Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1873-04-26

ment In every Instance resisted these eff
forts, aud but little Increase was made until
foriy-eigbt hours before the Congress expireds
whes the House loaded upon this bill an
amendment increasing the salaries of the Pres
ident. Vice President. Judges Of the Supreme
Court, and members of Congress, Including
those of the Forty Second Congress
An unsuccessful effort had been made three
weeks before to flsten that amendment upon
another appropriation bill Of which | had
charge. In the struggle to Issten IL upon this
bill, there was lengthy debate in which its
merits and dement's we're fully discussed. In
tina, debate bore my full share In opposing
the amendment
Before was finally adopted, there were
eighteen different votes taken in the House
and the Committee OF the Whole on its mer
its and It's Management. On each ard all OF
these voted adversely 10 the amcndment.-
Six years ago. when the salaEies ST Congress-
men were raised aud ilie pay was made to date
| bick sixteen months, 1 had voted against the
| increase and DOW, bearing more responsible
! iy fUr the appropriations than eyer before !,
! pursued the same course. No act of mine du-
! ring This struggle can be tortured into will
! Hngncss To alDw tlis amendment Ia he fas-
! tened to the bill, But all opposition was over
borne by nuiurities ranging from three TO 6ity-
! three and the hill with tllis amendment added
was sent to the Senate Saturday evening the lst
! of March. Ii the Senate had struck out the
amendment, they could have compelled the
| House TO abandon II or take the responsibility
| of losing the hill But the Senate Eeiused, by
| a vote of nearly two to one, to strike out the
! salary clause or any part OF II and many Sen
| ators insisted that with the abolition of mil
| cage and other allowances $4,000 was no real
| increhsr, and that the rate should be greater
| The bill thtn went to II conference committee
with sixty five uuadjusied amendments pend
ing between the two Houses. ..I-
THE battle against the salary clause was
lNa1
went to the conference. committee. The
Spe Ikcr of tile House and the President of the
Senate both recognized the fact in appoiHt-
ing their respective committees Of confer
! enCe. 80 ....
In announcing the committee o: conference
on the ySirt of the House, the Speaker said:
There are several points or diterence be-
tween the two Houses Of exceeding import
ance. h ~ the dGly of The ChatT to adjust the
conference 50 as To represent those po4nts up
on which the House most eaallesty Insist
The three points of difference especially in
volvrd are the subject Of salarirs of members
and other ailfcers what Is siylrd the MOrrlll
amendment and the provision in regard to the
Pacific railtoad The Chair thinks that so far
MS he can annlyZe the votes Of the House on
these prOpOsi IONS. that the following con
: ferees will fairly represent the views of tic
E House on the varil lus questions Mr.. Garfield
Of OhiO, Mr.. Butler OF Massachusetts,, and Mr..
Randall p nn,ylvala"
was ppIin'ed Chairman beca1sc | had
charge of the bill M,ssrs. Butler and Ran
dali were appointed because they represented
; the declared will ol the House on tue salary
question. These were nor members of the
: committee on appropriations, and were moi
familiar with the other provisions of the bill
The salary clause was the first of the sixty
FIVE amendments, referred to the committee
and six iul hours were spent in considering
, it, notwithstanding the fact tls.t The battl,
against tll salary eEillSe was already lost,
made the best effort could tO retrieve 1t In ih'
Z confer nee committee / faithfully presented
, the considerations urged against it by the mi
r nurlNy in the House, and moved 10 strike ou
!. the clause relating 10 congressional salaries
The Senate conicrees were unanimous agtins
the motion, and my two associates agreed
+ with them. mnXgd to strike oul the retroaci
8 i've feature and the vote stood us before BY th'
+, same majority the amount was hxed at sever
thousand five hundred dollars. There wa
no longer any doubt that the saary CLAUSE
5 must stand or fall with the bill. 1t WAS eica
that majority OF the committees, represen
ted the judgment OF the two Houses. .
In this situation there was but two courses
before me One was to refuse the act Will
the conference committee, abandon the bill
to Mr.. Butler, the next on the confer nee, ant
r go into the House and oppose its tinal passage
r the Oiher was To stand by the BILL N IKE ii II
: pcrpet Gs possible limit and reduce tn
It be done, and report " to. the House for pas
e sage. ....,.. ..... .., L.
In word. I was called upon to decide tl,i
,r question; Is the salary amendment, 81 iia
e polite. so unwse, so intulcranC that in orde
4 10 prevent its becoming a law, the whole bill
p ought to be defeated Ifso, it was the dut,
of both the Senate and the House to ,ietcat it
Il and if they passed Ii, II WAS tue duty OF tn
a President To- yelo 1t. Upon the decision
e Then made and the reasons for and against II
~ invoke the Judgment of my constituents fo
!. there, If anywhere In the course of this legis
q mlion, ! forfeited my claim, 10 their conf
n dencc. ..
II the enactment of this amendment into,
C law was itsclfa crime, then any bill, howeve
u important il might be, to which II WIS attach
II ed. ought To be defeated. No public emergen
e cy can justify theft or robbery. But bad u
y this amendment was III. some vi lis provisions
II ii is an abuse of language and OF truth to cal
II either theft or robbery, On the contrary
Il many of the items of increase were acknow
l. dyed to be just, even by those who oppose
,. the amendment most earnestly IL was eieai
e ly within the constitutional power of Congres
u to pass that clause. The Constitution make
II IL their duty 10 fix the salary Of all officers {
II the Government, including their own.
), The retRoaciye pay provided or Ia tbi
v amendment, unwise, indelicate, and indensibl
IS ns believe it To have been, was in acordanc
= with all the prccedenis, for every increase q
J. | pay Oh meUlUcF5 OI ANnBTtss sliNt lllc Htpp
s ton of the Constitution has applied To th
4 whole term Of the Congress that authorizes
II IL il was not crime aud we, have no rlgh
to say that those who advocated II wer
u thieves aud robbers. | opposed the Who'll
le scheme os increase Of salaries chieiiy on tw
,t grounds t'H l-H l.i HfH
1t First That officers at the national Capita
were already receiving higher rates OF pa
! than those serving at distances and Tbs
e five began 10 increase the salnies at the caI
ital, aud particularly our own, II %cnld be IN
y decent aud unjust not 10 go through The Who'll
J. list aud make the increase general. To d
n this would greatly increase the expenditure
$ already overgrown by the results OF tho war
IS and, .tl
n Second. Iopposed 1t because thought
+ peculiarly impoliuc for tho Forty Second Con
u gress u give any new CAUSE ior bringing i
g sell into public odiun Much had alread
occurred to throw dlscredit upon II, and thl
!. would add Il new shade TO the colors In whlc
Ii II WAS heing painted. saF H p,yJH
II On the other hand thcre we've grave objet
" tions To the defeat OF the appropriation bill
= Everybody knows thai It's, failure would ren
A. der AN extra session Of the new Congress inev
ID table. IL Is easy 10 say now that this wou
| IA hnan haiinF ia NllAw hp Al