Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1823-12-11
10 IS cents Per mile, and moved tina, the
L.

anu Sttahy enhancing tue expenses at the
House. result AS it did durng the las, session
He expected that the minds of ia. members
,-rr IT, fully made up now rs they would he.
a "ny Subsequent time, aud hoped il ould
he disposed of AT once. Every thiug that cnuI,l
he said on The subject, had been said last VIM
ter, AID through the public papers had hren
made known Ia the people. Yet h- %, iirvrti
they were satisfied with In. present aIlowan-
ccs. He spoke. however, particularly in ie-
ference 10 th, people uf his unn county.
|. Mr.. Rutke,jord said, that AS il might per.
haps be the on.y time that members would
have an opportunity al recording their votes
oni the subject, he called fur the 0yes and nocs.
Mr. BlacSbmFn was Ia favor Of ,niin. the
subject out uf the House al once. fl. was
not here last year, but the proceedings Of the
Legislature in rrlaiiun To it were nuscd all
over the state, ani The people were fully in
formed of what occurred, and they did not
seem To have felt much interest in the SUCCESS
of the measure. II had heard nf 40 other
petition but the present, and hr hoped. there
was none other. Notwithstanding all which
mad heen said about reducing the pay Of the
members, he believed no instructions had
been given by the people To vote for such a
measure. He had been mcmher several ses-
SONS VIXEN the subject was asiiaied, aud his
course had been always uniform. He had
Thought the subject one of delicucy in which
me members ought not To he the first To move
In courts of justice men were excluded from
giving testimony where they are any way in
.ercsted, and il could not be said that Mem
bers of the Legislature were not interest.
ed IN the reduction of their own wages. Last
year after Spending about S Ia. 900 on its dis
cnssIon, the Legislature had left the subject
exactly where they found it-and il it was
no" entered into, il would operate as an in
crease OF expenditure, instead of reduction.
de concluded by hoping that gentlemen would
dispose OF the petition in short way the
call for the ayes and noes 10 the contrary not
withstanding.
Mr.. Parker had stood upon that floor the
last year, the advocate for retrenchment, and
mad voted consistently throughout, and had
regretted as sincerely as any on-, the want of
unanlmlty between the two houses. AS econo-
tH'sts OF time and ut money, he thought thu
house ought To- do AT once w hat it intended to
DO. liz concurred in the views taken by Mr.
Blackburn. And believing that after Q Or 10
days more spent on the question it would be
hnai'y lost, and thinking that by rejecting il at
once, II would be saving of money and of
time, he should vote against the reference.
MIR. Burton was opposed to Il reference Of
the petition. He was the advocate of IA lust
and iair. but not an exravagant compensation
10 members. He represented. one Of the larg-
est and mnsi respectable and libpral-miDded
counties IN the state, who paid not less than
10000 of the public revenue, and he had
heard NJ complaints among his constituents
si Inc extravaganza of the ply of the L-gis-
lure. lie did mot believe that the people were
unwilling To- allow their representatives suf-
ficIent compensation Ia enable them 10 live
and respectfully
Mr. IufhlR. in rpDIv IN fbp rppaart, h,t
there was no petition from any other county,
SAID he had been charged with one from the
county he had the honor To- represent, which
M begged leave Ia offer to the consideration
OF the H"use.-(The petition was recpivpd.l
nv. Sc zion said hr had i; in special charge
from ms constituents, Ia vote against any such
proposition as the reduction of the pay of the
Members of Assembly. He hoped the House
mad nerve enough promptly to reject the pc
titlon, and go on with the Other business.
Mr.. Parker asked if II maturity of the free
holders oi the county had signed the petit
lions? And,
Mr. Tdtum replied, that he could not saw
whether IA majority Of the freehuiders had ac-
tually signed the petition or not but he Eel,
authorized TO say, that there was a majority
in favor af its prayer
Mr.. Briggs conquered in the propriety and
economy of dispensing of The subject AT once.
The amount expended on The subject las,
year, he thought exceeded the amount of the
proposed reduction. He believed that no he
norable man in the community would expect
MS representative 10 incur any individual TX
pense IN the service of the public, or in order
10 avoid u, take up his board in house Of in
ferior character and accommodations The
people at MS county were against reduction,
BECAUSE they wished their representatives sup.
I,lx, Z, a
that there %as shutting between that House
and the Senate last winter on this subject. aud
the bill had been lost in an Indirect mod,. be-
tween 'fhe two houses, he hoped the subject
would he now taken up and decided prompt
~ openly md Independently.
Mr.. Holland remarked that in presenting
the peiiiion, he acted in pursuance 0f his in
sfrncflons. and should vote for its reference
II every other member voted against it.
MI. .Hcyse had voted for rtirenchmcnt last
year, UPON the superstition that il was the v i'll
al his constituents. But he had found his vote
had been disapproved Of by them. They did
not instruct him then, nor had they done SO
now aud "a there was no reduction in The ex-
penses eI living since the last winter, he should
vote against the measure.
Mr. GrGres said he had always voted for
refrenchmrnt, and should still do so. 1t was
MOI the saving 1T one session which was the
Indhcement. IT the wages were reduced. hp
did not think they would again he raised in he
HE time of any member prespnt--and the
saving would he an annual one fpr series Of
years. lie commended that as only SIG and some
odd cents had caused The loss Of the bill last
year, and ihs impression had gone abroad
That this house was not siacere ia its vote il
b"camr The more necessary that the subject
should be now taken up ard acted upon deci-
slv"ly aud unequivocally He remarked upon
III" lmp"licy Of making the compensation in
WAGES of public trust such as to create de-
sire 10 hold them for pecunary considerations