Show CONGRESSMEN AND PASSES A Washington correspondent notes that a movement Is on foot in Congress looking to the investigation of the matter of the acceptance of railroad passes by members with the view to putting a stop to the practice or at least of cutting ofT the mileage allowance allow-ance of those Representatives and Senators who travel on passes It is said that the House committee on Accounts and Mileage will probably be instructed to inquire into the subject and report the result of their investiga lion together with a recommendation in the premises It will hardly be overstating the facts to say that fully two thirds of the 401 men composing the Senate and House of Representatives ride to and from the Capital on free passes not only this but numerous members of their families ride free and in many instances courtesies are accepted from roads in various parts of the country annual passes n being held over many lines which the Congressmen never see Though using these passes no member fails to draw his mileage which is 20 cents a mile for one round trip for each session or three or four times the actual cost of i traveling including the price of sleeping sleep-ing car berths There is a double abuse in this Hallway companies are not in the habit of giving something some-thing for nothing they issue passes to Fersons who can reciprocate re-ciprocate in the way of favors and they expect a mutual exchange of benefits ben-efits They do not give passes to Congressmen Con-gressmen because they love the latter but because they may at some time want to call on the Congressman for favors in return The other evil is that theCongressman who travels on a pass is paid out of the treasury money to which he is not honestly entitled The mileage mile-age is not given him for his benefit but in order that he may not be put to an expense for traveling which the whole Country should pay The way to lure the evil is to place Congressmen on the same footing as I government officers who are not allowed al-lowed mileage hut are required to render j ren-der under oath accounts of their necessary expenses accompanied by vouchers when the latter can be had If this rule were adopted only through perjury could the member of Congress collect more than was justly due him if railways then wanted to extend courtesies the public and not the individual would get the benefit of them It ought to be no more a hardship hard-ship for a Representative or a Senator to make out an account for his traveling travel-ing expenses and swear to it than for the clerk sergeantat arms or other official who must do so before he can getJmbney from the treasury e = |