New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-08-11
MP MA0HEN EXPLAINS.

Davis,s term in. the United States Senate,
served three months in Washington, and in
that time distinguished himself, so far as we
remember, by only one thing He voted
bravely for back pay, and he promptly drew
his money. Both houses OF the Kentucky
Legislature condemned the grab" but MIR.
Machen did not care for that. The Senate
resolutions, he says, were "dignifed and gen.
s'tlemanly,n and he has no wish to complain
because the Senators did not agree with him;
while as for the mover of the terribly
earnest resolutions of the lower
house, Mr.. Machen has only to say of
him, 81 trust he is happy" The ex-
Senator would doubtless have remained in
this calm and Christian frame of mind had not
somebody proposed to make him a candidate
for Governor; whereupOn the Kentucky news
papers fell to beratng him so soundly for his
share in the salary scandal that he was reused
to defend himself He does this at great
length, and with a degree of vivacity for
which we must give him credit. Indeed all
the honorable gentlemen who have thus far
undertaken to defend the grab are pretty
much alike in one thing; they come before
the public with an assumption, more or less
unsuccessful, of jovial insoucianoe, jingllng
their dollars in their pockets and twirling
their honorable fingers at the tips of their
honorable noses; and when the public scOlds
them, they smile in sickly sort of way and
answer, "Well, what are you going to do
"aS,SS..tit7" Gen, Butler presents every remon-
strant with three-c6nt postage stamp. Mr..
CARPENTER says he took the $1,000 because he
deserved it. Mr.. Hambleton, of Maryland,
swears that he twill be ID if he will repre-
"sent the people of his district " unless they
keep him like gentleman. MIR. LamisOn, of
Ohio replies to party convention which asks
him to resign, III see you in hell first;' and
Mr.. Machen retorts upon the Legislature which
censured him by reminding the members that
they themselves had been in very bad odor,
and "if they can bear the denunciations," he
adds, "heaped upon them while in the service
"of the State, myself and associates in Con-
"gress ought to be able to bear the burden of
"their resolutions with the hope that we will
"all be happy yet"
This is charming. Still as q defense Mr..
Machen's argument seems tous rather weak. He
pleads that many good Democratic politicians
have done such deeds before; that taking
back-pay and things is sort of way they
have; and we don't care about disputing a
point which seems to have no particular bear
ing upon the question at issue. Neither, per-
haps. would it be worth while to waste many
words upon the Congressman's common COM
plant of the cost of living in Washington.
These gentlemen knew pretty well what that
cost would be before they went there; they
were a great deal more anxious to be
sent to Congress than their constituents
were to send them; and they must have
cheeks of brass to grumble at the
penalties of greatness which they went
through so much labor and dirt to secure.
But it is time for a little remonstrance against
the complaint that Congressman are under
paid. 1t is all very well, says Mr.. Machen, to
talk about economy and simplicity, but rep
resentative cannot serve his constituents prop
erly if he ignores the social obligation" AS
Mr.. Carpenter would say, he must shed drinks
on the just and the unjust. He must pro-
mote legislation by the aid of oysters. He
must sustain the dignity of his position by
putting on a great deal more style than he
even ventured to assume at home. "My own
Judgment" says Mr.. Machen, in a passage
whose intrinsic beauty will plead excuse for
llS lTilluS VI oJ nbhAJ 10 tudJ NO
Fought to be allowed remuneration sufficient
" to meet expenses and a moderate indemnity
"fOr the wants Of old age. Expenses are not
" alone Just reward, and he is entitled to lay
cup something from his wages as public ser
"vant as well as from other pursuits in life,
"and until this is done there is danger that
corruption will have its temptations for
"him.n In other words he must be "kept
like q gentleman" and pensioned off with
his savings when the social obligations of
the Capital get to be too much for him. We
don't know how much Mr.. Machen is capable
of earning in his private business, but we do
know that a large rOportion-probably a
large majority-of the men who run for Con-
gress cannot make as much in year at their
trades or professions as a Senator or Repre-
sentative is paid for q few months service
in the public business; we do know
that large proportion of them are
unused to expensive habits, to "good
"style," and "social Obligations" and the
other necessaries of life about which this ac-
cidental Kentucky Senator writes with so
much dignity; we do know that there are
hundreds of accomplished men who devote
their whole time to the Government in Wash
ington for very much less than Congress-
man COSTS and live like gentlemen too. The
assistant secretaries and bureau officers and
chief clerks of all the departments, rear adj
mirals in the navy, brigadier- generals in the
army, get a great deal less than Mr.. Machen,
and it would not be violent presumption
that they are worth a great deal more. There
is not even a Governor in all the United
States. save that exceptionally valuable per-
son Mr.. William Pitt Kellogg whose salary Isl as