Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-28
Capital Sidelights

|
Union than any other fiduciary insti
tuition In all the length and breadth OF
the land.
This bank handles $40 900 900 in cash
business is growing. 1t is part of the
sergeant at arms office and has wei
appointed counting room. with glass
and grill partitions. on the first floor
of the Capitol Building. Members OF
the House pass directly by the door OF
this bank each day land several times
day. in going to their place in the
House chamber
The business of this bank has in
creased considerably since the mem
bers of Congress got an increase in
their salaries last year. 1t now dis
| burses In salaries of members 1867 ;.
IO83.33 each month. Besides this il does
a general banking business, just as an
accommodation to members, cashine
the pay checks of the members secre
taries and clerks and all employees at
the House end of the Capitol
| The banker Is Kenneth Romnev
who has been on the job for nearly 10
years, serving with the utmost sa It's
faction under both Republican and
| Democratic ma jorities. Few, If any
employees In the Nations Capital are
more universally popular. This is due
TO MS en1ciency. his unfailing courtesy
and to his eagerness at all times to do
anything in his power to accommodate
the patrons OF the bank During his
tenure of Office the business Of this
bank has more than doubled Previous
to assuming this position he had no
I ariAr
| newspaper reporter in the Northwest
His home Is in Montana
| Mr.. ROmney ca shes more checks on
dlrerent banks than any other pla ce
In the country, because constituents
from all the States and from practi.
cally every community throughout the
| AZ states come to Washington and
visit their Congressman Usually when
| here their pocketbooks have to be re.
plenished. and so they write a check,
tnelr Congressman indorses it and Mr..
komney cashes 1t. Multiply this serv.
ice by 436, the number of members of
ne rouse, and you get some idea of
the magnitude of this voluntary ac-
| commodation rendered by Mr.. Romnev
TO the people of the country.
Nj. Romney has very intimate
| knowledge of the financial affairs of
most or the members Of the House.
ana MS experience shows that since
| they got their increase In salary their
financial condition has been very
| much improved.
The mileage of members is another
big item in Mr.. Romney's banking
operations This amounts to $275, 900
II session. There has been no increase
In this account. The members get 20
cents mile each way. The amount
| each member collects ranges all the
| way from So paid to Representative r.
Walton Moore of Virginia and $50
| paid to Representative Stephen W.
Cambria of Maryland to 81 1926 paid
to the late Represe ntative John r.
Raker Of California, which is the
largest amount in continental United
States, and $2.07S.80 paid to William
Paul Jarrett of Honolulu. the terri
torial Delegate from Hawaii
There is "rogues' gallery" main
| tanned in connection with this House
bank: The autograp hed photographs
OF all members Of the House are
framed and hung on the walls in the
foyer of the bank. This Is not done
so much for Identification purposes
when a member offers check to be
cashed, because Mr.. Romney knows
each member. but 1t continues what
| has been a custom and institution for
many years.
There are many members of Con
gress who do not know each other by
sight or by name. When some mem
| Der speaks to another on the floor or
| in the corridor, and he doesn't recall
the name, he quite frequently drops
into Mr.. Romney's bank and looks the
photograph gallery over until he finds
| the right one. Most of the members
| of Congress bring visitors in to see
| this gallery, also where they can get
a composite View Of all the members.
* X ~
/ Uncle Sam every once in while
| wakes up and discovers that he Is old
| fashioned in some particular, so he
| modernizes his practice or adopts the
same method as sister nations. The
| latest change is to adopt a new style
Of passport. The State Department is
going to discontinue the engraved
passport now In vogue with the com
| ing of the next fiscal year, and will
issue a passport more in conformity
with the style employed by other gov
ernments. The new passport will be
| in book form printed in Tiffany type.
| Its appearance will he consistent with
| the form now used and better adapt
| ed for Use by travellers. II is estimated
that a saving of $4,000 will be effected
| by this change. Four years ago there
were 124.S44 passports issued. in the
year 1923-24 there were 1879 los, and
in 1s24-25 there were 16s.255. The in
crease during the first six months of
the present fiscal year has been at the
| rate of 900 a month.
The State Department maintains
passport bureaus in New York, San
| francisco. Chicago, Seattle. New Or
leans and Boston The Boston office
was established last year, and this
year is going to exceed the business
of the Chicago office and rank sec
ond only to New York.
Wilbur j. Carr. Assistant Secretary
of State. points to the interesting fea-
ture that much business has been
lifted off the office in Washington
and distributed among these different
offices over the country, and that the
| cost Of that distribution Is borne by
fees which otherwise would go into
the pockets of clerks of courts,
notaries and such persons.
| -
The National Capital is proud of q
number of men who formerly did nOta
| BILE service here and who are now
| distinguishing themselves in the dip
| lomatic service In Latin America.
| IneSe lnCluue w lllldIii Nliici OOliicI
! former president of George Washing
| ton University, and now American
Minister to Chile. Then there are two
able former members of the United
States Senate, Miles Poindexter fot
| Washington, who Is Ambassador to
Peru. and Samuel Fl. Piles. also from
| Washington State, who is Minister to
| Colombia. The press gallery and Ma
tional Press Club are especially proud
| of their representative, Jesse s. Cot
trell. until recently one of the best
| known Washington correspondents,
who is now American Minister to Bo
ivia. Maj. Gen. Enoch II. Crowder
! z. S. A., the American Amba ssador
in Cuba, as an officer of the United
States Army in the first and second