Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-03

| of being the youngest or oldest. tallest or
| shortest. homeliest or handsomest member
of his body. Indeed. taking the House of
| Representatives as a whole, there are not
! a score of members to whom the most
sophisticated man about town would call
| the strangers attention in the whole course
! of the afternoons honleward promenade of
| congressman along the avenue.
! Principally an Errand Boy.
| Unless he be party leader, the chief
| work of the representative is the running
of constituents errands about the depart
ments and bureaus. Before he has finished
! breakfast his clerk calls and together they
| go over the morning correspondence. At
| 10 o'clock he commences the morning round
| of government offices. At the War Depart
| ment he inquiries whether soldier con-
| stituent is entitled to a medal of honor.
| At the State Department he asks whether
another has passed the consular eXamina
| ton and also obtains a passport for a
| townsnan who desires to go abroad. At
| the Navy Department he makes application
| for an apprenticeship for the orphan of a
henchmarl He then hurrieS across the
street to the White House. where he has an
| appointment to meet delegation of his
| local Ancient Order of Hibernians and to
| introduce them to the President. whom
| they wish to convince that he is not a
| Dutchman at all but a son of Erin and a
| direct descendant of Brian Baru. TSencc
| the busy representative must cross to the
! treasury and present at the redemption Of
| flee the remains of $1GO gold certificate
/ rescued from the digestive system of q
| constituents pet goat
Next he hurries to the Department OF
Justice and tries to convince an assistant
attorney that one of his henchmen Is not
timber thief, as alleged, but the victim of
cruel political persecution. 1t is now time
! for the House to convene, and-especlally
if he be very verdant member-he has a
delusion that he is needed in the great hall.
So he discOntinueS his chores until the next
morning, when he commences at the De-
partment of Agriculture, leaving there
bundle of franks to carry free through the
mails quota of free seeds applied for by
farmer constituents. He also leaves an
order for publications. for poor widow in
his district wishes farmers bulletin on
the nutritive value of prunes, while his 10
cal w. c. T. U. has applied for copies of
the report on lady fingers a dietary for
ping-pon players. Passing out through
the mall he stops at the Smithsonian Insti-
| tuition to inquire for a constituent whether
the bone. duly received in the morning
mail, is the left knuckle of the pthecan-
thropus erectus or the kneecap of the orni-
thorhynchuS.
Pugilists and Jockeys Better Paid
Fivefold.
And is it gain also for which our ambi-
| tious congressional candidate is now bat
/ thing? Nelson, for the honor of being
| beaten by Cans, received the other day
just for few hours work-as much money
| as your representative will be paid by
! Uncle Sam for six years faithful service
! to his constituents. Jim Corbett, the prize
| fighter, and Tod Sloan, the jockey, earned,
per year, five times much as your hon
| orable representative when they were in
their palmy days. In other words, your
! NJ. C.'s annual pay will be IS. 30. If he
| hopes to make little splash in Washing
| ton society ii will about pay his house
rent Still, senator gets no more. Occa-
| sionally there has been a senator who has
! looked upon his official salary such an
| insignificant that he has turned 1t all
| over to his clerk.
| OF course there are many representatives
| who do not depend upon their official sal
aries for their bread and butter. In the
present House, for example, there arc be-
! sides the 249 lawyers and 81 farmers men
| toned. II manufacturers, 3 merchants 4
| journ /lists. 10 bankers, editors, 3 physi-
| canss real estate men, 4 lumbermen 5
I mine owners, contractors, 2 insurance
/ men. quarry owners. publishers and
| one tanner, builder. telephone magnate lee
| turer. author, nursery owner. stock raiser
| salesman. theatrical manager and planter.
| 1t is mooted question whether more than
/ two score of lawyers in the House average
a profit in private practice by reason of
| being there. An experienced lawyer with
| record III puDilc HE tOlQ me the other
| day that election to Congress ruins the
| average law practice. There once was a
! time when the lawyer in Congress collected
for practice before the departments con-
| siderable revenue now ruled to be graft
| and hence forbidden. Perhaps some still
| reap a quiet harvest in these fields but
| the conviction of two United States sena-
| tors within the past year for this offense
| has been a powerful deterrent One of
| them, only a fortnight ago, commenced a
! six months term in the penitentiary and
| the other died of a broken heart before the
| prison doors closed upon him. Yet states
| men whose names now emblazon the pages
| OF our history openly prosecuted such cases
\ was pointed at them.
Choicest Perquisite Gone This Year.
| There is far less gain in a seat in Con-
gress today than was enjoyed even a year
| ago. The gain then was in direct proper
! tion however. to the distance from the cap
| ital at which the members home town was
| located. According to the law what has
governed both democratic and republican
| congresses for years each member receives
| every session twenty cents for each mile
| which he has travelled on the trip from his
| home town to Washington, and the same
| allowance over again for the return trip at
| the sessions close. Prince JONAH the dele
| gate from Hawaii, draws about $4,000 per
! Congress for travelling expenses. In a Con-
| gress with an extra session he would draw
| approximately 5000. Senators and repre-
| sentatives from Washington state are the
| next most literally compensated, receiving
about 81. 900 per Congress, not including ex-
! ira sessions. AT the last congressional cleo