. Burkett and Burn ham. on the Republican side. and Clark =. .,--. narrv naufaf Rlackhurn