The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-03-16
ECONOMY" DEMO
CRATIC SLOGAN
(From F. J. DYER.)
Especial to Silver State)

(Spec1al to Silver State)
WASHINGTON, March l6.-bEcon-
omy" promises to be the keynote Of
Democratic rule in the house.
That is, if there is to be any key
note, for the party may not have
crystallized its intentions in just that
one word. Still the assertion 10 not
without backing in the attitude Of the
Democratic leaders.
First of all, there 10 Speaker to- be
Champ Clark. As successor to the
Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, he is entitled
to the use of luxurious $4,000
limousine car, in which the late speak
er has greatly enjoyed dashing through
the streets Of Washington, usually ac-
companied by Dalzell, Payne, Tawney,
Mann, or others of his friends among
the big leaders in the house.
Champ Clark will have none Of the
limousine.
To most plain people who consider
an automobile one Of the chief among
visible and outward signs Of pie
thoric purse and attendant luxury, it
may seem strange that anyone should
spurn with scorn the chance to ride
in one Of these modern Juggernaut
cars every day. But the congressman
from Missouri is one of those primi-
tive Democrats, cast in a Spartan
mold, who still believes in the simple
life, and whose total worldly fortune,
it is said, is scarcely more than
enough to equal the cost of car
such as congress provides for the
speaker and the vice-president. he
has always held that an official Of the
government who draws 1000 a month
should be able to furnish his own
transportation around the capital out
of his own pocket, and if he finds that
he needs smake-wagon, he will buy
himself one. But thus far, Mr.. Clark
has found that in pleasant weather
walking is good and healthful exer-
else; when It storms, he takes q street
car
Back to the Simple Life.
Unless the Democrats are indulging
in a great deal of loose talk, it will
be ''back to the simple life" for a
large number Of persons who have
been enjoying life in Washington, and
in other places where men are on the
government pay roll.
To hark back to the subject of
automobiles again, he is but an in
significant official of the government
who has not been able to show cause
why he needed car to get around
town in. Take the electrical engineer
of the house of representatives, for in
stance. On the payroll he cuts some
figure, his stipend being $1,000 year,
or thereabouts, not counting extras
When the heating plant was built the
Westinghouse people sent down an ex
pert to put it up, but the electrical
engineer was voted a nice bonus for
experimenting its construction. The
expert was hired later to run the
plant. The electrical engineer found
that although he had two automo-
biles of his own, he needed another to
run down from the capitol, and to the
pumping plant, on the river bank; so
congress gave him a machine.
The old fashioned dougherties, or
spring wagons, with mule motive
power, used to be good enough for the
army people and their families to
ride in. Now they prefer to ride in
automobiles, and the vehicles of the
quartermaster s department are made
use of to a considerable extent for
paying official and social calls.
The fire chief Of the District of
Columbia has an auto, and he is riding
in it a great deal when there is no fire
to 60 to.
In fact, nearly everyone has an
auto in Washington, and ones life is
hardly safe ON the streets, the drivers
of the cars are so reckless.
As for the speakers car, Champ
Clark is trying to find some way in
which it can be sold and the proceeds
turned back into the public treasury.
There is no fear, however, that his
example will become contagious.
Employees to Be Dropped.
The present program is to show the
president what real economy looks
like. AS starter, the Democratic
house intends to drop employees Of It's
own who draw about 100000 a year
in the aggregate, and those who stay
will have work to door fair imita-
tion of it. There will be complete
change in the personnel, to begin with.
Only very few will stay, and one
of these will be Captain Chauncey,
who for "a years has been chief Of the
house pages and who has endeared
himself to all of the older members.
Another is likely to be Henry Neal,
the colored messenger who has guard
ed the door at the Office Of seven
speakers Of the house with Chester
fieldian politeness.
A. Mitchell Palmer, of Pennsylvania,
chairman of the committee of the
committee on ways and means, in
charge of the matter, has noted sew
eral places which will not be refilled
after the Democratic tornado has
swept the payroll and left but lone
ly survivor here and there. He has
noted that in the stationery room,
where there is hardly room to wait on
two persons at once, there are four
employees. In the clerks document
room, where the work is considered
light, there are seven men, in the dis
bursting Office it has been thought that
FIVE men were none too many to make
out 900 checks every month. The
chairman of the committee on invalid
pension has seven or eight employees,