Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-03-20

document room, Washington, D. c. It provided for gift of $1,500 to the clerk of the house which is bonus in addition to his regular sal ary of $4 900. The sergeant -at-arms, whose sal ary is also $4,OOO, was likewise made a present of $1,500. The doorkeeper's prize amounted toI $500. The list of benefactors of House Resou- ton No. 426 covers six pages. There would probably be no such special legislation as House Resolution No. 426 should Senator Aldrich set out to save the people the $300,000,0OO which he declares is being wasted annually under present conditions.
 "The United States railway mail service rep resents the highest industrial development in the world" declared Representative Victor Murdock of Kansas in a speech in which he warned congress not to attempt to strike out the paragraph allowing the railway mail clerks expenses to the amount of D cents day.
 "The whole service in the United States has attained an average of 9865 per cent, but he IS also student He is regularly put through a most rigorous examination. He must not only know the stations in the states, the 6O,OOO post offices in the United States, but he must keep himself constantly informed as to all the changes of schedules of trains. There are men running from Syracuse to Cleveland who know whether to throw letter directed to a town in central California north or south to obtain for it the quickest dispatch across the country.
 ''There are men running from New York to Washington on the railway postal cars who know more about the postoffices of North and South Carolina than do the members of this house who hail from those states. This is the finest service in the world. Other branches of the postal service halt at some time in the day. This service goes on continuously. There are men who work for thirty continuous hours. "Now, for the first time in the history of this government, an attempt is made by the commit tee to give these men an expense allowance of | 75 cents day when they have been out twelve hours in the service. That plan is reported unanimously by the committee. l sincerely hope and more deeply than l have ever hoped on any single item have ever had anything to do with in this house, that not a single man in this house will raise his voice against the propO- sition. (Applause.)
 | 'There has never been an army or navy or commercial organization of 16,000 men which has exhibited the efficiency that this body of gov ernment employees do. They are not paid eX- cessivey Their salaries range from $500 to $1 ,600 year. They occupy the most hazardous place on the train. Three or four years ago out in the west, when the cars of railroad tram went into the ditch they carried with them eight men in the postal cars and to their death. This house ought to be apprecative of good service. ;
 Representative Hughes of New Jersey cited an instance of a young postal clerk living Tn hiS district, who was compelled to remain at the end of the line every night when he had finished his run.
 "As he explained the situation to me" saio Hughes, ''this young man was the son Of 6 widowed mother, but every night he was com pelled to go to hotel and pay for his lodging pay for his supper at night and his breakfast the next morning. This clerk was then receiv ing $675 year; his salary now is $500 year How this man was able to pay his way is beyond my comprehension, because I had some eXper
 ence as to the charges made by the hotels in the summer resort at which the clerk was forced tc put up each night"