Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-14

costly Senator William Z. Borah or
Idaho has declined to accept the $4,000
increase in pay voted by Congress
two years ago. He was opposed to
voting the increase. He moved to re-
consider the vote by which 1t passed
the Senate. But his colleagues did not
give him a vote on the question. The
increase went through without a rec
ord vote in either house of Congress.
Senator Borah will be dubbed
quixotic in many quarters. But it is
impossible to withhold from the Idaho
Senator a need of admiration for his
f1rmness in the course which he advo-
Gated. All the more so because Sena-
has made no parade of his position.
In fact, he has jealously guarded the
secret OF his return of $4,000 a year
to the Treasury. How different from
those who make virtue of their
self.denial and smugly tell the world!
There lis a nice question whether
legislative body should increase the
pay of It's own members and the mem
bers' should benefit by the increase
voted during their terms of office.
Senator Borah answers the question,
for himself, in the negative. He has
stuck to his decision. His attitude
has been that If reelected in 1882.
when his constituents will be fully
aware of the salary increase, he may
then accept it, But until the people
he represents have elected him to fill
$4,000 job instead of $500 job
he will stick to the latter.
No one can increase the pay of Con.
gress except Congress itself. But Con-
gress might with considerable pro-
priety have voted, as Senator Borah
doubtless would have considered more
justifiable, an increase of pay to be-
gin with the new term of Office. Un-
fortunately this might have worked
a seeming injustice in the case Of
Senators. One.third of the Senate Is
elected every two years. 1t would
scarcely seem fair to pay one
Senator from New York $4,000 and
his colleague only $500. But that
situation would have arisen had such
a plan been followed. So far as the
House Is concerned, the problem would
have presented no such difficulty. The
entire House goes out of office on the
same day, and the new House comes
in as a whole Immediately thereafter.
The pay of the national legislators
in this country far exceeds the pay of
any similar body of men the world
over. In Great Britain members of
the House of Commons receive in the
neighborhood Of 81, 900 a year. A Sen
ator or a Representative in this coun-
try would consider himself hardly
used IL he were offered such stipend.
The lower salary has at once its ad-
vantages and its disadvantages. II
the salary be high enough to become
a real consideration, the Office becomes
a real job To be reelected a member
may sacrifice his best judgment on
public questions in order to make
votes for himself. On the other hand,
it might happen that with small
salary allowance many men of ability
and integrity, but of moderate means.
might find it impossible to become
candidates for Senator or Representa-
tive and the country be the loser
thereby. To open the lists only to
men of wealth would be detrimental
to the country.
Judging from his popularity with
the voters of Idaho in the past, the
people of his State would be perfectly
willing to elect Mr.. Borah to the Sen
ate at salary of $4,000, or even
SIS 900 or $4,000 year. It might
not be anliss for his constituents to.
day to adopt some method of inform
ing him of their desires in this regard.
Before the Senate adjourned recent.
Iy Senator Borah had the novel ex.
perience Of being twitted by Senator
Hefiin of Alabama as a man who pro.
tested against the salary increase in
public and hurriedly gathered 1t In
after the increase had been voted.
How many men in the Senate, or out,
could have sat silent and smiled, as
Mr.. Borah did, under such circum-
stances? How many could have denied
themselves the opportunity to an
nounce, dramatically, that they had
refused the money?
--S-~N1e-S