National Republican., 1873-04-04
rIII SALARY HCREAsE.

The salary bill still continues to agitatc
the country newspapers and the rural con-
stituenclcs. The discussion Of the question
has almost entirely passed out Of the columns
Of the leading Journals, which are directed TO
other themes, but our country friends will
not permit so good thing to pass away until
they have extracted from II whateyer juice
there is In 1t. Especially Is this the case In
districts that arc close or where there arc
number Of asplrants for Congressional honors,
In Democratic districts the Democrat who
voted for the increase Is held up to the scorn
Of the entire community by the yirtuOusly-
indignant Republican paper; while In Repub-
lican districts the Democratic organs
arc equally severe upon the Republican
Representative who voted affirmatlyely
upon the question. In other sections, where
Congressman Of either party happens TO
have q clique Of local politicians opposed to
him, (and who has not y he Is attacked and
abused by these gentlemen in the name Of
the people" through all the moods and
lenses, and all out Of the most disinterested
and patriotic motives In the world. Meetings
arc called and resolutions passed by social
aud political clubs aud organizations which
hlN uuly INNOlulu III NuN VI lllt NOuu-
tryPaper. As Is usually the case, these gentle
men minglc truth and error In the most
charming confusion, and deal out censure or
praise without the slightest regard of the
justice or the facts in the case. For
instance, out In Ohio few days
ago ''set' Of chaps opposed to Gen. Gar
feld awaited themselves, In a county conyen-
ton, Of the slim attendance and the absence
Of his friends TO rush through series Of res
Olutlons censurlng HIM on the subject. Now
we are not particularly friendly to General
Garfield we are under no obligations " him
ono way or the other; but II there Is any man
In Congress whose hands are clear Of what
ever OF odium attaches to this whole busI-
ness II Is he. He fought 1t from the begin
ming, but 1t was passed Notwithstanding all
the efforts that he made TO defeat II. lie had
charge OF the appropriation bill In which 1t
was inserted, and TO save the bill II was abso-
lutely necessary that he should yield. But tO
crafty apetty feeling Of mallgnity and per-
sonal hostility Gen. Garfield Is censuTcd,
while other gentlemen, who were too cow
ardly to openly vote for the bill, but whose
votes would have been forthcoming II they
had been required, are hailed as examples Of
Legislative virtue and morality.
We have advocated the increased compen-
sation Of members OF Congress from the be-
ginning and we mean to defend II, now that
Il has been done, because we believe that II
was right and Just. The ouly thing wrong
about II Is that 1t was made retroactive. The
bill was, In the first place, q roformatory
measure, and tho end sought to be attained
through 1t and that will be attained ls u saw
Ing to the public Treasury. Besides, 1t has
the merit OF equaliriug the compensation Of
members and Of ObolIshing the mileage
abuse, which has been au abuse rs old rs the
Government itself Under that system seua-
tors and Representatives from the more dis
tant States were paid thousands Of dollars
more than those who live nearer 10 the capl-