Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-15
MAINE LEGISLATURE.
CONTINUED from Page Two.)


the very beginning introduced an or
der that We should return our mileage
to the railroad companies and keep
our passes in the form Of contract,
legalizing them. 1t passed the Senate,
and in the House at a scantily attend
ed session, with no recognition of the
real issue in point, and with aid from
influential quarters, it was indefinitely
postponed. But 1t sounded the key
note for the action which the day-out
committee reported. The bill is now on
its passage in the other House-the bill
abolishing passes. / confess l think the
Legislature is wrong in their action in
the first instance and when have read
Of the Investigations Of our State off,
Gals and have seen the headlines
as to certain gentlemen being drilled
by the committees, 1t has occurred to
mo that perhaps while We were grill
Ing them. we were doing about the
same things ourselves. Charges
against some of the State officials were
that with mileage, they charged UP
the passage to the State. 1t Is exact
" what the members Of this body and
the other body are doing this winter
Now 1t Is agreed that this is a mat
ter which we must settle and settle at
this session. The committee made
this report, a clean cut one, abolish
ing passes. not the bill introduced by
the senator, but a bill affecting absn-
Iutely the same results differing only
in the words and in the clause that
was added, copied from the interstate
commerce law, abolishing passes. Now,
II the senator is sincere, and / do not
doubt but he Is, in striking out the
use of passes does he mean 10 say that
that one-hundred- and -fifty-dollar sal
airy is all we have, with the pas ses
eliminated. / will not even ask II 1t
Is n decent compenSatiOn-Or If 1t Is a
compensation which an ordinary cltl-
zen can afford to take to come here
and serve this State do not think
80. think it would be a case of Sa'-
riflce of hardship in a great many in
stances, for a man to do so. He knows,
and we all know, that with our sala-
ries as they are We pay out here more
than we receive with the mileage as 1t
is; and the mileage. by the way. Is left
- it il in both the bills.
cannot understand why, in the
l,hole history of our State. the sala-
Us of the members OF the Legislature
;r. the only salaries tnnt r. main
here they were at the beginning of
the history IF ou- state and even then
it is not because the members here have
rot sufficiently high regard for the
.alur Of their services: but they seem
{" have been lacking in moral courage,
MI henever either salaries have been
~
used their own Il il matter which
has excited more or l. % ridicuie IN
other parta of the United states
.ov-a-d is that we have not so acted.
The matter Of accepting passes has
excited criticism. As a matter of fact
senator's we receive today less for orr
two years of service as members of the
Legislature than did the members ir
the first year of our State history. The
arst two years Of our State history
the members got more than we gel
with our $3.50 and our mileage now
1t IL perfectly startling to compare tho
salaries received by ourselves with the
salaries which we have given our
State officials. and which the STATE
has approved Of uniformly.
have here an interesting compila-
ton which shows how the salaries OF
other state officials have increased and
how ours have remained exactly
where they were from. I think. from
1870: and before that il was at the rate
Of 81 per day.
Our officials in the Senate. far down
the line as you all know. get salary
far beyond ours. The senator from
Lincoln here, who. with great credit &c
himself. has advanced from modest
position In the service Of the Senate tc
the seat which he now holds so cred
ltably. as assistant secretary of the
Senate ne received $500 for his services
he comes back here now with all the
laurels Of political prowess, and he re-
ceives $3.50. Ia 1t because his abil-
tiles have been diminished? Their
has been simply a lack of courage OF
our part to ask for-not an adequat e
compensation. because we can never re
ceive that at the hands of any Legisla-
ture for the hard work we do here
but an approach to a decent return foi
the services We give here, so that We
may get enough perhaps to pay oul
bills and get out Of Augusta or any
capital which We may have without
having to pay from our private purst
TOT expenses we nave incurred III int
service Of the State.
ain quite aware--nO one knows II
better than I. because / was on tbs
committee which put 1t before the PEG
pie, at the suggestion of another stal
in the Democratic armament. MIR. Da
Wis, a member of the committee who
invoked the referendum on the matter
four years ago-we put it to the reo.
pie. But 1t was not this proposition
1t was not a proposition that members
Of the committee expected would &c
to the people. There was nothing sale
In that referendum of passes at all
The referendum was simply this:
shall the salary of the executive
council and members of the Senate and
House Of Representatives be increas-
ed to $500 in place of $3.50 as now pro-
vided by law. and the salary of the
President Of the Senate and Speaker OF
the House to $500 in place of $500 as
now provided by law" The words
yes and mo- shall be printed upon
such ballot above the aforesaid ques-
ton so as to leave blank space
-.