The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-08-05
Rises to Exnlain.

Gen. Butler, the father of the "salary
grab" has at length found it necessary to
attempt to palliate the offense that the sober
sense of the nation takes at the only meas
ure he has engineered through Congress. To
do so, he addresses letter to one of his con-
stituents, which, as far as published, fills sew
en- columns of the Charlestown Chronicle.
The same paper also publishes an abstract of
what it calls the ''strong points" of the long
winded epistle, which are published else
where. The reader will conclude that if this
abstract, prepared by the Generals cwn Or
ganist, embraces the strong points, the Es-
sex member has made miserable failure in
his attempted defense.
1t is not worth while to notice the greater
part of the reasons assigned for the increase
of salary. Much of the letter is personal
bbuse and the handling Of better men than him
self with. ungloved hands. AS usual he abuses
the newspapers and their Washington cores
pondents, many OF whom are committee
clerks and eager for their portion OF the plum
der. As is also his custom, he throws dirt
upon other men in public life either to bring
them down to his level or himself up to their
stand. Gen. Butler will do well to under
stand that the men inter ested in this question
are not fools, and can distinguish the differ
ence between abuse and argument and will
not mistake sophistry for sense. They will
see in all this buster and TRADE, in all this
smother of dust that the General kicks up, in
ind, nj, nd nj;
of black-ball to his betters, that he at length
appreciates the poverty of his cause and is
frightened at the intensity and continuance
of the protest his action has called forth.
General Butler g:veI no reason for his per-
sistent engineering of the salary bill that will
stand moment. There are, however, sever
al propositions worth noticing briefly. In
the first place, he attempts to justify the in
crease of the Presidents salary, which few will
think needs any justification, and says that if
the wealth, population and prices of the
country are considered, President Grants
salary should be s275,0OO compared with that
of Washington. This is certainly new ba-
sis upon which to fix the salaries of public of
ficers. and if carried into practice, at the end
of the next fifty years, the President would
receive in the neighborhood of million
year and congressman $25, 900 each.
In referring to the salaries of the Judges of
tine Supreme Court, Gen. Butler says that the
pay of Congressman should be greater than
that Of these officials, because their
expenses are greater, thus putting in the plea
hat lo,.as lion, IN
the expenditures that the average Congress
man sees fit to make. Which is to say, If
Gen. Butler or Senator Carpenter or Sam.
Randall or Senator Trumbull, as leaders
in extravaganza and luxury, can show that
their annual expenditures are S25, 900 or
100000 year, they have right to vote
themselves that sum. OF course, the hundred
or SO of members of Congress, who cannot,
in any employment, get, not to say earn.
$1,000 a year, will soon see it in the same
light, and there will be no end Oh orders from
Washington at the close of sessions to 'begin
to haul sand," and it will rot be long before
every member will have his mansion at
Washington and his summer residences at
every popular resort But even on this
ground of increased expenses of living in
Washington, gentlemen who have been in
Congress for ten years or more, say that it is
no greater if so great as when the pay was
increased from $1,000 to $1,000, or even while
it was at $1,000, as was the case prior to 1866.
Outside of Washington, the cost of respecta-
bic living is not so great as in 1866, and it is
fair to suppose that the same is measurably
true in that city, ,I-.. ....
When Gen. Butler makes use of the fact
that the pay of the soldiers during the war
was increased from 81 to SIG per month by
their asking for it, as precedent to estab-
lsh his action increasing his own pay
$4,000 a year, he not only insults the
men who left families at home to struggle
with poverty to face death for amere pittance,
but indicates at how comparatively low va
ne he holds their services in comparison with
his own in Congress and how willing this
demagogue is to create unjust distinctions
among our people.
After showing the necessity of an increase
of pay or rather attempting to do it, Gen. But
Ter says that his bill does not really increase
the pay of congressman but only equalizes the
same He says it abolishes the mileage.
How? Simply by increasing the pay of mem
bers S2,50O a year with no other allowances
except actual travelling expenses from their
homes to the seat of government and return
by the most direct route. Does he think that
this provision will make so great difference?
Does he sdppose that the ''grabbers" who
passed his bill viii not bring up their mileage
accounts in the course of a few years to the
old figure?
As will be seen Gen. Butler gives no other
pretexts as an explanation for his champion
ship of the salary bill. Evidently he is not
so exstatic over his success as he was when
he began to send each OF his constituents
three cent stamp as his part of the plumber.
He has come to the conclusion that the peo-
pie will not forget his offense in sixty days.
As the move of demagogue, he probably
laments his false step; but it is very evident
that he had better never have risen to ex-
plain.
ANOTHER savings bank is under cloud in
New York. 1t is the same old story. The
directors made no examination of the affairs
of the bank, the State officers gave the usual
certificates of an examination they never