The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-21
RICH AND room IN CONGRESS.

In 2 recent magazine article. Senator Beveridge, of Indiana, asserts with more or less vehemsnce of language and expression: Either our Govern ment, as q practical matter. must be- come exclusively government of rich men, or else rich men must be kept out of the Government by the votes of the people. except always where their qualities of statesmanship are notable" On this opinion, The New Bedford Standard thus forcefully and sensibly comments:
 .aTs We think that very good sbI. iees Sodr if men must be kept out when they like wise display lack of notable quality of statesmanship. In fact. we fancy caused by the feeble and futile at tempts to follow the pace of the rich may be charged to a deficiency of the pius ses%an of fooiishaess cieaTiy nd a enough no man should be chosen to be Con- gressman because he is rich or because ts he IS poor; and if they & continue nnre 10 De by the people Is doomed to failure But the remedy is not to be found in dis. cussing the riches or the poverty Of
 
 Is to be had, if anywhere, in such a condition of thought among the people that they will elect only Congressman referencs s a to 0 ths Sreatness M or the % ittis ness of their possessions. There Is no other way to Improvement. Nothing would be gained if Congressmen,s sale that case. more of them might live at the Willard or own equipages of "sumptuous but subdued richness. or .Nda rtxsa.n nII k@ kAA hAa kwA Nr hNrNr their women-folk more elegant gowns, or give more generously to charities. That the country would be the better ity Is thai 1t would be the worse on. because as the case now stands, the undesirable extravagance of large share of Washington life stretches de- country. The remedy-the only rem- edy--is in the existence of a proper public sentiment among the people. win not be upset by the spectacle of the rich among them. They will be paid what is right--but what Is right swollen fortunes. If what MT. Bever- idge calls ''the luxury of living in the nations capital' is to be a determining factor, we might as well go into de- spair and stay there.
 We know that the complaint is fre- quently made, generally in the North and West, that none but the rich can get to Congress, especially to the Sem ate, and there have been so many evil dences up there of the truth of the as- sertion that it is not to be wondered at if many look on 1t as an established fact It. is different in the South possibly because there is less wealth down here, but more probably because buying good offices has not become the custom in this section. At any rate, we know that our Southern States have only an occasional millionaire in Con- gress.
 We fully agree with The Standard that no man should be elected to Con- gress merely because of his wealth or his poverty. If he has no other or bet ter qualifications than the size of his bank account, or his lack of one, he had better be left at home. And as to the matter of raising the pay of our not think that should be objected to. within reasonable bounds of course. We here at home know that the cost of living has very decidedly increased of late years, even to those who wish to live modestly and without useless expense. and this increase has been notable in Washington, where the sal ary heretofore paid to Congressmen Is not enough to enable them to live respectfully. as we might say. That this does not bar all men of moderate means is true enough. We do not claim that they should be paid so lib- orally that the salary alone would be the object sought, but we do insist that they should be paid enough to live on decently. As to the other side of 1t, there are and always will be men who will strive to obtain a seat in Congress whether they are paid high salary or none at all. Other considerations than salary govern them. And, to sum up the whole matter. ours will be an ideal condition. if 1t ever comes, when men will be elected to office solely because of fitness and qualifications. Does The Standard hope to see that day7