Evening star., 1945-02-25
The Case for the Congressman
MIR Maverick Tells Why Raise Is Needed

Members Of the House and Senate
should receive an increase in salary
because the present $4,000 per year is
insufficient to meet the demands made
upon them during the course OF each
year.
Many figures have been suggested,
running from the $12,500 provided in
pending legislation up to $2500O. After
considerable study, believe that $4,000
would be about right, though I favor
| $17,5O0 Perhaps compromise might
be reached at $4,000, half way between
the $17,5Oo figure and the s12,50O in the
bill now before the House.
Certainly the American people do not
want their Congressman to live on less
than they should receive, any more
than they want worker to receive less
than he can live on, and do his work
| in ordinary human decency. There are
a great many reasons for this. In this
article shall discuss the cost of living
| facts.
| would suggest this to Congress: That
it treat its members at least as we'll as
civil service employees. At the present
time this is not done. Congress should
| have travel books and per diem ex-
| penses to 60 where you need to go on
official business-al Of which I have,
as a civil service employe. 1t should
have stenographic pools, mimeograph
and multigraph divisions, the right to
use long distance telephones and mod
ern administrative organization such as
is authorized for, and required of, every
body else In the Government. Yes, all
! of these facilities and more are given
to Government employees, but are denied
to Congress.
congressman at Disadvantage.
This impedes congressional work; the
absence of these facilities puts Congress
men at a personal disadvantage. Like
wise, if Congress gave itself the same
| facilities as it does Government en-
ployes. it could give the public better
service. am frank to say that Govern
| ment employees would not work under
the disadvantages now suffered by Con-
| gressmen.
| Do the heads of business corporations
deny themselves good salaries? Ger
tainly not. Do they deny themselves
| travel pay, expenses, monographs and
Office machinery? No. Do they grant
the workers in the factory more rights
than they do themselves, including PEN
sipns? Not that I have heard Of
AS for pensions, think it ridiculous
hot
pension. 1 can point out men in Con-
gress who have served 20 or 80 years
and who have nothing to fall back on.
have seen many men who have actual
ly died in Congress who have left moth
ing to their widows.
A Supreme Court judge, by congress
sional enactment, draws $40 900, which is
$4,000 more than Congressman. (The
Chief Justice receives s20,50o) Such a
judge has a job for life Instead of
election expenses and hard campaign
ing, he has substantial vacation. In
stead Of rushing to his ONCE and seeing
many callers, he can take his time.
This is no criticism of the judiciary, nor
of Congress, which. by its votes, created
this condition-and as a result the
judges live an average Of IA years more
than Congressman.
The job of Congressman has its trag-
edies and its comedies. As a former
Congressman, I know very well what I
am talking about. A Congressman ar
rives at his Office in the morning. and
people are out in the hall to head him
/ off and see him before he reaches his
office. He must not and should not
/ insult people, so sometimes he has to
| stand talking in the hall to several
people for half hour or more before
he can get In to his own Office. He tries
to slip in, but there are people who must
catch train and see him at once, or
his visitors must have appointments
made Immediately. He rarely gets to
read his mail in the morning before
he rushes to the House at IL o'clock
noon. ,
Beset by Callers.
When he arrives at the House there
are usually people waiting on the out
side who want to talk to him; he does
not know whether they are constituents
or whether they are lobbyists or whether
they have some new plan to save the
world. He is then called to the tele-
phone several times These are local
calls, as well as long distance. During
the day he will get an average of from
two to five long distance calls, many of
them lengthy, complicated and dificult
to understand. He must depend on
his memory and notes taken in a phone
booth-his constituents won't talk to
his secretary, who is hired for such Jobs
i and can take good notes. After this
telephone downtown who may be a
Government official but who is Gin con-
ference" Then the Congressman prob
ably gets in debate and never gets the
Government official The Congressman
sometimes takes his constituents down
to lunch while his wife is taking the
wife of the constituent out
1t is easy enough to say that Con-
gresham should lead the life of her.
NIT and not waste his time on politics
or entertainment. It is easy to say he
should ignore his visiting constituents
But, according to common ordinary
courtesy, and good business-not poll
tics-a Congressman must see his con-
stituents And I conclude he ought to
get enough leeway to buy their lunch
If he doesn't, the constituent goes back
and says he's too tight to spend six bits