The sun., 1909-05-30
WEST HUNGRY FOR LECTURES.
May BE Famine II Congress Doesn't
Finish the Tarin Soon.

Unless Congress hurries up and passe
the tariff bill there will be stringency II
the Chautauqua market. This is the sea
son when the Chautauqua fourishes il
| the middle West. and part Of its supply
OF material Is drawn from Washington
Therefore with Congress still toying will
the tariff there will be vacant spots OF
the intellectual bills Of fare at these sum
mer feasts Of reason.
Not but that these vacancies can b,
filled, but the great days are always thos,
when big men from Washington are dowr
on the programme. fairly well knowr
United States Senator can earn SIS,
for every lecture he delivers, and a toE
notcher can get $500 or $3.50. A plain Con
greseman is down for about 500.
The term sChautauqua' is in most cases
a misnomer. The name only is borrowed
along with few of the methods. Some
OF the lecture courses are carried on fol
profit by churches or subsidiary church
organizations, but most OF them are rur
by eagle eyed gentlemen who have found
1t an easy way to make money.
In Iowa and Missouri and Illinois there
are regular circuits. strings OF parks
owned by syndicate which books five
or six day programme. moving the at
fractions after the fashion of the vaude-
vile syndicates. An Iowa man has eleven
OF these assemblies. operated by local or
ganizations on a percentage basis.
New England had only eight. assem-
blies last year. while Illinois had forty
seven and Iowa ffty-five. They draw
their patronage from a radius Of fifty
miles. and there are few that don't show
. big balance on the credit side.
A man who goes into the assembly
promoting scheme only has his parks
and his advertising TO worry over. The
booking is all done through lyoeum bu-
reaus. the Same channel through which
the hundreds Of lecture courses which
are given the country over during the
winter are supplied. The bureaus at
tend to all the routings. pay all the bills
for entertainers, including travelling ex.
penses and salaries, and leave the pro-
moter only the local business end Of the
to look after.
The bureaus have the business system
atiyed. Lecturers. singers. concert COM
panies. Senator'S and novelty enter
tainers are all booked to follow a stipu-
lated route. The jumps are small and
life on the road loses many of it's hard
ships through the business methods that
are employed.
Advertising matter is furnished from
the bureau headquarters and the local
manager attends to its distribution.
The lecturer starts on his circuit. ool-
lects the fee from the local manager, makes
to the home office weekly
in some instances deducting his expenses
and salary. The same practice is followed
with the concert company, the chalk
artist, the monologists, the quartets.
Preachers exc out their salaries on IN a
circuit. spending their yaca-
dons at money making. Fifty-two mem
bers OF the last Congress were on the lists
last year. but as it was campaign wear
they devoted only small part 81 their
vacation to this work. One Western
Senator made $1,000 in 1907 delivering
summer speeches and he figured that It
cost him just $4,000 last year to, make
speeches for the Republican national
Church Bishops are rated as the highest
paid In the business. because their name
and title draw big crowds The books
~ almost any bureau will disclose pro-
'essioual orators little heard of generally
Eho make large salaries folloWing the
-hautauotia cirnnite each yea:, 8