The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1869-11-18

I 'Oe wv VI sTHIe 10 puHlen AQo,
ia!de Tor the trick she had played
upon him. a sa rtIit' 4
The Small Sins OF Congress.
! Hon. John B. Baldwin, editor Of
the Worcester (M assaeh setts1 Spy.
who was member Of the three
Congresses next preceding the
present one makes tbe,following
comments on Mr. PaFton's article
lin the last Atlantic on the hSmall
Sins OF Congress" Mr.. BALDWIN
is a gentleman always scrupulous.
ly accurate in his statements OF
facts, and less liable than many
men 10 swerve from the truth by
the seductions of perquisites, As
bis statements specifically meet
and refute certain charges, of
which Democratic papers and ora.
tors have attempted to make much
in recent campaigns, they are
worthy of consideration and re
membrance:
"Mr. James Parton, ia the last
number of Of the Atlantic Monthly,
discusses The Small Sins of Con.
gress.' He shows some knowledge
ct the subject. and many of his
criticisms are worthy of attention.
There are old customs of both the
House and the Senate that might
be reformed. Most Of the Inci.
dentals' Of Congressional funerals
should be discontinued. The doc
ument business should be recon. !
structed. Senators and members
can so use their influence as TO les
sen the number of employees, not
only at the capitol, but also in dc.
partments. And they can abstain
from employing such persons as
Winnie Ream, to make statues.
There are other matters that might
very properly be subjected to re.
form.
But it is manifes! that Mr.. Par.
ton IS not well Informed in regard
to some Of the matters concerning
which he writes. There are not, |
as be supposes, many supernumer. |
ary employees about the capitol; he
fails to understand clearly the
purpose and necessity Of the con.
tiugent' account of the House and
Senate; and. on two or three
points, he falls into positive errors
and misrepresentation Or course
he has no intention to misrepre-
sent the facts, and for this reason |
the influence of his mistakes is the |
more injurious. One of his errors
relates to tho cost to the country |
in time spent in sessions of the |
House and Senate. He says, for |
instance: i.l |
"Will the honorable member
from Ohio allow me five minutes to
to make an explanation" "IfI
that request is granted it costs the |
people Of the United States $780,"
And again, "calling the yeas aud
nays, an operation of half an hour,
comes to over 81, ,OO0."
We should like to see Mr.. Par. |
ton explain these sentiments: 1t
is impossible for US to imagine the
process by which he makes this
calculation Of expense. If Con-
gress we're to be paid by the
day or the hour, aud if all her ex.
penses were regularly suspended
when the daily session is adjourn.
ed, until twelve o'clock of the
next day, there would be basis
for his calculation; but this is not
true. So far as relates to expense !
to the country, it makes no differ
ence whether the daily ses>
sion is adjourned at one.
three or FIVE o'clock in the nf.
ternoon. Neither the honorable
gentleman's five minutes, nor the
taking of the yeas and nays adds
anything to the cost Of Congress to
the country. Short daily sessions,
or daily sessions made long by
nothing but useless talk, may
lengthen the stay of Congress al
Washington; but this adds to the
personal expenses of members.
They would be paid no more if
they were in session all the time
than they are at present; their
personal expenses, however, would
bo increased. Hero is anothet mis-
take.
When we find two hundred port.
monnaies charged at prices rang.
ing from one dollar and twenty to
four dollars and twenty five cents
each, We cannot help feeling that
every one ofthese articles is q pet
ty fraud. What q scandal, too, is
that annual pen-knite business !
One thousand and ninety eight
pen knives, at prices averaging
about three dollars each, l find, af.
ter n minutes search, charged |
among the contingent expenses"
of the Eortieth Congress, l could,
probably, make up the amount to
two thousand by going through
the book. ".-e
Mr.. Parton would be much bet
ter informed on this subject if he
made one inquiry in the stationery
room. The law requires the clerk
to purchase and keep on hand for
sale to members, supply of sta.
tionery; and whatever remains un-
sold at the close of one Congress is
transferred to the next, the ac-
counts being properly kept and
carefully audited. There is q small
allowance TO each member for sta
tionery, and at the end of each
Congress members are required to
settle their accounts and pay their
balances, If they have overdrawn
,ko;, allowanoa Thax- pak nathan