The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1938-12-22
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WASHING ! ON

neW-elected Senators and men,
bers of the House of Representa-
tives have been fiocking into
Washington to make their ar
rangemerts for the session which
begins On January third. They
have occupied themselves with
arranging for living quarters for
. themselves and their families, IT
any, and putting in their applica-
tions for particular offices they
desire, which are about to be va
Gated by members who were not
reelected.
To most of these newcomers
atmosphere of. Washington is not
entirely unfamiliar, but for many
it is the first experience of being
on the inside loking out instead
of on the outside looking in.
Naturally, they have been max
ing inquiries as to what there is
in their new jobs, besides the
glory of being in Congress and
the task of taking hand in shap-
ing the Nations laws. What they
have learned about the money
value of their jobs has frankly
surprised some of them. Few
persons outside of Congress real
ize what a comfortable position,
financially, Senators and Repre-
sentatives occupy.
There is the salary, to start
with; $4,000 a year for each
member of each House.
20 Cents for Mileage
Then there is the mileage. Ev-
cry Senator and Representative is
entitled to draw 20 cents a mile
for the distance from home to
Washington, when the session be-
gins, and back home again when
the session ends.
For a member from Maryland
or Virginia, who can get to Wash
ington in an hour or two, the
mileage is not a big item; but
member from California gets
around $1,000 each session, while
his railroad fare, including
Pullman lower berth, runs to less
than $500, making a thousand
dollars clear profit. He draws
his mileage whether he goes
home between sessions or not.
Then comes the item of clerk
hire. Each Senator is allowed to
hire four clerks and I'm Gle
Sam allows him $10,320 a
year for that service. The only
restriction is that he may not
call on the Government to pay his
secretary or any other clerk
more than $4,000 a year-$75
week. Of course, he can pay as
much more as he wants to out of
his own pocket, and there are
instances of wealthy Senators
who turn over their own salaries
to their secretaries. Most of
them are more thrifty, however.
There is no restriction upon
whom a Senator or Representa-
tive may employ, so many of
them put their wives on the pay
rolls as their secretaries and
sometimes their sons or daught-
ers as clerk, thus keeping the
money in the family.
Vice-President Gamers official
secretary for many years has
been Mrs. Garner, and it is only
fair to say that in the opinion
of those who know she does
magnificent job of managing the
work of the Vice-President's Of
flee, as she did when he was a
Representative in the lower
House.
Members of the House of Rep
resentatives get only $4,000 an
nual allowance for clerk hire,
with the same limitation of $3,-
900 as the top salary officially
paid to secretary.
Postage Is Free
Then there is free postage. Sen
ators and Representatives have
the Thanking privilege" They
They can send letters or any 9TH
er sort of mail matter anywhere
without using stamps.
Another source of revenue for
the thrifty Senator or Represen-
tative is the stationery allowance
of $125 a year. A member can
use up his allowance in carbon
paper, rubber bands, erasers and
typewriter ribbons, if he wants
to; or he need not use any sta
tionary at all, in which case he
can draw the full allowance in
cash.
Then each member has his own
suite of private Offices in the
handsome marble buildings ad-
jacent to the capital. The Offices
are all large and extensively
furnished in solid mahogany and
are not cnairmen of committees