Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-12-10

| D1r. h6llOggS SUBSTITUTE LIldb Ill QIucI .
make up the deficiency, duty of five cent
! a pound be imposed upon tea and tire
cents on coffee, and said at this moItlen
the expenditures of the government Wer
beyond the revenue. He was opposed q
| the substitute, but If it were to be adOpte'
ne desired to have coupled with it the pro
| vision he had offered. q.
Mr.. Gartield's proposition was ruled OF
| OF order, the substitute itself rejected, am
the bill as amended, substituting coin TO
money, then passed.
The House then proceeded to the dis
cnssion of the bill for the repeal of the in
crease OF the salary law. Mr.; Cox spoke il
favor Of repeal, but expressed his prefer
ence for the bill as presented by the minor
ity committee.
''Saint' Lawrence on the GridirOn.
Mr.. Lawrence made a speech in favor o
repeal because it was demanded by tho
people whose agents the members of Con
gress were. If Congress failed to wipe Out
the law, the country would be visited will
the continuous defeat OF the Republican
party, and that would be calatiiity to
which he (Lawrence) would not contribute
Mr.. Wilson, of Indiana, asked him wheth
er he O4awrence) did not take $1,000 Of
back pay in 1866.
Mr.. Lawrence, [amid loud laughter all
over the House. replied that he did take
what every other member OF. that Cengress
took. He added that the salary fixed by
the act of 1866 had not outraged the public
judgment and public conscience as the act
of 1878 had done, and that that fact fur
nished perhaps some reason why the mem
beIs of that Congress had not returned
their back pay.
Mr.. Wilson tried to get opportunities to
put further questions to Mr.. Lawrence, but
the latter [amid much confusion and
laughterl refused to yield for the purpose.
Mr.. kellogg asked Mr.. Lawrence
whether members of the 39th Congress had
not taken double mileage for themselves
and reduced it one-half as to future Con-
gressmen.
Mr.. Lawrence replied that he did not re-
collect.
Mr.. Randall asked him whether he had
taken the increased pay on the last nine
months.
Mr.. Lawrence replied he had, bait that
he had returned the difference to the Treas
Ilry.
Mr. Kendall, of Nevada, opposed repeal.
While he had the utmost respect for the
will Of the people when fairly expressed,
he made clear distinction between the
popular will and popular clamor. He
claimed to be able to show that the salary
as it now stood was less than the old, es-
pecially in the case of members from the
far West, and he undertook to do so by
showing that they lost by the abrogatiOn
OF mileage, the repeal of the franking priv
ilege and the withdrawal of allowances for
stationery and newspapers. He was not
here to attempt TO defy the popular will,
but he repeated that he drew a wide dis
tinction between the popular will fairly eX-
pressed and popular clamor led by demo-
gOgues, and by corrupt and partizan press.
Negiey and Cox.
Mr.. Negley made some remarks in allu-
sion TO what he called the extreme sensi-
tiveness of the gentleman from New York,
(Mr. Cox and referred to his having kept
his back pay sometime before returning it
to the Treasury. The gentleman, he said,
appears on this floor Immediately on the
commencement of this session as a cOnSpic-
uOus figure of a group Of gentlemen, anX-
iOuS and Jealous i'll arTaigning their assO-
ciateS for committing a great wrong against
the public treasury and public sentiment,
and | desire to refer to the gentleman's
own acts in order to put him in the posi-
ton in which he. has put himself. From
June 4th to Nov. 9Th, the gentlemen drew
s., - although he was not elected as a
member till the 9Th of November.
Mr.. CoX-The gentleman is aware of the
law on that subject.
Mr.. Negley-I am aware Of the law and
so is the gentleman.
Mr.. CoX-The law is express in regard
to it Is the gentleman aware of the law?
Mr.. Negley-I am aware Of it.
Mr. CON-Let us see what it is.
Mr.. Negley-The gentleman has only
served nine days in this Congress and yet
has drawn over $1,000. If that is not
drawing back pay l appeal to the common
sense of the House.
Mr.. COX-Has the gentleman served any
longer in this Congress than | have? l
was sworn in the same day as he.
Mr.. Negley-BUt | am not showing such
A Disgusting Amount of Virtue
as the gentleman, and consequently | am
not here making my own speech. If this
measure had been introduced i'll the inter
est Of economy, it would have commanded
my vote and my earnest support. If it had
been introduced out of respect to public
opinion by the gentlemen who had most
right to introduce i'll mean those who had
favored the measure 1 should have been
willing to give it my support. But on the
contrary, it has been introduced by num-
Der of gentlemen who have just escaped
from the fOllies of their youth, and who
come here for the purpose of earning some
new reputation. Laughter
Mr.. Wilson, Of Indiana, said it was not
his purpose to argue against the repeal of
the salary bill, nor to argue that the salary
was not fixed too high, but he desired to
show that there was nothing in that action
unworthy or dishoneSt-that a man might
vote for it and still be as pure in integrity
and conscience as ali the multitude of his
detractors. He repeated to Mr.. Lawrence
the question whether he had not drawn
back pay in 1866.
Mr.. Lawrence replied that every member
Of that Congress, except the members from
West Virginia, had taken the pay fixed by
the act of 1866. He condemned the salary
act of March 3, 1873, not SO much because
of the back pay as because both the back
pay and front pay were too high.
Mr.. Wilson of Indiana reminded Mr.
Lawrence that he had condemned it a
while ago because it was back pay.
Mr.. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS it was back paw
too much in amount.
Mr.. Dawes-I want the gentleman from
Ohio (NIr. Lawrence) to tell us
How Much
back pay he would 90 for. Loud laugh
er. lie says that in 1866 he took his
back pay because every member Of Con
gresS did so. lie returns the increase of
pay because he says the people condemn it.
SO he goes with the multitude, whatever
way the multitude goes. Laughter at the
expense of Lawrence.
Mr.. Lawrence desired to make a rejoin-
der, but Mr.. Wilson, who had the floor de-
clined to yield to him.
Mr.. Wilson, of Indiana, continued his
He said men might differ as to
the proper salary without being either rob-
bers or thieves. The people however had
the right to demand that the act of last
Congress should be repealed. The people
had made that demand and Congress was
bound to accede TO it. Whatever Congress
would do would be criticized, but perhaps
the best way Of disposing of the matter,
was to place the law as it was before, and
he trusted the House would put the bill on
that basis.
Mr.. Townsend advocated the amend
ment proposed by himself fixing the salary
of members at $4,000.
Mr.. JamisOn asserted that the popular
clamor against the increase Of the salary
!