Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-04-30

,iZc tf,s siinti-le tilnt those via s-e taken
| lick whist in the public employ shnu!9 h., sip-
nor,rd as though in health. II was hard T.
,ongl', he said for man who isi,, the service
-! the country 10 he taken sick, and snIir the
| PAINS of sickness, without bcinSosliScd to pay
;he cost nj iiort ri his private purse. Mr.. NJ.
said, that, when farnrrly in Congress, he Ind
been member of the CumnDittenot Accounts,
before whom all the accounts <,i the members
pass IN review He never bad known. during
the years he served in ih;rt ciri,acit,. "A single
instance of amy man demanding pay for any
portion of tisnc that be had been conlned ut
homc'hy sickness and he Sever heard of snch
Il thing until 1T WAS suggested this morning by
the gentleman from kentpcky. Re.cauld nut
believe that such case ever did exist. Sure
he was, that, during the time he WAS nsem-
Der of the Committee of Accounts, no such
thing did occur.
The question on Mr.. EDWARDS molten
was then determined in the affirmative.
Mr.. WRIGHT moved tn amend the bill 81 Us
To reduce the mileage from ST for every TWEEN
~ miles travelling 10 So Far every ior,y miles {;
and made number of observations IN support
of the motion.
Mr.. FLoYD, after expressing his geEcr;A
views favorable Ia this hill as the fnundatisn
vi system of reircnchr;ent Of expenses,
objected to the proposed reduction Of the nil
cage. Those vino travelled Gar on horseback
could not perform Il long journey at the RAE
of forty miles dsy, unless happily blessed
with the constitution and vigor of the gentle
man from Maryland For those wba had no.
thing la do hut to throw themselves on board
steam boat and go In sleep, to he surr the
proposed allowance might be- sufficient, but it
was very differently in regard To those who ira
vel hy hard journeys from the interior. .
Mr.. SMITH, of Maryland said he always
had thought the mileage too high and pro-
posed 10 his colleague to move thirty instead
of forty miles, as he had proposed, for So
This modification was accepted by Mr.Hrgh.
Mr.. HARDIN said, il was not The object of
the Committee of Retrenchmcn. 10 pull down
the established order of things, but to reduce
them, in consequence of the straiened linan-
ces of the country, tn what they were eight or
ten years ago. He was therefore opposed to
this motion ; and he called upon gentlemen
not To be led away by the motion of the gen
ileman from Maryland who was, as far rs he
could collect his views, opposed to the whole
system of retreAchment. He did verify he
ieve, he srid, that nothing could save the ma
ton from direct taxation hut Il retrenchncni
of the public expenses, and that the members
OF the House ought, in setting about il, To be-
gin with themselves. He WAS therefore OPP
posed To any amendment which might, like
this, have tendency TO defeat the bill.
Mr.. Mason of Va said that, though the
House had refused to sanction The previous
question, it seemed that it was To he imposed
in effect by the ceurse which he had indicated.
No amendment was 10 be allowed Ia the hill ::
aud no objection was tn be heard tn it, because
gentlemen were opposed 10 it in principle
Now, Mr.. n. said, To shew that he was ms
friendly to retrenchment as the gentleman
from Kentucky, he now gave neticc that he
should move an amendment to the bin. which
he was s,mprized the gentleman himself had
not Incorporated in it, TO make this hill take
elect from the commencement Of this Con-
gress.
Mr. BALDWIN wished distinctly to know
on what principles the present hill WAS pre-
senied To the house. Ii was said Ivy The gen
tieman from Kentucky tea be part oi the $ys
tenn ofrctrenchment called for by the state of
the finances Of the country rs presented by
his committee. Mr.. 3. wished 20 know from
other gentlemen whether they had any other
system ofrevenue to present, that The house
might, by comparison OF different views,
know whether this retrenchnent uss neces-
sary. Ihr Speaker required Mr.. y. IN con
I'M" himself 10 the amendment. Mr.. b. then
asked, Further, whether il was the intention Of
gentlemen tn establish, for the first time, a
distinction between the mileage ard daily pay
ofthe members. Was The mileage predicatpti
upon the actual expenses incurred on the road?
Were eight dollars per day now allowed he
cause members were supposed To cxpcnd that
much Not so, but on the principle of allow
ing for time consumed as well as for rxprn-
ses incurred. Mr.. b. compared this allowance
with what'was made tn officers of the army,
W I'm clan.u fI,,t "a Ia 4
proposed.
Mr.. SMITE of Md. was i'm favor of This re
duc.ion, that the compensation To members
might, III some degree, he cqrializcd. Under
the present system, the gentleman from Ken
lucky Mr.. Harding got. in session of 90 days,
Tor MS pay and mileage, four hundred dollars
more, at six dollars per day, than he (Mr
Smith) would receive at eight dollars per
day.
Mr.. SERGEANT assigned the reason why he
was opposed to the amendment He went
upon the ground that the original principle.
upon which the pay and mileage were fixed
AT the same rate, WAS, that the allowance for
mileage should bear the same relation to the
expenses of travelling, that the daily pay did
to the expenses of living here. In speaking 10
TINS point, Mr.. ). said il was one which in no
manner concerned him personally; but he
-, u !" "e Settfeu OH JuSl principles.
The question on amending the bin so as to
reduce the allowance to Members for mileage
to SIX dollars for every thirty miles travelling,
was then taken and decided, yeas 80, nays n.
SO the amendment WAS agreed to.
Mr.. FLOYD then moved To amend the bill
SO as to postpone its operation to the first day
OF July next
On this motion desljtory debate took
place, occasionally verging on the main prin-
cIple of the bN and incidentally involving the
question whether or not the proposed reduc-
ton was violation uf the cnntrIct under
which the rnnnnLnrc h.r.. ..Lln..L.L E.. .-I...L.