US Presidency
1875

The salary of Congressmen under the Constitution was first fixed at $ 6 per day for the time actually in session- an average of about one hundred and twenty days to each session or $ 720 per year, or less than one-thirtieth of the salary of the President. Congress have legislated upon their own salaries from time to time since, until finally it reached $ 5,000 per annum, or one-fifth that of the President, before the salary of the latter was increased. No one having a knowledge of the cost of living at the national capital will contend that the present salary of Congressmen is too high, unless it is the intention to make the office one entirely of honor, when the salary should be abolished a proposition repugnant to our republican ideas and institutions. I do not believe the citizens of this Republic desire their public servants to serve them without a fair compensation for their services. Twenty-five thousand dollars does not defray the expenses of the Executive for one year, or has not in my experience.