Middletown transcript., 1873-07-12
The Salary Grab and Grants Part
in It.

T0o COfNMsrctW made . very fair At
tempt. on Monday. to reply to our queries,
and explain President Grants reasons for
sanetioniug the "back pay and increased
sslssy" Law passed BY the las, Congress,
bss in doing so our contemporary falls in
To some errors.
Ia the first place We neither made, nor
Intended to make, any attempt to defend
either Dir Biggs or Mr. Salisbury. Both
of these gentlemen are fully able to take
care Of themselves We do no. approve
IT the course. in reference to that matter.
of either Of them. because We disapproved
Of the whole transaction, but We will say,
~a pt,ssaaf. that ws regard the position Of
che men who voted against tina, measure.
even though they afterwards took the back
pay voted them By others. as much more
senzblc than that Of the men who voted to
make that dishonest act law even though
uuder outside pressure or for future polit-
ical effect. they returned their back
pay"
We wish il to be distinctly understood.
however. that. as We have uniformly con-
dsmued the whole affair, we do not intend
% undertake, at any time, the justification
II any portion Of it. Those who returned
their share Of i. are entitled TO no praise,
fr they have done bu. what it was their
duty to do, while those who KEEP, i, must
be judged by their own constituents, and
snswrr at the bar of public opinion.
A second error the Commercial makes
and one that is commonly made by Re-
publicsns, is that ",he vote in the House,
for the increase, was composed Of major
i,y Of Democrats, and the vote 10 oppo.i-
ticn containcd large majority of Rcpub-
licsps.' Surely our contemporary does
not mean to assert tha, majority Of those
who vote for TIM. measure were Demo
crats? On the contrary the vote stood
for. lO3. of whom hiny.6re were Demo
Gratis. aud sirry-eiyh were Republicans
against. 94. Of whom IS we're Dcmocr ats
and the rest. 80. we're Republicans /. is
true that, as the vntr stood, the act could
no, have been passed without the assist
auce Of those ,biry.6rc Democrats who
voted with the X pgolican., which makes
their couiuc, all the more ccnsurabls ; bu,
g. assert that the salary act " was passed
By Democrats, or that even n majority Of
them voted fyr |, is absurd, aud directly
contrary to the facts.
The Commercial next undertakes to ex-
plain why General Grant did not " veto
the salary grab = The increase" says
that journal, was included in long lis,
If appropriations for various expenses of
the government. which arc necessary to
the discharge Of some Of It's most vital
functions. and tho ve,ong OF the bill woald
have caused a suspension Of tho operations
Of every department, at Washington. Of all
tho U. S Courts, Of the governments Of
the Territories. &c., &c. "a consequence
which he -sys We would not dcsire) All
this may be correct, bu, why those gov
ernmsu.al function, which, have been in
operation 80 loug would have been com.
PEELED to stop for the wan, Of more pay to
the incumben,s Of the various Offices VIC
do 10, exactly understand. Until las,
winter the compensation to all Of those Of
fcials VAS sufficient to keep the national
maehiaery 10 motion, and We doubt no,
bu, that ii might have gone on little
while longer.
Gen. Grant. as President Of the United
Ssstes. occupies the responsible position
Of trustee Of the nations welfare and rep.
u,stiou, and had he been faithful to hi.
trust he would have exercised the power
conferred upon hin by the trainers Of oul
government, 10 meet just such emergsncie,
~ this. and prevented that infamous &C,
from becoming Law aud saved the coun
try tic disgrace that its passage has entailee
uv'u il. Previous to the election las. Fall
Prsvideut Grant made many and lous
pson.ises Of civil service reform. and o
seonomy 10 the administration Of the gov
ssamsnt. Nov. no loyal Republican vii
vsnsuss the assertion that those promise
ssd good resolutions were made merel
f~ political effect. In view Of tho Chem ap
preaching election, yet when an oppor,u
pi,y sss offered Tor putting those promi
- iuse sxeeuiioa. the promised reform
sss pss,possd. and lac which has n
: ssssl 10 the sunsls of Legislative eorrur
~ - mads valid By bis signature.
n vsss,s had right to expect bette
49, A~-A -. e.. H.. Ill -.ss . 1~~