Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1909-01-24
PRESIDENTS SALARY
NOT QUITE DOUBLED
TAFT WILL RECEIVE AsoUT
$4,000 MORE THAN ROOSEVELT.
PrssIdent-EIset Is Comparatively .
Poor Man and Increase Will BE
weleomsd by Himself and
Family.

Especial Correspondence The SUM-
WASHINGTON, d. C.. Jan. 2S.-kf-
ter spirited debating the Senate this
week succeeded in passing a bill In
creasing the Presidents salary to
500, 900. but by striking out the appro-
priation Of $4,000 for travelling ex-
penses the proposed salarS will not
be doubled. but only increased by
$4,000. Mr.. Roosevelt is the first
President to have enjoyed an allow
ance for travelling expenses, and IL is
said mat Of the $4,000 he received
for that purpose last year he spent
only $4,000. Should the House concur
in the action OF the Senate and vote
AIr. Taft 100000, and should he con-
fine his wanderings 20 the distance
travelled by Mr.. Roosevelt during the
year, he will I'm reality have $4,000
more than Mr.. Roosevelt The Demo
cratic side Of the Senate. as was "a be
expected, held out for the simple life
and was emphatically' Of the opinion
that the Presidential job was not
worth more than $4,000. and Senator
Bailey of Texas, who SCOTS at the
dress suit and other appurtenances of
fashion, believed that the President
should pay his own expenses for en-
tertaining; that he should not be sup
piled with a conservatory. anu ihat II
he wanted flowers to tame his savage
breast he should buy them out Of his
own pocket Re Is Of the opinion that
the chief executive should go down
into his jeans for his railroad tickets
and his carriages and horses. But
the Republican Senators, many Of
whom are very wealthy and know
what Il costs 20 live I'm these days Of
the full baby carriage and the empty
dinner pail, stood out for the increase
and succeeded In dragging II through
with Ave votes TO spare. The increase
will no doubt be very acceptable to
Mr.. Taft. and especially TO the wife Of
the Presidentelect. who Is a practical
woman with wide experience In the
science Of making a little money go a
long way. Mr.. Taft Is a poor man as
riches are reckoned these days. He
has lived on a salary since his col
lege days, and he has been too busy
% make money. His brother Charles.
as Is well-knOwn, married a fortune
which he succeeded In promptly
doubling. and ne has been the Taft
bank ever since. Still. Il was not 20
be expected that he would help out
with the White House expenses, and
Il must have given the President-elect
some concern as 90 how he should
keep up the Roosevelt gait on the
Presidential salary. Mr.. Taft Is an
essentially social being and he finds
his greatest relaxation and pleasure
In keeping open house. His tastes are
not extrayagant. but he has a fine dis
regard for cheese pairing. and the
White House will probably be con-
Quoted I'm a hospltable way for the
coming four years. Congress apprO-
PIRATES $4,000 annually for IT'S up
keep. and In the rural districts this
looks like a huge sum, but one has on
~ 90 visit the executive mansion and
glance over the small army Of door
keepers. lackeys and domestic sery-
ants. an OF whom are under the lax
surveillance OF other paid employees.
90 see that economy Is the last con
sideration there II Is said that the
| Vice President pays more for the
house be- rents furnished here than his
salary, and that his household eXpens-
es are over nifty thousand dollars a
year Mrs Fairbanks does not know
how many servants are employed in
the kitchen. and would not know her
cooks and scullery maids and hOstlers
if she were 90 meet them. From this
small fact % may hr Imagined what
1.-The expenses OF the White House are