Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-31
Congressional and Departmental Pay
To the Editor of The Star:

After reading the communication or
Clerks and congressman" in The Sta,
March % ii appears to me ina: the least
| Congress caa do now this session is &c
stand up like men and pass a retire
| ment bll'' for the departmental clerks
and by that 7 do not mean the nigga -d:y
| little substitute of taxing their small sal
aries for the purpose. as they have been
annually refused the privilege of doing
but decent. adequate. honorable pen
sion. given by the government as re-
ward for long and faithful service and
! for protection against want in old age
| They have just as inherent a right to i,
as the army and navy. And 1t should
| have been given~in the first place. when
| this government was organized
| Just consider the question relatively
| Originally congressman were paid by the
day for their service in Congress assem-
bled. not by the year-as that body Is
not in continuous session. I do not know
when or why the change was made to
| annual compensation, but it certainly has
been highly lucrative for the coAgres-
sional contingent. however extraordinary
and unreasonable it may appear to the
nom official mind. as members of Congress
now receive from $57 to SGD an executive
day. according as the allowance for per-
sonal clerks may be distributed. This
is enormously above the highest salary
paid to a member of any European par
liza ment, where the rates are from So to
SO day during service. whereas our
legislators are receiving more than s2O
for each and every day of the entire
year. irrespective of long absences from
Washington.
If you are surprised at the first state
ment. just examine. Congress is in
session not to exceed ten months in the
two years of it's life-barely seven for
the long and never three for the short
session. Therefore $4,000 for the two
years yields the liberal salary of s15Nl
every month of service. In compliance
with its own demand. Congress allowed
clerk for each of the members of that
body. whose original salary of 81 geo per
annum was afterward Increased to 81, 800.
entirely disproportiOnate to the schedule
employed in the departments. however.
There Is no quarrel with that dictum. only
Congress should level up. The more peo-
pie who are employed by the government
rewards itself the better. But that 81 800
becomes 5000 in two years. and is con-
trolled by the member himself. There
fore by Judicious management ii may be
made to increase the family funds to the
amount Of $500 a month. AS was eX-
planned last year by. the thrifty member
who saved 81 1000 from the $4,000 of
his congressional income a most comical
parody on the arguments of his cOllea CUES
who had just increased their own sal
aries 80 per cent. because. forsOoth, they
could not live on 5000 year At the
same time Congress refused clerks ~ per
cent increase for one year. in one in
stance through dread of making a char
woman a free gift of s4s distributed
through the year as 81 monthly or 13l.
cents a day!
This season one congressional day is
recorded as of eight minutes duration
just long enough to adjourn over the limit
| Of time allowed by law. three days, An
other day was heightened to twenty-five
minutes. thus accounting for the accu-
| mutation of unfinished business which,
annually goes over from session to ses-
| sion. working such injustice and wrong
as never ought burden the account OF
any legislative body
Have the years been enumerated that
| a retirement association has PRAYED
Congress for the poor privilege OF pen
sioning themselves in their old age-and
been refused. even as now? Think of the
ignoble attitude of that superior body
toward its inferior, which cannot strike,
which fears even to exercise its legal
right of petition. by reason of perpetual
residence at the toe of the congressional
boot. which kicks and continues to kick
because Of that very helplessness
f. NJ. CARRINGTON.