PAYMENT OF. LEMBERS OF PAR,LIAMENT.
[To THE EDITOR OF TEE "SPECTATOR.1 Sin,—I am delighted to observe your statement in last week's, issue that if Members of Parliament are to be paid for their• services, such payment should be made, not by the State, but by the constituencies. With you, I greatly deplore the Reso- lution of the House of Commons last week. I agree with your correspondent, Mr. Gardner, that the democratic spirit now prevailing will sooner or later force payment of Members of Parliament; but if this comes about, the constituency which prefers to elect a man requiring payment, instead of one who does not, ought to bear the burden of expense. If that were the case, there would be much less likelihood of professional politicians—men who make a living by the profession of politics—being returned to Parliament. You are, perhaps, hot aware of the extent to which professional politicians have already secured pecuniary advantage by their membership of local bodies, such as Town Councils. These men are not only paid by their Unions for all the time lost from work when they attend Council and Committee meetings (and it pays a man very well to be off work for half, or even a quarter, of a day to attend a meeting of one or two hours' duration), but they get considerable benefit by being placed on deputations to other towns, and receiving allowances far in excess of what they would earn at their trades or receive from their Unions. Many of these deputation-journeys are quite unnecessary,—they are holidays to a large extent. In the same way, when a Labour Councillor is placed on a Com- mittee of an institution at a distance from his own town the allowances made from the Corporation purse leave him a con- siderable surplus after paying his expenses. It is not to be wondered at that some Labour Councillors have found it more profitable to give up all manual labour, and in a considerable degree to support themselves by such means as I have above indicated. And as Labour is so pushing just now, I fear the practice complained of will increase,—much, as I think, to the
public detriment. —I am, Sir, &c., W.
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