The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-01-28
WASHINGTON
From our Regular Correspondent.


a bill increasing the Presidents sal
ary TO SIoo, 900, but by striking
out the appropriation of S25 .ooc
for travelling expenses the proposed
salary will not be doubled but only
increased by S25 600. Mr.. Roose.
welt is the first President to have
enjoyed an allowance for travelling
expenses and it is said that of the
$500 he received for that pur.
pose last year he spent only So, 900.
Should the House concur in the ac-
tion of the Senate and vote Mr..
Taft SIoo, 900 and should he con
fine his wander ngs to the distance
travelled by Mr.. Roosevelt during
the year he will in reality have
Sal 900 more than Mr.. Roosevelt.
The Democratic side of the Senate
as was to be expected held out for
the simple life and was emphatical-
ly OF the opinion that the Presiden-
tial job was not worth more than
| $50, 900 and Senator Baily Of Tex
as who SCOTS at the dress suit and
other appurtenances OF fashion be-
lieved that the President should
pay his own expenses for enter
tanning; that he should not be sup
piled with conservatory and that
II he wanted flowers to tame his
savage breast he should buy them
out of his own pocket. He is Of
the opinion that the Chief Execu-
tive should 60 down into his Jeans
for his railroad tickets and his car
riages and horses. But the Re.
publican Senators, many of whom
are very wealthy and know what
it costs to live in these days of the
full baby carriage and the empty
dinner pail stood out for the in
crease and succeeded in dragging
it through with five votes to spare.
The increase will no doubt be very |
acceptable to Mr.. TAFT and especi-
ally to the wife of the President |
elect who is a practical woman
with wide experience in the science !
of making a little money go great
way. Mr.. Taft is poor man as
riches are reckoned these days.
He has lived OH salary since his
college days and he has been too
busy to make money. His brother
Charles, as is we'll known married
a fortune which he succeeded in
promptly doubling and he has been
the Taft bank ever since. Still it
was not to be expected that he
would help out with the White
House expense and it must have
given the President-elect some con-
Germ as to how he should keep up
the Roosevelt gait on the Presiden-
tial salary. Mr.. Taft is an essen
tally social being and he finds his
greatest relaxation and pleasure in
keeping open house. His tastes
are not extravagant but he has
fine disregard for cheese parings
and the White House will probably
be conducted in hospitable way
for the coming four years. Con-
gress appropriates SIS, 900 annually
tor its upkeep and in the rural dis
tricts this looks like a huge sum
but one has only to visit the exec
utive mansion and glance over the
small army of doorkeepers, lackeys
and domestic servants all of whom
are under the lax surveillance of
other paid employees to see that
economy is the last consideration
there. 1t is said that the Vice
President pays more for the house
he rents furnished here than his
salary and that his household ex-
penses are over fifty thousand dol
lars year. Mrs. Fairbanks does
not know how many servants are
employed in the kitchen and would
not know her cooks aud sculery
maids and hostlers if she were to
meet them. From this small fact
it may be imagined what the ex-
penses of the White House are
where each department of the do
mestic service is under the charge
OF chief receiving a good salary
himself and where accounts are
simply audited to prevent graft and
without regard to waste and ex-
travagance which under a better
system might be prevented.
The appropriation bill of the
Senate which provides for the
doubling of the presidential salary
also calls for an increase of salary
for the Vice President who will |
have $40, 900 and Speaker of the
House who will receive $4,000 |
and no additional amount for car.
riages, and two thousand dollar
increase in the salaries of the Su-
preme Court Justices, making the
income of the Chief Justice SIS