"The Poor You Have Always ..."

Member after member rose in Canada's House of Commons to air a chronic complaint: Parliament is underpaid.

Liberal, Tory and C.C.F. alike went hammer & tongs after Finance Minister James Lorimer Ilsley, who has insisted that M.P.s must pay full income taxes on their $4,000 salaries, refused them exemption for living expenses in Ottawa. Cried Liberal Arthur Roebuck: "Members . . . grow poor in the service of the public." Said Tory Richard Burpee Hanson: "There is no other class in Canada which is making sacrifice of time and of ability and of capability and of money comparable to the sacrifices made by members of this Canadian House of Commons."

Patient, politically wise Minister Ilsley listened sympathetically for almost six hours. Then he raised members' hopes by offering to reconsider the problem, dashed them as quickly by adding: "My present belief is that [a change] should not be made for the present members. ..."

Sadly, the House adjourned.

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