Pioche daily record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1872-1876, 1873-10-10
PRESIDENT GRANT AND THE BACK
PAY STEAL.

Hon. c. W. Willard, Republican |
member of Congress from Vermont, in a |
recent letter, copious extracts Of which
We find Published by an Eastern paper,
informs the world that when the propo-
sition TO increase the Presidents salary
first came before Congress, standing By
itself, it met with small favor either in
Congress or the country; and the scheme
Of increasing Congressional salaries was
an afterthought, and resorted to to help
the bill through to increase the Presiden-
tial salary. The President favored the
bill before it passed either house, and
personally expressed to members desire
to have his own salary increased; and
the selfish interests of members in in
creasing their own pay was only one of
the devices by which the Presidents
salary was raised; in other words, it pull
ed that increase through, and the whole
measure had favor at the White House
on that account" Ii is also asserted
with positiveness that the members of
Congress who opposed the back-pay grab
likewise sustained the increase of the
Presidents salary. How much good
reason there may have been in doubling
the Presidents salary-in violation Of
the spirit OF the Federal Constitution at
that-will appear when it is remembered
that the President only has the personal
expenses of himself and family and the
expense OF his table to pey for Besides,
his public entertainments cost him moth
ing; the few dinners he gives to members
of Congress are the chief items of expense
outside of the ordinary expenses Of a
private family. Mr. Willard claims that
the President is as much to blame for the
salary increase as the members Of Con-
gress who voted for the back-pay bill
and pocketed their share of the plumber.
On this branch of the subject Mr.. Will
lard uses the following forcible Ian
guage:
Those who think, that in view OF these
facts, the President S salary was properly
doubled, have, of course, right to their
opinion, but il is not easy to see why
they should at the same time denounce
members Of Congress for making their
salary, in fact, about one-tenth that of
the Presidents. The condemnation Of
members Of Congress who favored this
increase has been in the main undoubt-
edly deserved, but even an American love
Of fairness ought not to make distinction
between those voting for, and the one
uIging the passage Of and approving with
its signature necessary to make the bill
law, a measure unfairly and unreasOna-
bly, increasing salaries, for which they
have been properly criticised. The Presi.
dent urged the passage of this bill IN ad-
vance, approved it after it passed, and
thereby made it law and doubled his
own salary,
A careful look into the appropriation
for the White House and grounds durin!
late years will show deficiency appro
priation of S2G, 900 for repairs in 1870
for 1901 an aggregate appropriation
exceeding S45, 900, exclusive of clerk hii
and not including gas, which, after add
ing other expenditures for the Whit
House and grounds, makes over SUI, UUU
The appropriations for l67l-72 were less
amounting, exclusive of clerk hire an
gas, to something over $4,000. Fo
1928 appropriations for the same pul
poses amounted to over $4,000. BIT
we are enabled to give in detail the al
preparations for the current year, 1s7;