Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-02-26

IN his answer. sE Il
very WE'LL he said; "I agree with
you and will be prepared
It was the direct self-sacrificing
spirit of the Spartan, or of some of our
own Americans in our heroic periods,
And yet happened personally to
know that he himself was carrying the.
burden of one of the great legislative
tasks of the session; that for many
nights he had been working until far
into the morning hours on the duties
Immediately before him; and finally
that the critical moment in the affairs
of which he had charge was almost at
hand. But he assumed the additional
labor which kept him in his library
nearly all that night in obedience to
his sense of duty to the welfare of the
American people whose faithful SER
want he was and is. }s.3
This grand old man has not been to
the theater or any other place of en-
tertainment for the last two sessions.
He seldom attends the endless round
of dinners which so distract the atten-
ton, consume the time, and impair
the health Of the peoples servants
Washington. In short, he is giving his
life and consecrating his large abili-
ties to his country. Yet, it was and l.
all that this admirable type Of Ameri-
can statesman could do to make both
ends meet.
There is another senator well known
to the whole country who lives in two
small rooms on the top floor of an
apartment house, These two little
rooms cost him nearly a thousand dol
liars a year unfinished. So this SEN
ator must spend one-ffth of his salary
! lay his head. Like Senator Hoar and
/ the other notable example just given,
this senator never gives dinners, never
entertains, seldom goes to the theater,
and lives. in a self-denial that would
not be believed by the people of his
! own state. He has no family what
4 ever and there are no extraordinary
drains on his pocket. Yet am cred
Iibly informed that it costs him at least
$4,000 a year more than his salary to
pay the absolutely necessary expenses
/ of existence and travel. And I could
give several other Illustrations as
striking as this. For example, one of
the Oldest, most useful, and most hon
ored men in the senate lives in a
simple single room in one of the
cheapest hotels.
i Itwould be quite out of the question
4for any of these men to live at any OF
the great Washington hotels. Here
are some of the prices of the best OF
4 the nation's capitals carayansaries:
Willard hotel, one room without board,
$3.50 per day and upward-no reduc;
tion made for renting by the month.
The prices at the Arlington hotel are
substantially the same as the Willard
! for rooms Meals are not quite so ex-
pensive Raleigh hotel, So per day and
upward for one room without board.
And mind you, too, these prices are
for the room itself without meals
/ and these the cheapest, least comfort
able and serviceable rooms in the no
tel The meals are more expensive
4 than the rooms; because friends are
l constantly dropping in, " and the pub
lie man cannot be niggardly with his
constituents visiting Washington. And
this is but the actual bed and board
\ expenses--the outlay at the lowest
possible estimate for merely keeping
alive. N .
None of these things is known to the
4 American people. All of them should
I be known by the American people
/ They are causes which are working an
! infinitely important change in our gov.
eminent. I doubt whether any prac.
i tical situation exists more serious
], than this or fraught with more pro.
III lCuuu consequence ~ " Liz EAiiCiASthn
people The government is passing
4 into the hands OF the rich; the poor
I man or man of mod means is be.
ing crowded out of the peoples ser
s vice.
You will say at once that such
scale Of living is absurd, and say SC
too; that it is fagrantly wrong, and ]
say so too. And it is to call the at
tention Of the nation to this concrete
immediate, growing, and critical evi
/. Il that ] am writing these words. Let
me repeat again that 1t is becoming
every day more difficult for any but
a rich man, and a very rich man Al
that, to live in comparative decency il
Washingto
What Is the reason for this alarm
4 ingly extrayagant rate of living at thu
\ nations capital, which is rapidly max
& ing 1t impossible for poor men TO have
any part in this government It \
that constantly increasing number