The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902, December 27, 1900, Image 1
Che Conservative. b VOL. III. NEBRASKA CITY , NEB. , THURSDAY , DEC 27 , 1900. NO 25. "PUBLISHED WEEKLY. OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK. J. STERLING MORTON , EDITOR. A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE DI80UB8ION Of POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. CIRCULATION THIS WEEK 9,630 COPIES , TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. One dollar and a half per year , in advance , postpaid , to any part of the United States or Canada. Remittances made payable to The Morton Printing Company. Address , THE CONSERVATIVE , Nebraska City , Neb. Advertising Rates made known upon appli cation. Entered at the postoffice at Nebraska City Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 29th , 1898. Relative to the . onemmdedness of the only living ex-presidents upon the relations of the Philippines and other insular acquisitions , there is general re joicing among patriotic Americans. Mr. Cleveland has expressed warm approval of the noteworthy address of Mr. Harrison delivered at Ann Arbor , calling it the best deliverance yet made on the subject , and recommending it as a means of enlightenment for "those who desire to acquaint themselves with the precise question involved , and what territorial expansion means to our reV - V public and with what it threatens our | S people. " { And concerning this oneness of opin ion the Chicago Record remarks : "Supporting opposite views on many national policies , as they have done as representatives of democracy and republicanism , respectively , Mr. Cleve land and Mr. Harrison yet come together on this most important of issues. Such agreement , if it had been made known before the election , might have had a startling influence on the result. " And the result which that "startling influence" might have brought about might have been more "startling" than any influence yet felt by this republic. The two ex-presidents evidently agreed as to a "result" which would have proved disastrous , and so held their peace until that calamitous "result" had been safely averted. Neither of the ex- presidents denounced the gold standard , the writ of injunction and the right of the federal government to defend its own life with its own troops. CONGKESSAND ITS EXPENSES.6XlBtH tw ° Each has a "long" and a "short" session. The latter , like the former , beginning in December , ends , by law , at noon on the 4th of March. Each senator , representative and territorial delegate has a yearly salary , _ , , payable monthly , Salaries. . . . . , of five thousand dollars a year. Thus each thirty days is drawn four hundred and sixteen dollars. The president pro tern of the senate and the speaker of the house , however , each gets three More Pay. , , , , thousand dollars a year more than the regular salary , thus paying them the same as cabinet officers eight thousand dollars for twelve months incumbency. Beside direct salary , each senator and member of the house is allowed twenty cents for each mile Mileage. . , , . . traveled going to and returning from sessions of congress and also one hundred and twenty-five dollars a year for stationery , postage and newspapers. Congressmen whose terms begin March preceding the December session are permitted to Commission. , . . . . draw three thous and dollars , if they have taken the otah of office , before they have rendered any service. When congress is not in session members are paid by warrants on the sub-treasury nearest their residence. During sessions they get currency direct from the sergeant-at-arms. The United States senate and house of representatives cost the people four millions of dollars Aggregate Cost. & Senators' salaries and mileages com bined come to four hundred and sixty- four thousand dollars. The pay and mileage of the house mem bers each year are one million three hundred and forty thousand dollars. Reporting the proceedings of con gress cost ? sixty thousand dollars a year. Stationery and newspapers take eighty thousand dollars per annum. Fuel , heat and light for the capitol aggregate twenty-five thousand and the police force thirty- Keep \Varm. * , , , , five thousand dollars lars each year to keep them warm and unharmed. And in the same period thirty five thousand dollars is paid out for folding documents and thirty thous and dollars for furniture and repairs. Besides these items there is a fat round sum each year for the ' miscellaneous expenses" of congress. The prayer-maker for each honorable body receives the same pay. Thus 'the chaplain of the PrnyorH. senate and the chaplain of the house are salaried at nine hundred dollars a year. Neither of them can see the men for whom they offer petitions to the Deity , for both are blind. Sometimes it seems that the blind are leading the blind. The secretary of the senate gets five thousand , the sergeant-at-arms and the head doorkeeper Keeping Records. each receive forty- three hundred , and there are seven minor clerks who each receive from twenty-five hundred to three thousand dollars a year , and then comes a senate postmaster and a librarian and a keeper of stationery who also get succulent salaries. The chief clerk of the house gets forty-five hundred dollars a year and he has a force of nine House Clerks. clerks immediately under his orders who , altogether , draw each year twenty thousand dollars. These are part of the expenses of the congress of the United States and THE CONSERVATIVE will continue didactic articles along these lines , from time to time. The rank and HANK AND FILE. file of the voting men of the United States can never be counted safely patriotic until they have been taught their obligations under the constitution and made to understand that citizenship , besides conferring privi leges , also imposes duties. No matter how logically and lucidly questions of economic concern or governmental policy are debated by scholarsand statesmen , if , after the discussion ( cussion is concluded , they are decided by the ballots of ignorance and vice. The "rank and file" too often depend upon unprincipled leaders for opinions , and when they do not do that they frequently mistake prejudice for judg ment and passion fo r patriotism. How many of the fourteen millions of ballots cast November 6 , 1900 , repre sented the study , thought and patriotic intention of intelligent , well-educated members of "the rank and file ? "