Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 158, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1912 — HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A DELEGATE? [ARTICLE]

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A DELEGATE?

Costs a Lot of Honey and Don’t Get a Fellow Anything—Proves Expensive at Baltimore. . This thing of being a delegate to a national convention is apt to prove mighty expensive. It is no job for a poor man. To begin with the delegates sessed something like S2OO each to defray the expenses in the way of convention hall rent, decorations, etc. Then comes the railroad fare, hotel expenses, eto., and assessments for a lot of other things. If the convention happens to hang over a few days there is another assessment for hall rent. Over at Baltimore there is a great amount of financial fatigue as well as mental and physical exhaustion. According to dispatches the city of Baltimore has made a good thing out of the convention. Hotel rates were uniformly raised $1 per day, waiters arid porters scarcely moved without tips and restaurants doubled their prices. Ham sandwiches sold for 15 cents each, penny newspapers for 5 cents each, water for 5 cents a glass. Every time a fellow turned arountf some one expected him to drop a dime for the privilege. It was no wonder the Marshall boomers had enough of the experience at the week end and pulled for Hoosierdom. It is no wonder that those who are left behind are bowling for the convention to close. It is no wonder that the unpaid convention doorkeepers, sergeants-at-arms, etc., are ready to quit and pull for their old homes, where they can take off their standup collars and be “common

folks” 'again. It is no wonder that the telegraph wires have been kept busy between Baltimore and all parts of the country with appeals for more money. Speaking of a convention reflecting the will of the common people when no man can sit in tbe convention who don’t pay at least $250 for the privilege. It looks as though the delegates and a lot of the convention chambermaids, who volunteer their services and pay their own expenses for the love of their party and the distinction of seeing the performances of tbe 1,088 political gymnasts, will get pretty tired of the jobs and return home sadder but wiser and a lot poorer. Many a wife will be denied her summer vacation and many a home will indulge in a lot of economy because “dad” gamboled on the green at Baltimore. - V " ; , <•'