Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-29
CAN YOUR TAXES BE. CUT?
A Series of Articles on the Cost of Government;
Where the Money Goes. and Why.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR,
Author Of Can Europe Hold Together ?

senators. And each member OF Con-
gress received Sc per diem while Con-
gress was in session.
1880 Senator'S Salary.
Today each senator of the United
States receives a salary OF $1,000 a
year. private secretary, a stem
ographer. and at least two large
Welt furnished Offices in the Senate
Office building. He also is given q
travelling bonus OF 20 cents mile
to and from Washington from his
home state for each session OF Con.
gress. This is relic OF tn, the 90. old q
used, and necessarily more expensive
than travel is today.
In 1923 the people Of the United
States paid s2.314.000. for the total
expenses Of the Senate. of which
s763.oOO went into the salaries and
mileage Of the ninety-six senator's.
The balance was mostly for help. =.
The 435 members OF the House Of
Representatives each receive $,500
and q. bonus OF 20 cents a mile. to
and from each session. AID at least
one large furnished room In the
House ONCE building. In 1923 there
was paid for the House of Repre-.
which the salaries and mileage OF
congressman took 1871 900. The rest
was nearly all for salaries Of officers
and employees.
The next big spending bureau Of
the legislative department. is the
was spent $3.o11.O00 in the division
for 1929. The appropriation for 1924
Is increased 100000; unquestionably
there Is waste in this particular
office. Much government printing
-
necessary.
Cost of Congregational Library.
The Library Of Congress-the mos,
! beautiful library In the world-also
under the legislative department, re-
ceived s1.o64.oo0 to carry on for 1928.
Today 1t contains over 100000
volumes The library Is an old one.
Esta blished In 1900. 1t was destroyed
by the British in 1914, when the
Capitol was burned. 1t began again
library Of former President Thomas
Jefferson. containing $3.50 volumes.
Jefferson had fallen on days of finan-
cial adversely. Congress gave him a
In 1851. 1t was destroyed by fire. The
next year Congress appropriated
$4,000 to begin again. From that
time 1t has steadily grown in in
fluence.
Today the collection Is housed in
the most exquisite library building
in the world. which cost approximate
ly 100000. The library itself has
the largest collection on the American
continent. and third in the world.
necessary to government than a well
ordered. well balanced library. This
the present Congressional Library Is.
The architect Of the Capitol cost a
total of sl.22l:ooo .f fe1 oo ls2s, The The
largest largest Item was was $4,000 for for the the
high. Light and power are furnished
for the Capitol, the House building
and the Senate. Every electric light
In every office in the Capitol. the
House building and the Senate build
ing seems to be lit at all times. This
item is cut for 1924 to s439 900. The
balance for the architect includes
care of grounds and the care of the
three buildings mentioned above.
$4,000 to Draft Bills.
In connection with the legislative
department of the American govern
ment. the legislative drafting service
should be mentioned. This service
does the bill drafting for all con-
gressmen and senators free of charge.
It Is highly important work. Its
object is to frame bill just as
carefully as an architect plans and
builds a building; The service cost
only $4,000 in 1928. The money was
we'll spent.
To sum up, a total Of s14.o14,000
was spent by the legislative depaI -
ment of the United States for the
fiscal year 1923. 1t is small In COM
parison with, the governments total
cost.
For every $1,000 which the govern
ment spent for that year, the legisla-
tive department spent just Al cents.
| In 1923 the United States spent every
nineteen days for pensions as much
as was spent by this department tor
the whole year.
United States spent every eleven
much as was spent by the department
| for the whole of 1928.
Last year the government spent
| every thirteen days in the War De-
partment as much as was spent on all
| the congressman and senators and
Congressional Library and printing
office and Botanic Garden. the
secretaries, stenographers and en-
gineers combined.
Important as Is the legislative de-
partment. the people of the Cnited
States must look elsewhere for big
cuts in government expenses. They
cannot be found here.
copyright, 1924, In Cnited States and Great
Britain. by North American Newspaper
Alliance. All rights reserved.)
Tomorrow, A Department for .
War nm Twelve Hours Interest.