Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-06-23
ALDR!CHs' MONETARY COMMISSION.

ALDR!CHS' MONETARY COMMISSION.
Secretary MacVeagh in response to a
congressional invitation to furnish a
statement Of the amounts drawn from
the treasury by Senator AId-ich's
monetary commission produced an ex-
pense and salary account which leads
economical people TO wonder whether
there will be anything monetary left
when that commission gets thru SEN
Ator Aldrich had his congress create
this commission in 1905 Secretary
MacVeash'e little report deals with It's
expenditures up to March 81 Of the
current year. 1t reads like the list Of
liabilities of rich mans sons last
year at college when the father goes
down by request TO settle the bills.
a few items will show how earnest
~ the fnencie-s Of the commission
have worked and fought and bIed the
treasury. A 354 page book entitled,
Statistics for Great Britain, Germany
and France, cost according TO the
vouchers s7,s25.27 for authorship. ST.
666.3s for clerical assistance, and SI34
for translation. Total cost $40 o65 .65.
Statistics for United States appear TO
have cost nothing for authorship. but
this monograph cost 81, G40.2 % for clerk
hire. One special report Of ninety
pages on Banks of the United States
for 1909 cost s.,254.96. 1t is noted that
one DR.. Kinley was paid s697 for an
article on credit Instruments and the
clerk hire run up 70 S535.9@. Another
author contributed an article on the
Canadian Banking system at $500. His
clerks only cost him So but he had
travelling expenses to the amount Of
s405.4o. A number Of articles by Ger
mans and Italians, Jumped, cost for
authorship s2.0SS.55, but it cost ST.,
9e2.9s cents TO translate them. Then
some digests Of all this were prepared
Tor himself and $3.50 for clerk hire. Etc.
etc. Mr.. A Ptatt Andrew. who was
special assistant and editor Of publ
cations, drew down sS,366.s6 for his
labor. In all fields
Quoting from a resume in the Sat
uday Evening Post:
The commission set about it's labors
nan Intelligent manner. by meeting at
Narragansett Pier, IN July, 1903, at an
Expense Of s3,493.7S, and by taking
= jaunt abroad at an expense of $1s,-
s96e.1S. 1t engaged clerical assistance
10 the extent Of s29,791S2; spent all
Aold, in travelling expenses sG5, 4l2 "a,
md in salaries for comm isstoners s43,-
$50 The total expense, in the time
written about by our author, was S207,-
iao.4s.
Continuing the Post explains that:
The National Monetary Commission
was crea ted by an act Of Nelson W.
Aldrich-that is to say. an act Of con-
.Rress-on May 80, 1908. Its object was
ito reorganize and readjust the financial
system Of the United states. 1t was
lcomposed of eighteen members orig
,tnally-au but two or three-Tnem bers
of congress. However, Mr.. Aldrich is
q crafty person and sees far into the
future. Tthe stipulated in his act that
the salaries of civilians on the com
mission should bes7, 500 a year, but
that hrnembers Of congress should re-
tceive no other compensation than their
congressional salaries. You never
! can tell" said Mr.. Aldrich, when some
OF the boys may fall by the wayside
politically, and 1t will be nice thing
! to have them on the salary list" Con-
gress fixed it that way.
It has so fallen out that, of all the
financial experts originally on that
committee or recently added thereto,
only Senators Burton and Bailey and
Representatives Weeks, Padgett, Bur-
cess, Pujo and Prince remain in con-
Rress The others are former members
who, after their defeats or retirements.
slid gracefully into the salary drawing
class and are now getting. with every
t>vidence of satisfaction, their 1925
month. At the close of the last con-
Rress. on March 4, Senators Aldrich.
BURROWS, Hale, Money, Flint and Tall
aferro, all highly qualified financial ex-
.perts, began to draw their 1925 month
from the commission instead Of from
! 1he senate-and so did James McLach-
Ian. who was in the house from Cali
fornia. The real fixtures on the COM
mission, however, are former Senator
Henry M. Teller. who has been getting
his $500 a year for two years, and
former Representative Bonynge, both
Of Colorado.
How do you like the Aldrich None
tayv Confusion as far as it goes? And
can you explain those odd cents tackled