The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-11-26
The Small Sins of Congress.

The Small Sins of Congress.
Hon, John B. Baldwin, editor of
the Worcester Mass) Spy, who was
a member of the three Congresses
next preceding this one, makes the
following comments on Mr.. Parton's
article in the last atlantic, ON the
''Small Sins OF Congress Mr.. Bald
win is gentleman always scrupu-
lously accurate in his statement of
facts, and less liable than men to be
swerved from the truth by the seduc-
tions ofperquisites. AS his statements
meet and refute certain charges, OF
which Democratic papers and orators
have attempted to make much in re-
cent campaigns, they are worthy OF
consideration and remembrance:
"Mr. James Parton, in the last
number of the Atlantic Monthly, dis.
cusses The Small Sins of Congress
He shows some knowledge of the
subject, and many of his criticisms are
worthy of attention. There are old
customs of both the House aud the
Senate that might be reformed. Most
of the 'incidentals' of Congressional
funerals should be discontinued. The
document business should be recon-
structed. Senators and Members of
the House can so use their influence
as to lessen the number of employees.
not only at the capitol, but also in the
departments. And they can abstain
from employing such persons as Vim
ME Ream to make statutes. There
are other matters that might very
properly be subjected to reform.
But it is manifest that Mr.. Parton
is not well informed in regard to some
of the matters concerning which he
writes. There are not, as he supposes,
many supernumerary employees about
the capitol; he fails to understand
clearly the purpose and necessity of
the contingent account of the House
and Senate; and, OH two or three
points, he falls into positive errors and
misrepresentation. Of course he has
no intention to misrepresent facts, and
for this reason the influence of his
mistakes are the more injurious. One
of his errors relates to the cost to the
country in time spent in the sessions
of the House and Senate. He says,
for instance:
will the honorable member from
Ohio allow me i've minutes to make an
explanation p If that request is grant
ed it costs the people of the United
States $500. And again calling the
yeas and nays, an operation ofhalfa
hour, comes to over $4,000
We should like to see Mr.. Parton
explain these sentiments. 1t is impos-
sible for US to imagine the process by
which he makes this calculation of ex-
pense. If congress were to be paid
by the day or the hour, and if all her
expenses were regularly suspended
when the daily session is adjourned,
until IL O'Clock of the next day, there
would be basis for his calculation;
but this is not true. So far as relates
to the expense of the country, it makes
no difference whether the daily session
is adjourned at one. three or five in .
the afternoon. Neither the honora-
BILE gentleman's FIVE minutes, or the
taking of the yeas and nays adds any
thing to the cost of congress to the
country. Short daily sessions, or
sessions made long by nothing but
useless talk, may lengthen the stay of
congress at Washington: but this adds
to the personal expense of the mem
bers. They would be paid no more
if they were in session all the time
than they are at present their per-
sonal expenses, however, would be
Here is another mistake /:
when we find two hundred port
monaies charged at from one dollar
and twenty to four dollars and twenty
five cents, we cannot help feeling that
every one Of those articles is petty
fraud. What scandal, too, is that
annual pen knife business! One thou
sand and ninety-eight pen knives, at
prices averaging about three dollars '
each, / fihd, after a minutes search,
charged among the contingent ex
penses' of the Fortieth Congress.
could, probably, make up the amount
TO twothousand by going through the
book
Mr.. Parton would be much better
informed on this subject if he made
due inquiry in the stationery room =
The law requires the clerk to purchase
and keep on hand for sale to members
a supply of stationery and whatever
remains unsold at the close of one
congress is transferred to the next
the accounts being properly kept and
carefully audited. There is small {
allowance to each member for station
cry, and at the end of each congress
members are required to settle their
accounts and square then balances,
if they have overdrawn their allow
ance. They get neither 'portmonaies'
pen knives, nor stationery of any
kind, for which the are not obliged to
pay. Mr. Parton has queer notion
of the pen knife business because he
does not understand it. In the con-
tinge-taccount of congress he can find
charged the whole amount of station
cry purchased by the clerk for sale
he can also find credited there what
members have paid the clerk for sta
tionery. .-. ...-
There was time when the pen
knife and stationery business was some
thing like what Mr.. Parton imagined;
but that was years ago. so far as the
House il concerned, and the custom
has finally been abolished in the Sem
ate. No member of either body now
receives stationery without paying for
it, as we have explained. The change
has greatly reduced the expenses for
this article, and Thus corrected one
of the 'small slns,' which, in other
days, sometimes grew to be rather
large one.
Mr. Qleaaon has been q member ofl