The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-12-12

4 ~
,ention by members, officers, and audience.
He commenced by saying be would cxam'.s
the question before the House, first IN us
moral and then in its political aspect. he
smoke of the comments Of the public press
on the subject. He would say nothing in
deroration of the power or usefulness of the
press. The position Of the journalist In tllis
country was one of the highest. The fourth
estate did Ia this age control public sentiment;
but he would In all earnestness say 10 the
press and its conductors that nothing was
more important than that in the treating vi
subjects with the masses Of the people they
should look we'll to the truth, ana correct,
ness, and principle OF what tney auu,ol 1 y.
10 the people. The press had oehocu ~, q.
thieves ond robbers the members OF the last
Congress. and he had seen one paper "ii'co
renresented the raid on the Treasury very
mnch like tho charge Of the six hundred
VI RalakIava. He had thought the wit OF
that REPRESENTATION more appropriate than
the wisdom. The gentleman from New YORK
mir. I'rcnan) had spoken yesterday OF de.
marogsm. He (Stephens) maintained that
there could be no craftsmanship without 1t.
There never had been statesman who vas
not a dcmagogue. The word originally
meant leader of the people. Perlcles
was demagogue. There were two KINDS
Of dcmagogues- 1.-The sham and the
genuine. The genuine demasogue was
the man who led the people, who
Guided the people. The sham dema.
oopuc psudered TO errors and preludiceS OF
the people. The real statesman was the
physician of humanity. The sham dema-
rocue simply courted favors in order to get
Office and the spois of Office. He considered
Lord Chatham as the true, the genuine
denlagogue, and related an anecdote
to the effect that when Chatham WIS
proposing 10 the English Cabinet
new measure Of taxation, Including
the taxing of windows, he missed one menl-
Der of tie Cabinet, and asked for him by
name. The answer was that it made no dill
ference whether that member was present
or not. because be was fool. " That Is the
very reason,' said Chatham. 60 that want
him here. because the way lie thinks about
this thing is the way that the majority OF the
people of England may think about 1t, and
| want to know the sentiment Of the pub
lie" He wanted TO know it, not to pander
to il. but that he might go before the people
and raise them to sentiment 0, the neces-
sity and propricty Of the measure.
Recurring to the consideration of the in
creased salary bill, Mr.. Stephens said tia: be
was very glad to say that that was Il measure
for which neither political party vas respcn-
sibe. His opinion was that the Democracy,
in the proportion of its votes IN Congress,
was quite as responsible rs the Republi.
can party. The gentleman from New York
CIR. Tremain) had admitted yester-
day that, under the Constitution. every
n nor Jpht RI v
sation. II had doue so from the beginning
Of the Government. 1t had frequently in
creased that compensation, and the increase
was always and necessarily retroactive.
Worthy men had done this in the last CEN
fury and in the early part of the present
century. The brightest ornaments in Ameri.
can history had subjected themselves to
he denounced as salary.grabbers and
thieves. The first great thing to be
learned In this life, that which had
been taught in the schools of ancient
Greece, was to discriminate between that
which the multitude thought was right and
that which was right in itself. If there
was anything wrong, anything immoral,
anything dishonest, anything which would
reflect disgrace on mans memory for
taking that legal appropriation, he wanted
to know where it was. II it was wrong
for members to take what the law allowed,
where were men to find a rule of right
and wrong! His remarks on this
subject did not apply to himself,
but be was citizen Of the country, and he
felt deep interest in the dignity and chalac-
ter Of Congress. He claimed that when
Congress passed the retroactive law Of last
session 1t had constitutional right to do
50. He was not saying whether it was eXpe-
dcnt or not, but no blush should rest
on the cheek of any man, whether be
voted for the bill or not, who took
the money. If he had been here he
should have taken it, whether he voted
for it or not, and should have felt that he
was as Justly entitled to 1t as be was to re.
ceive dollar day. 1t was constitutional
law, coustitutionally passed, and those who
we're entitled to pay under it were as much
entitled to the whole of 1t as they were to
any dime received under it. lfany thought
it was too much, and returned It, he Este.
phcns) would not cast slur upon him for !
doing so. lie had now discussed the moral |
view Of the question, and he would now |
proceed to discuss 1t in its poll. |
teal aspect. lie was not going to place a.
value on bis own services as q representa-. |
tive, but if lie were 10 state what be thought |
the services Of a representative ought to be |
worth he would 20 fur above the figure of |
any law that has ever been passed. 4
representative Of the people ought to be |
man Of that mental calibre, that information, |
That education, that virtue, that trustworthi. |
ness, and all those qualities which com.
mand the highest remuneration. He had |
given it as his opinion in the last speech |
he made in the House, fourteen years ago,
that il the salaries of members of Congress
were ten thousand dollars, of senators fifteen
of the chiefjustice Of the Su.
preme Court fifty thousand, OF the associate
Judges twenty-five thousand, and Of the
president one hundred thousand, it would
be better for the country at large. He held
the same opinion still. He certainly should
not vote for the bill reported by the com.
mittee, but he believed that the most unwlse
action of the last Congress was the abolition
ofAhe Thanking privilege.
Various Items.
WASHINGTON, December 11.-At the next
executive session of the Senate the Commit
tee on Judiciary will make a favorable report
an the nomination Of George Fl. Williams to
be Chief.Justice.
1t appears from the report Of the Southern
Claims Commission that the gross amount
of claims filed is sixty millions and The az
eregate amount passed on ten millions.
There remain seventeen thousand claims, |
to fifty millions, to be adjudcated |
The amount claimed In the whole number
of cases now reported Is S4,71S,s91, and the |
amount allowed In settlement of the 1858 |
approved claims is S644 ,365--an average al |
lowance of $500 to each claimant.
The indications are that the House of Re- |
representatives. will pass a bill fixing the |