The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1866-08-16
From the y. Y. Tri5use.
C0aoeess and its PAY.

Congress did a very unwise, selfish,
eowarsaly, unprincipled act, in inereas
ing its own pay at the close of the late
session We say unwi>e.s because there
are pot five men ia the two Houses who
would have dared, wlfea candidates fer ;
their present positions, to declare that,
If elected, they would seek and vote TO
raise their own pay from $4,000 TO slo,- +
o0Q each per Congress. II was selfish;
for the members must have known that
IN so acting and sosiag. they sese eIls y.
barrassing aud damaging the pnbIlc
cause which they profess to have at heart
in their greedy lust of private gain. 1t
was unprincipfed; for functicnaries in
trusted with power over their own recon-
pense should therein set an example of
moderation, in order that they may be in
position TO resist sternly and efficiently
the repacity of other would be leeches
on the body polite 1t was eowardly;
for they did net venture TO enact this in
crease of pay in distinct bill, and let
the Yeas and Nays be taken and record
ed thereon, bat sneaked it into the tail
end of an appropriation bill, and juggled
it through by the machinery of a Confer
encc Committee, after the House had yo-
ted it down bv 125 to three 1t was a
very mean performance. and we hope to
see il repealed at the next session. 1t
will be. if the People will only take the
matter in hand and ask every candidate
for the next Congress, ''Sir, will you vote
20 put the pay OF Members back to So
900 per annum, and have all Mileage
charged by the most direct mail reuter-
Even if an increase of pay had been
+ iust--as it is not---the bill should have
provided that every Member absent from
his seat should forfeit at least SO per
/ day, and SO for every time the cas- and
i Nays are taken and his name not record
+ ed. Absenteeism is a crying and grow
/ ing evil Half the Members are absent
/ half the time. When such absence is to-
tally without excuse, they pretend to de
/ duet ssh per day for it (Which is about
one fourth what they have just voted a
days service to be worth }, but this for
i felt is rarely exacted The absentee
pretends to have sickness in his family,
or makes Ito himsel) some other ex
cuse for taking from the Treasury mon
ey which he has never earned, and to
which he is not entitled by law.
If Members choose to vote themselves
a full 81 600 per month (over $40 per
working day. for their services, they
ought to abolish the Franking Privilege
dismiss three fourths of their well paid
satellites, and reduce the mileage to ten
cents per mile by the shortest mail route
But they make no show Of dealing hon
estly with the public. Some of them
will rue this before they get collected.
Tile y J. Times tries to make John
son capital out of this matter, as fol-
lows:
/ e'In all that concerns retrenchmept.th the
+, facts are IN favor of the Administration
and against Congress For whatever
saving has been accomplished, the conn
try may thank the administration. For
resistance to further saving, and for pro
| eeedings which entail heavy additions to
the load of taxation and debt, the coun-
| try is indebted exclusively to Congress.
"A contrast so damaging and sugges-
tive will attract the attention of the peo-
/ pie in the approaching campaign. Al
read V, il engages the thoughts of some
of those who, on the restoration ques-
ton, are not adherents of the President;
and, when the canvass becomes warm,
many viii be Notwithstanding and OPP
| IL, of In,
exclusive reference to the question of re
| trenchment
Tie Times ignores the fact that the
increase of pay to Congress was moved
in the House by Mr.. Niblack, and in the
Senate by Mr.. Riddle-both vehement
Copperheads and supporters of the Pres
ident's policy. If one single Copperhead
or johnson man earnestly opposed the
increase, the fact escaped us The ed
itor of Tie Times is an active member of
the House; but we have not observed
that he tried to defeat the increase of pay
by resisting it on the floor or through
the columns of his journal. Ifnot, does
it become him to throw stones? Nay:
does he forget that he was, at the pre-
ceding Session, the prime mover in ere
ating Judicial district in order to make
a near friend a district Judge for life, at
a cost to the Treasury Of at least $4,000
per annum? And does lie not know that
many thousands of dollars are annually
squandered in supporting Missions and
Consulates where none are needed, and
where they may be discontinued by the
President at his discretion? Witness the
Mission to Rome.
This whole matter of Public Expendit-
ure needs thorough overhauHng and this
it will get whenever the People, without
distinction of party shall resolve or it.
At least. 5000, 900 per annum might