, 1923-01-12


than the members who have
liners get $500 a day, the newcomers
1890 a day. 1t doesn't seem fair, 1t
$ manifest that experience is not be-
,ng justly rewarded but it can't be
lelped-not while the good old con-
stitution Of the state of Wyoming is
on the job. which it is.
The anomalous situation is caused
by that section of the constitution
which forbids that the salary of a
state officer shall be increased during
his term of office. this being a pro.
vision designed to prevent officers
authorized to fix salaries from taking
advantage of their authrity by bene-
iting their own p~ocketbooks. The
sixteenth legislature passed a salary
Increase measure raising the per diem
of members of the legislature from
$500 to $1,000. The increase is not
applicable to the IL members of the
senate of the seventeenth legislature
who "hold-over" from the sixteenth
legislature, but is applicable to the
10 senator's who were elected last
November and to the 90 members of
the house.
Seven senators who voted for the
salary-increase measure two years
ago are b~eneficiaries under its prpo-
visions IND draw the increased com
~pensation regardless of the fact that
they voted for the increase. The con.
%stitutional prohibition fails to cover
their cases because their terms ex.
pired after the bill was passed and
they now are serving new terms as
the result of reelection last fall. They
are w. w. Daley of Carbon county,
Clarence Gardner of Lincoln county,
A. L. Lee of Hot Springs county, C..
p. Meek of Weston county. Harry
Free of Natrona county. Lewis H.
Brown Of Sweetwater county, and
Frank Horton of johnson county.
With the exception of Daley. Gardner.
Lee and Weston they were members
of the preceding house.
Twelve.doIiars-a-day senators other
thai those hereinbefore named are
Frank E. Anderson of Albany county.
Theodore Wanerus OF Campbell coun
ty. Wade H. Fowler of Converse
county. Roy H. Cameron of Crook
county, Nels A. Pearson of Sheridan
county. Fred Burton OF Platte coun.
ty. and John T. Jones OF washable
county. The elght-dollar-a-day men
are Simon SlSovgard of Big Horn
county. John Dillon of Fremont
county. II. s. Kirk of Goshen county,
A. D.. Kelley and Stephen II. slbley
Of Laramie county. j. w. johnson of
Natrona county. J.. G. Hartwell Of
Niobrara county. S. A.. Pearson of
Park county. w. NJ. Spear OF sheri.
dan county. Oliver Chambers of
Sweetwater county and Louis Ka.
bell, Jr., of Unita county.
Under ordinary circumstances both
the senators from Sheridan county
would be eight-dollar-a-day men dur
ing this session. But the clrcum.
stances involved one of the sheri.
dan senatorships have not been ordin.
ary. George w. Perry. who would
have been serving in his second SEES.
sion his year had he lived. passed.
on after the session OF the sixteenth
Legislature and Nels A. Pearson was
elected to serve out his
term. Perry's successor, having been
elected since the salary-increase mea.
sure was enacted. therefore is draw.
ing $1,000 a day for service for which
Perry would have received only $500.
The services of the Is new mem.
hers of h senate are costing the
state si5e a day. compared with a
cost Of only SOC n day for the services
OF the IL hold'over senator's; the total
per diem of the senators Is $3.50 a
cay. The services of the SO members
OF the Gus cost the state sos a
day bringing the total per diem OF all
members OF the legislature to $3.50 a
day. The total compensation of Tho
Legislators for the 40 days Of the ses.
sion viii be SSs.400.