Evening star., 1936-05-23

after the cordially yours"
i that puts the finishing touch to
the many letters they write.
Theirs is the role of the modest
violet, but the l,500 or more secretaries
on Capitol Hill! play an important
part In the political game.
Veteran members are glad to admit
how much they owe to their secre-
taries. But they prefer that the ad-
mission be comparatively private since
too much publicity does not add to a
secretary's value.
Secretaries have made of broken
many member of Congress. Good
ones keep their bosses so popular
back home that reelection seems al
most automatic. One slip in his rela-
tions with his constituents can do
more to harm a Congressman than a
dozen unpopular votes on the floor.
And a small favor, graciously done,
helps lot in washing away hard feel
ing over post offices and such i'm
portant trif1es.
Congress allows the House men,
bers a lump sum of $4,000 for office
help. OF this $4,000 must go to one
person. The remainder can be
divided as the member pleases. Chair
men Of committees receive an sddi-
tional sum for an extra clerk and,
sometimes, other help.
The Senate handles its Office appro-
priation differently. A lump sum is
appropriated and ,pportioned pro
rata. The average member is allowed
one secretary and three clerks. Six
or eight are permitted committee
chairmen.
The average Congressman, all
stories to the contrary, is pretty de-
cent about paying his Office staff.
Some may insist the secretary or
clerk kick back" portion of his
pay, but this is rare. Those who in
dulge in the practice are we'll known
talk.
Wealthy members frequently hire
additional help. Mrs Isabella Green
way, CongreSswoman at large from
Arizona, at times has employed as
many as eight persons in her Office.
Five of these she paid out of her own
pocket. The late Senator Huey Long
at one time had a staff of IS, all
OF whom, incidentally, he kept busy.
HIS Office staff is hired, theo-
retically, by the member shimSelf,
but politicians back home frequently
have a deciding voice in who shall
be the appointees. 1t may be a dis
trict leader or newspaper man who
has been helpful. One-third of the
secretaries on the Hill are recruits from
the fourth estate. Again, they may
be the son or daughter of an influen-
tial citizen in the members home
town. Or, perhaps, some one who has
helped in the campaign, financially
or otherwise.
Since nepotism is not unknown, it
may be the members own son or
daughter. Or his wife may go on the
pay roll as secretary or clerk, just to
keep the money in the family. When
this happens, as rule, less expensive
cOChOS1 RilOA 40 llA Gu w w tllC dCtudl
work. Not always is this the case,
however, since there are q number of
wives on Capitol Hill who really work
at their jobs. Mrs. John Nance
Garner, for example, has been her
husbands secretary ever since they
first came to Washington from Texas
some thirty-odd years ago.
Mrs. Gamers job Is no sinecure,
either, for she works as hard, If not
harder, than any other secretary on
the Hill. just how much Cactus
Jack" owes his missus for his long,
uninterrupted. career in Washington
few realize. She may sit in the office
and knit, but her eyes and ears are
open and there is little that eludes
her.
Representative Simon Hamlin of
Maine Is another member with an
ofhce-wife who knows her politics, and
one who really works at her job.
In defense of nepotism it might be
said that a wife or son can be de-
pended upon to be 100 per cent loyal.
Office secrets have a way of leaking"
If the Office help is unwary. And a
relative, especially member of ones
own family circle, has more reasons
than just his job to keep his mouth
closed.
THE political or personal appointees
are rivaled by the career" man
and woman secretaries who make a
life work out of the business. They
work, during their careers on the
Hill, for dozens of members, spending
their lives under the Capitol dome.
Such one is Mrs. Robert Bourke,
now secretary to Representative
Christopher Sullivan of New York.
Mrs. Bourke came to Washington in
1906 from Tennessee with the late
John Wesley Gaines. She has been at
the House Office Building ever since
and has faithfully and capably served
a half dozen members. 1t may be a
tribute to her ability that her bosses
remain in office almost as long as
they desire. Incidently, Mrs. Bourke
met her husband on Capitol Hill.
II. is secretary to Representative
Isaac Bachrach of New Jersey, and
shares his chiefs Republican faith.
His wife, on the other hand, is an
ardent Democrat. She says:
I'VE never discuss politics except
sometimes at elections and then we
do get a bit excited"
Their Offices in the new House
Office Building are side by side.
Not infrequently a former secre-
tary comes back as a member. Repre-
sentative John j. Cochran of Mis-
souri, records in his biography in the
Congressional Directory that he was:
Secretary to Representatives Will
liam L. Igoe and Harry B. Hawes,
woh represented st. Louis in Congress
for IA years; secretary to the late
Senator william ]. Stone, being with
the Senator at the time of his death;
during the period of his service with
Senator Stone, was secretary of the
Foreign Relations Committee of the
Senate"
Representative Paul j. Kvale was
aarrof ~, - his IA Thar {hn LATE ron,,.