The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-12-23


Par or cosokxss. "A foposilkon Aae
been made BY 4 usmbsr " the Se1ofe to IN.
crease the pay Of nemken Of Com rs. 4
strikes us thai. II no opinions Of the peopss
Of the United states are to be consulted on
the subject. such : proposition should be
very promptly and decidedly negatived. II
any change h to be made IN the pay Of mem.
bers Of Congress, Il should be BY way Of re-
duction, and NOT Of increase. What with
eight dollars per diem. and mileage, and per-
qaisites in the way Of books, stationery, &c,
the members Of Congress are very literally
provided for--much beyond their humble
and limited deserts. There is even now .
great disproportion between the amount of
their services and the amount Of their remu-
n, ration. If they were compelled to pay
into the treasury, instead of being paid, eight
dollars per diem, it would hardly compensate
the nation for the loss it sustsins from their
unwise counsels, and the sufferings 1t endures
from being bored to death by their intermin-
able speeches.
Some there are, we doubt not, who are
worth their pay and good deal more, and
whom it would be impossible to remunerate
10 dollars. and cents. But this cannot be pre-
dicated of the majority. If any change is
to be made, let it be such change as viii
induce men to come to Congress from some
more elevated motive than per deu. Let
the pay be reduced to four dollars, and alto
gether stopped during the absence of mem
bers Let mileage emily be allowed for the
shortest and most direct route to the capital.
Let constructive mileage be no longer tole-
rated Let the amount of books and station
cry be limited and the franking privilege
greatly restricted Reform and retrench-
ment of this kind are imperiously demanded
by the American People.
There are some officers of the federal gov
ernment whose salaries ought to be greatly
increased The Cabinet Ministers, and esre
cially the foreign ambassadors, ought to be
better paid The salaries of the latter class
of officials ought to be double the present
amount, SO as to enable them to maintain
suitably the honor and dignity of the country.
We believe in economy, but economy is a
different thing from meanness. None OF our
representatives at the great courts OF Eu-
rope, unless they possess large private for
tunes, are able to make respectable show
among foreign potentates, or to present our
country to the world in any other aspect than
that of a pinched, penurious, poverty. struck
power As to the Cabinet members, we do
not see how upon their scanty stipends they
are able to keep up decent show of respee-
liability in the metropolis as chief officers of
great government.
But, as for Congress, it receives more than
enough already. We are astounded at the
audacity of proposing to give it more.
The WAR SPIRIT-The flippancy and le-
witty with which demagogues, on the stump
and in the press, appeal to :" the war spirit
of the nation on every trivial occasion, are
most lamentable. They who thus endeavor
to excite the popular passions show either
great ignorance or recklessness, perhaps
both, of the teachings of history and the con-
dition of the country. We have enjoyed so
long period of peace, that the men of the
present generation know nothing of war, ex-
cept from their fathers. The contest with
Mexico was carried on in distant land, and
none of its horrors were brought home to our
own doors. We did nothear gun fired, nor
see one field trodden down, nor look upon the
face of our enemy. If we had lived in the
J.,.E 81, baxy 10
something of the state of things which mar
tial orators and writers consider such fine
sport. just and glorious as that war was,
the country was delighted when it was con-
cluded, as was abundantly testified by the
illuminations and public rejoicings with
which the close of the war was hailed
But that war, annoying and perilous as it
was to the people on our Atlantic coast and
the frontiers,would be mere child play COM
pared to what war would be now with any
of the great European powers. The intro
| duction of steam in ocean navigation and in
vessels of war, has brought the old world,
with its immense military establishments, to
our very doors. England can now send
troops across the ocean in one-third Of the
time she occupied in the late war. The ease
with which the allies have transported so, 900
troops to the Crimea, with all the munitions
and equipments of war, shows that distance
does not secure safety in modern warfare.--
Moreover, we have no foftresses like Sebas-
tOpol to resist an enemy when he comes. The.
strongest of our Notifications do not deserve
to be called forts, in comparison with the
strongholds of Russia. Nor have we in our
Navy any vessels which can compete for a
moment with those huge propeller ships of
the line, which can carry one hundred guns
and a thousand men, and steam over the
ocean at the rate oft knots an hour
The policy of our country is pacific poll
cy, and hence we are in no condition to repel
an invasion. In the event of war, our com.
merce would be cut up on every wave, and
our cities and seacoasts be desolated as by a
hurricane. 1t would require years before we
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