By Their Own Bootstraps

Seldom before had a session of the House of Commons been marked with such quiet expectancy. Like schoolboys ranged in ranks before the headmaster on Prize Day, the members sat, knowing perfectly well what was coming (it had been discussed in smoking rooms and pubs for weeks), but still eager to have the official word spoken. At last, in a lengthy statement uninterrupted by a single sound, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told them what they had all been waiting to hear: every member was to get a raise in pay.

It had been a long, hard pull. Since 1953, when a parliamentary committee showed that every M.P. spent an average of three-quarters of his meager $2,800 yearly salary on expenses (using whatever space was available in lounge or restaurant for an office), it had been obvious to all that Britain's legislators were grossly underpaid. The pay scale of M.P.s was determined originally on the theory that they were gentlemen of means--as they originally were, before laboring men (some of whom now get supplementary pay from unions) and poorer Tories came to dominate the House.

But raising one's own salary in the face of government efforts to refuse all pay raises as inflationary is a risky business for any elected politician. Last week, as Macmillan announced the details of the new pay scale worked out by both parties ($4,900 yearly base pay and expenses for all M.P.s*), one diehard Liberal gruffed sternly that it would be better "if in future the government does not pursue policies which lead to a devaluation of money." Ignoring this jarring note, Macmillan remarked that he hoped Opposition Leader Hugh Gaitskell would live "to enjoy this slight addition to his salary for very many years to come." Just as chummily, Gaitskell, who hopes to trade places with Macmillan some day, replied: "I cannot forbear from reminding the Prime Minister of his great interest in the salary of the Leader of the Opposition."

*U.S. Congressmen receive $22,500 annually, have franking privileges plus generous allowances for stationery, office expenses, clerks' salaries, and one trip home each year.

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