Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-12-04
From the Western American.
Constructive Mileage.

! EfOin litC NCStcIu l1tlGIlLdll.
Constructive Mileage.
We have had occasion as public Jour
nalists, to express the conviction that our
Old Hunker Senators, were governed by
the loaves and fishes of office. and tina,
the leaders of-that party generally, in
Iowa, were "held together by the cohe-
sive power of public plunder." The fact
which we state belpw--of which m,ny
af our readers may be ignorant--is bu.
All additional proof to those already Civ
en-.
Our readers will understand that there
is such thing, known TO the members
of the United States Senate, as coastruc.
fire mileage. And that all may kaow
what is meant by these terms, we viii
explain. A member Of Congress, as is
known, receives eight dollars a .dav dur
ing the session of lha, body, and lie is al-
So allowed eight dollars for every twenty
miles travel in going 10, aud returning
from Washington. This very liberal
compensation was SLOWED at The forma.
lion of the Government, when the labor,
time and expense nf travelling twenty
miles was four times what il is now
And. notwithstanding tie great change in
the mode, expense and rapidly Of travel
ling, no change has been made IN theiaw,
fixing The salary To correspond with it,
But, though reformation in this regard
is greatly needed. yet this is not the
point upon which we now propose to
! write.
III is known, alsn, to our realers. thar
each Congress is of two years DURATION,
and that the last session oil each is neces-
sarily short. as itcannst SET beyond the
4th day Of March. Well, il is further
known, that i. not unfrequsntly happens
that The President feels called upon by
the urgency of the public service and the
public interest, 10 ell an extra session Of
the Senators on the 4th of March, before
they ledUe Washington, to remain in
Washington a few days, to ad.ise, ron
sent, &c., to few appointments. public
measures OF importance, &c. Last 4th
of March such an extra session was con-
vened. None of the Senators, Of course.
left the City. but twenty FIVE OF them just
imagined that they had made the jour
ney TO their homes and back, pocketed
their eight dollars for every twenty miles
Of the distance. And Ibis is what they
/ call constructive mileage. Dodge and
Jones were two OF the twenty fi,e who
thus construed the peoples money into
! their pockets! Dodge fohbed FOUR
TEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY
4 DOLLARS, and Jones SIXTEEN
| HUNDRED DOLLARS.!, Yes, our
very patriotic, economical Senators were
paidupxaras Of THREE THOUSAND
dollars of the peoples money for walk
I ing from The Senate Chamber 10 their
boarding houses in Washington City
i And yet these men talk of economy! The
whole amount drawn from the National
Treasury, at the same time. for this i'm.
aginary travelling. between The 3D. and
! 4ih of March last. by these twenty-five
| Senators was THIRTY-FIV THOU
SAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND
/ NINETY DOLLARS AND EIGHTY
CENTS!! OF the twenty-five Senators
who pocketed this large sum from the
Treasury, three were Wings and twenty-
two were Locoiocos and Free Snilsrs.
Now, we have plain question TO ask,
and we would PROFOUND TITO the tax pay
ers--the producers anu consumers, the
farmers, mechanics and other laborcrs Of
Old Van Buren--in all sincerity: Which,
/ is the most cnlisled 10 ycur confidence
and regard, Dodge and Jones, who thus
c0astrue money out Of your pockets in
to their own, without even the pretense
! that they ever earned il. or those who
expose and denounce them to you!
The truth is,.n that the people have
not light, but that they are too confding
and too much welded To mere parlizan
leaders. They will thus permit them
selves to be used by unprinciplcd dema-
gogues, who make poliiics trade, and
who manage TO live .lthon, labor. We
venture the assertion that there is not a
devotee Of Dodge or Jones in the Stale of
Iowa, who would ever vote fnr them a.
gain, for any Office, if they were TO con-
strue one.haIf the sum Of money out of
his pocket, that they have taken out Of the
National Treasury, and for which they
never rendered one farthing's equivalent,
in either time, or anything else. Think
Of these things.
Illinois River Convention.
a