Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-18
FINANCES OF PUBLIC MEN
Senators Often Sacrifice Fortunes TO eervs
Country.
REASON IN sPoosEEs RESIGNATION
Others Before Him Have Found Cost
of n Seat In Congress- Far Ex-
ceeds the Amount OF the
SALARY Paid,
From a star correspondent.r

United States senator from Wisconsin is
still a subject Of much comment in the
newspaper world. And vet, in view Of all
the facts which are known to Senator
Spooner's friends, the wonder Is that Sena-
tor spooner did not send in to the gov
ernor OF his state his resignation much
sooner. To those who know the man. TO
those who know his ability, to those who
know his ambition, IL is a marvel that
John G. Spooner has continued to represent
the commonwealth of Wisconsin as long as
he has. When spooner entered public life
conditions were wholly different from what
they are now. He represented one faction
Of the republican party in his state. Then
came an interregnum. Later Mr.. Spooner
came back because Of the predominance
OF the faction which he and his people
represented.
During the years that spooner was out
OF the senate he acquired the reputation
OF being one OF the greatest lawyers in
the country. When he came to the senate
this last time he accentuated the fact that
he was not only one Of the greatest lawyers
In the country, but in the senate demon
strated that he was one OF its greatest
debaters He gave up much to be a senator
of the United States. And spooner's resig-
nation from his high office which he now
occupies and which is effective on May 1
shows the power of party politics, but fails
to show the self-sacrihce which is not only
true in Senator Spooner's case, but in the
case of hundreds of others who have sacri-
feed incomes in order that the principles
for which they stood should triumph.
spOOneF's Fees as Lawyer.
When John Spooner came to the senate
he was earning anywhere from $4,000 to
$4,000 a year In lawyers fees. He gave
up those fees to represent his state in the
national congress, succeeding William F.
Villas for the term beginning March 4, 1897.
Since that time Senator Spooner has prac-
ticAlly been out of the practice of the law.
Realizing the demands of his growing
family and the much more crying needs
that enter into the life of today than ten
or twenty years ago, the senior senator
from Wisconsin astonished the country, but
not his friends, by rendering his resigna-
ton, to take effect on May. l. Probably
tired of political life, of its strifes and its
seeming failures, Senator Spooner in the
plenitude Of his powers has decided to go
back to the active practice Of the profess
sion which he has adorned.
Senator Spooner is not alone in the sacri-
fees he has made for politics. The congress
u AfiS SUlleu States COuldihb the ndllltb VI
hundreds Of men who have given up COM
Portable incomes, comparative ease and re-
spoct OF their fellows to take positions in
one or the other Of the houses Of congress.
Probably first among those who can be
mentioned is Senator Teller of Colorado,
who has represented his state since its
admission. When he came to the senate
he was earning $4,000 a year. largely from
suits growing out of mining claims. Since
that time he has earned but one fee, that
of $4,000, from a case which was pending
in the supreme court of the United States
at the time OF his election and which his
firm, Teller, Orahood & Co., were in charge
of when Henry NJ. Teller was elected sena-
tor. That case had nothing to do with the
government, being a case between indi-
vidual corporations engaged in the mining
business.
HOar's Fortune shrinks.
There is no more luminous example of
what many men give up when they enter
politics, so far as their finances are con-
cerned, than is shown in the case of the
late senator from Massachusetts, George
Frisbee Hoar. When Senator Hoar came to
the senate he was reputed to be worth
$500, 600. When he left the senate he was
reckoned to be worth $4,000 less than when
he entered that body. And Senator Hoar
was a careful, painstaking man, besides his
pre-eminent ability. But the legitimate de-
mands upon him and the small salary which
he received as a senator of the United
States could not stop the shrinkage of his
small fortune, which was considerably less
when he died than when he went into
ONCE.
George F. Edmunds left a splendid legal
income to enter the United States senate
and when he left public life in 1891, having
resigned much as Senator Spooner has done
70 go back to the practice Of his profession,
he had little or nothing to show for his
years in the upper branch Of congress, ex-
cept the honor which attaches to that posi-
ton. George F. Edmunds since his resig
nation from the senate in 1891 has earned
one fee, to say nothing OF countless other
fees, which brought him more money than
the salary Of a full term in the United
| States senate.
! David b. HILL Thomas B. Reed M. c.
Butler, John NJ. Thurston and Frank Petit
| grew are others who have served In one
branch OF the other OF congress, who gave
I'D splendid incomes, and who found they
could not get along on the 5000 year
salary provided by statute. David b. Hill,
who Is in Washington this week trying a
! case before the supreme court Of the United
States, lie making more money now than
ever before, and as he says 1t lie wholly
due 70 his being out Of politics.
Gates and Hill Aid Friends.
Thomas B. Reed, late speaker OF the
house Of representatives. left public life In
order that he might acquire something for
his old age. While he did not live long
enough to acquire anything near like a
competency, John w. Gates. one Of the big
hearted and braIny fnancieTs Of the coun-
try, handed Mrs Reed, on the death OF her
distinguished husband, $4,000 which Gates
had made out of amounts which Reed had
deposited with him for investment.
Thomas b. Reed. with all his bigness, his
ability and his acumen. was not a fnancier
but he was beloved by those who knew
him, and John w. Gates was one OF the
number. One day Gates met Reed and the
latter told the former that he was going
out Of congress because he could not make
ends meet Then Gates said:
Tom, why don't you let me handle your
finances. You know you haven't got any
business instincts"
Whereupon Speaker Reed agreed to turn