The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1873-06-05
GARFIELD REVIEWED

: District, iseued either in supplemental
or regular edition, from every iRadia
cal printing ofice in the i've counties.
II is fitting thas the people shenld
have. the other, side Of the question,
and therefore We publish from the
Western Reserve ChroRiele1 the fdl-,
lowing thorough review and answ er,
to. the Genegars = explanation. We
need not say that this review is the,
! work, of an able mind; ,its reading,
/ will fnrnish abundant proof of that
fact, and show how easily the Gener7,
ais specious excuses and subtle soph-
isms vanish into airy ,nothings when
brought into contact With, solid facks
and sound arguments,p Now don't,
! fail to read the review. ~. 81. =.
Since the 4th of March. last L have
! heard and read much respecting the
/ connection of of our member in Goa
4 gress with the salary stesf, Shds since
bthel announeemenk31 that. de V3tsl To-
write a letter, have awaited bis ,ek. =
pIanation, hoping that il would DO alF
! his friends expected, and show that If
he had erred Ia bis veto, it was onlyia;
| mistake, and that he WAS -. man Or
honest principles and aetss above e&-
aggeration, petty. dissimul4tion and
] mntruth. Z
His 'explanatfou appeared in the
columns of the Chronicle OF a AbfalE2B, !,
and with it hiatOry of Ahs, salary id :
crease in q supplemented sheet-with
three of which supplements, all OF the
same size paper, type and print, II
have been favored, ipufpoftink to De
supplements to three diEeFsBGi RSsVt-.
papers, published in three different
| counties. I do not know at whose
instance or expense these suppl Pleinents
were printed Or distributed; bat from
the fact Of Mr.. GaDfieIdsS uamsg al01e
being in italics. presnme they We4e
! furnished by himself and theFefO1e
rely upon the hietOry there eontaiH-.
ed as showing him in as, favorable
light az, truth in the ,pEemises will ad-
NIT :. and with that history i have
compared his, letter, hoping te fad 3
Justification for that vote which has
given such general dissatisf factioNol |
Mr.. Garfield, in his letter, distictlS
says that he opposed the whole scheme
.OflincEease' Of sal&tiss, and that he did
so fol, two ,ressOhs:, 1st, The objects
at the Capitol were already receivinR
| higher rates of pay than the Objects
at a. distance /; ID, ItwoUld be 7impd-
Iitie for the XIII COAgressi to give
new cause for bringing itself inte Odi-
um. In other words: 1st, II was not
spreading the thing even; I'd, II
lawo1ld cause criticism. The question
whether il was in itself right, " hich
had hoped would be the first QHeS-
ton with him, does not appear iron
his letter to have been taken into ae-
count at all. a@5 sst4 - .+eh 94
Io Every one will agree that the off,
GERS of our Government should have
, just and honest compensation fdr
their services and in considering the
7mount of that compensation. it may
not B8 gafniss that we, the peeP4e, for
one moment reflect upon the relation
in which the of6ce-bolders stand to
the people. We do not live in 9 moli-
archy, where the people are compelled
to bow down to their rulers but IN .
republics where the people rnle1 and
where the men whom they place in
official positions are placed in those
positions as servants OF the people,
| not as lords and masters, to be clothed
in puRple and lfineJlf sf ths.axpense
AA4fsDGC1es
this relation in view, We see the neh
of this nation, in general, labOFing for
a compensation from $l.50' to $500
per day; a small. portion who are
gifted with extraordinary, strength,
ingenuity or skill, procure, perhaps,
$500, while avery few, with pre-efII-
nent abilities, are able to make $10.OO
per day, which may be, said to be tho
very height that any honest aFoestioh
unconnected with some Z swindhng
transaction, will afford to pay men Of
the best ability and learning in The
country. tits safe 60 say, that OF thu
men of our nation-7whO ara flle
equals of an average of the members
of our Congress-not one in fifty are
making, as Compensation for their Is
-bor, independent Of interest upon
their capital, the sum of $3,O00 per
year.! The salary of earh meqtbeF of
Congress was 5000 per year, and the
ldded mileage increased that pay To
tii averages Of from Sc. 600 to Sc, 500 D.
year. When we take iutO considers;
ton that about One-third Of the Hme
only is spent in Congress- we see the
pay of our members before, the i'm
crease was over $50 per day. This
price, strong as sit appears, - was the.
price at which the Enembers of fthst
expiring term, and the new term
| about to be commenced, had beeb
elected! 5dIt was the contract price
| which they were to receive when the
people took them into their employ;
and the reasons which, under these.
circumstances, were given by Mt.
Garfield for his opposition to the in-
4 cFeasea of these salaries, were differ
/ AhA ~ Ia = L. II.
hoped would govern his actions.
Mr.. Garfield tells US how persist
emily he opposed the saiary increases
of the struggle and lengthy debate III
which he had borne his full part By
referring to the record, we. find th8t
Mr.. Garfield did assume and take up
on himself the position of leader Of
that oppositiOn-andlet us notice how
his opposition rans q ON the Tth or
January, the compensation not Of
Congressmen, but of q few lAborerb,
1 clerks of the House, was Increased
= On the 8thl Of January, it was pro.
posed to Increase the pay of the jour.
nal Clerk and Tally Clerk two more
iaboring men of the House. Mr.. Gar
field, in his remarks upon that mo.
ton, said: ala ia 93ti1i T7ii1 on
isss' IF these salaries are to remain
raised, there is q certain inequality In
allowing the Others TO remain where
they are. 1 do not know whether this
4 particular amendment ought to psSs
or not" ai81a 7isI
He certainly-cOuld have seen moth
ing wrong in that amendment If he
did not know whether it ought TO
pass or not.l - lt
On the 10th of January, referring TO
the same NATTER he said; mai5l..
:. -. II these salaries are 10 remain
raised, then. there are q large number
of persons in the employment Of this
!. House; whose salaries should also be
n ralsedsgsu8s} uoi1laatiHos as9ts 81
u 80 Again. in referring to this matter,
on the 11th day of January, he said
0a" Insist that we should do one bi
p two things: We tnust either level
them up,or else leayethemiWhePe they
! - call -