The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-06-13
Tile Constitutional COHrcntjoB 0I!d
the increase IGy.

themselves by the members of the Con
stitutional Convention. 1t has been
said, in certain quarters, that the coun-
try journals that have seen fit to take
issue with the majority of the Conven-
ton on the morality and propriety OF
the increased pay, are identified with
and acting in concert with king.
of political gamblers, who have banded
together for the purpose Of destroying
popular respect and confidence in the
Convention and thereby defeat the rat
ificatiOn Of the proposed new COnsti-
tuition at the balIot-box. Such is not
the fact, at least in the general way III
which it has been charged. We can
honestly and truthfuliy say, that from
the very inception of the effort, outside
rs well as inside of the Legislature, to
bring about the passage Of a law for
the calling of a Convention, We con-
siatently and earnestly sustained the
movement with whatever ability we
possessed. And, although we have
objected to and denounced the in
creased pay Of its members, we are not
for that reason to be classcd with
greedy and unscrupulous riHg which,
/ from selfish and unworthy motives,
/ has arrayed itself against the work Of
, the Convention and will concentrate
/ all its power and resources to defeat it
/ at the polls. So far as we comprehend
: the action of the Convention thus far
I we approve it and intend, when its la
bors are completed, to aid and assist
/ through the columns of cur paper, III
T securing its endorsement by the pco-
/ pie. But we are not therefore com
pclied TO become the defender or apoI-
/ Ogist OF the Convention when it per-
/ petrates what we conceive to be an
I outrage and a wrong III reference to
/ the salary Of its own members. That
IS a very different question from the
character Of the constitution which
may emanatc from their hands. What
is the plea set up in defence of the
Convention for increasing the salary
Of it's members $500 beyond the
amount originally fixed by the Legis-
lature, and which each delegate to that
I body agreed to take when he was elect
ed! 1t is found in n section of the
, general appropriation bill, passed ut
/ the last session, and is as follows:
For the payment of the expenses Of the
Constitutional Convention, including The pav
OF the members, clerks, and officers thereof
and the printing thereof, the sum Of $500, 900
( or 50 much thereof as may bc necessary, to
! be settled by the Auditor General and the
amount of the salaries of the members and
clerks, and the pay of the officers and en-
ployeS thereof. shall be fixed 10y the Consti-
tuuonal Convention, and the money shall he
. paid by the State Treasurer on the warrants
of the president of said convention counter
signed by the chief clerk OF the convention :
and any statute inconsistent herewith be
and the same is hereby repealed"
To entrust the Convention with un-
/ limited power to tiX the salary Of its
4 members presupposcd degree of con
/ tidcnce III the honesty of human nature
! which Was worthy of a Legislature,
one branch of which undertook to per
/ pctrate a swindIe by adding $500 to
/ the salary Of its own members. Adj
mitting that the Legislature abdicated
( It's power in the premises, and trans
ierred it to the Convention. had the
latter body the right to increase its
/ per Capita pay to ticjce and Oac-HaIf
/ its original amount? If it could do
HGt, it could as easily have made it
| twice as large as it really did and for
/ preclsel Y the same reason, which was.
| that the original amount 81, 600, would
. not make both ends meet.
James W. Curry, n delegate from
/ Blair county, who writes Ror. before
his name, and who for that very reason
ought not to be III the Convention at
all, and who, according to the Altoona
Had'caf, is chiefly responsible for the
fraud, IN his speech in the Convention
=. defending his action on the subject de
clared that the salary was entirely in
adequate, and that the delegates could
make more at their private business or
/ professions. This Is all bOsh, for Cur
, " himself never made half as much by
/ pTcqch5n9 as lie would have done out
of his original salary as fixed bv law.
Merely TO make and to save money
was not the purpose for which the del
cgateS to the Convention were elected.
They had higher and more patriotic
duty to perform than to tread in the
footsteps of corrupt Congress, or to
initiate the example of dcbauched
pennsylvania House Of Representa-.
tivcs. The trust confded to them is
one OF vast Importance, and should be
discharged in a pure and unseIfsE
spirit, uninfluenced by personal or pe
cuniary considerations.
= We object % this increase Of pay
for the reason that it is unseemlv
glasping and avaricious-that it i.
calculated to lessen popular confidence
IN the purity and integrity OF the Con
vention-that it was wholly unneces
72ry-"nd especially because it was
clear violation Of the covenant entered
INTO between the delegates and the peo
pie when they were elected.
An exhibit has been made by the
: ". ~