New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-04-18

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ted from the statute book, and so the follow
ing Yves enacted by the same Congress as
clause in an appropriation bill:
"Aucertfcs,es which hsve been T may be granted By
the preceding officers o. the Senate and House Of Repre-
senialvesr spectvey, OF the saount o. compensation due
70 me mon Der, o. the several Houses AID Delegates are
A. ou 10 he deemed held and taken arc are fersby c.
rioys6 p be corcusire upon al the departments and &C.
counting officers OF the United States
Now, the mileage accounts are made up
by members to suit themselves, and are
passed through Committee as a matter
of form, after which they are certified BY
the presiding officer of the House. The
above clause totally exempts these a.
counts from the control of the accounting
officers Of the Treasury, and leaves no bar
rier but conscience between Congressman
and the public money. Of the elasticity
of a Congressional conscience we may
Judge by the constructive mileage opera
ton.
Perhaps some of our readers may imag-
inc that the passage of the accounts through
the Committee may serve as check Or
the love of plumber, and keep Members
within bounds. Here are some interesting
illustrations of the value Of House Com
mittee as accounting officers and intepre-
tiers Of the law.
An appropriation bill of the same ses-
sion contained the following clause with
reference to the mileage of Members from
the Pacific side:
"Prori6ed that the mileage Of The Senators sDd Repre-
senisves from CsifoLs and the Delegate from Oregon
be computed according 10 the most utua travelling roule
within the Limits Of the United sIstes"
In the organic law for the Territory of
Oregon there was, however, provision
that the Delegate should receive $500
for his mileage. And thus, under the
above proviso, while the California Repre-
sentatives were allowed for 1920 miles
S3,432, the Delegate from Oregon got only
$1,000. At the second session of the same
Congress, the laws remaining the same,
the Committee on Mileage chose to regard
the mileage clause of the previous session
as extinct, because it was attached to an
appropriation bill Curiously enough,
however, while they decided that the act
was extinct with reference to two Of the
parties, they considered it still in force
with reference to the Delegate from Ore
con. Regarding the proviso as extinct,
they added to the mileage allowance Of
one of the California Representatives 1868
miles, yielding 81, $50 90, thus reckoning the
distance at 6,853 miles, instead of 1920, as
at the previous session and to the account
of his colleague they added 2,7<3 miles,
making the nice little addition of S2,l78 40,
and giving to these gentlemen by way OF
mileage for a single session, about as much
as the pay of Cabinet Minister. Nor
was this all. Regarding the same proviso
as repeating the organic law of Oregon,
which provided $4,000 as the mileage of
the Delegate, they put him down as hav-
ing travelled 4,3l5 miles, amounting to
S3,452. Another peculiar feature in this
transaction is that the Delegate from Ore
gon is placed on the list as Member, and
is so denominated, and Mr.. Speaker Cobb
certifes to the fact. After this, who will
deny the honesty and capacity of Mile
age Committee of the House Of Repre-
sentatives.
But, say the Committee, and perhaps
their apologists if any should turn up, may
adopt the same course of reasoning, the
proviso regarding the mileage Of Pacific
members was contained in an appropriation
bill, and ceased to have effect along with
the main part of the bill. This is to cor
TESS ignorance of the uniform practice of
the Government, and of host of prece-
dents. Some of our most valuable legisla
ton among the earlier enactments of Con-
gress is contained in precisely such clauses.
That class of acts regulating the pay Of
officers and prohibiting extra comPensa-
ton is mainly to be found in them; and
there is no doubt that every such enact
ment has all the binding force that it could
have if passed in any other manner We
venture to say that had the proper law Of
fcers Of the Treasury had the decision of
this question, the Members from California
and Oregon would not have made such big
"piles" by their valuable services to their
country, but we do not think they would
have lost anything in the public regard,
perhaps not in their own selfrespect.
However, they are not specially to blame
for going with the crowd and doing like
the rest.