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

| Mr.. Orth offered resolution proyidlIig
for survey to ascertain the practicability
of ship canal connecting Lake Michigan
with the Wabash river. Adopted.
MIR. Parker offered a resolution instruct
| ing the Committee on Elections to eXanl-
| Inc and report the best and most practicable
method of electing the President, and pro-
viding tribunal to adjust and decide all
| contested questions Herewith. Adopted.
A Prospective Postal Army.
Mr.. Beck offered resolution directing
| the Postmaster General to report how many |
employees of all grades it will require to
carry on the Postal Savings Institutions as
| recommended by him, and that he furnish
like information as to the postal telegraph
| system, also recommended, when same IS
| in full operation. Adopted.
Mr.. Randall offered a resolution calling
on the Secretary of the Treasury for in
formation as to the refunding Of duties
since March l, 1873. Referred.
HOar's Educational Bill.
Mr.. Hoar reported a bill to establish an
educational fund, and to apply the proceeds |
of the sale of public lands to the education |
of the people 1t enaets that the net. pro-l
ceeds of the sale of public lands shall be
forever consecrated and set apart for the
education Of the people, provided the act
shall not repeal, impair or suspend any law
authorizing pre-emption or homestead en-
tries, nor abridge the power of Congress
over the public domain, nor Interfere with
granting bounty lands TO soldiers and sail |
Ors of the late war. Without discussion
the bill went over till Tuesday next, and
the house resumed consideration OF the
bill in relation to salaries.
POIand's PIumper.
Poland spoke in favor of the amendment
he offered some days since. He said that
$1,000 a year was ample compensation for
his services and furnished him with ample
means to live in the manner whichhe chose
to live. lie had taken the increased pay
and still retained it preferTing for the pres
ent to be called a thief and robber by the |
press for retaining it,than to be stigmatized |
as a coward and hypocrite for returning it. |
lie would, however, endeayOr to have the |
thing regulated so that he might beallOwed |
to return the money TO the treasury.
Alexander III. Stephens.
Stephens, of Georgia. was the next |
speaker. He got ON his feet with some |
difficulty and not without assistance; then |
he supported himself with a crutch under |
his left arm. He spoke with a clear, ring |
ing voice which was distinctly audible in
every portion Of the chamber. His manner |
was nervous aud his remarks very degrees |
sive, many OF his sentences being left I'M
completed. He was listened to with the |
closest attention. After speaking of the |
comments of the press, Mr.. Stephens said |
the Gentleman from New Y ork (Tremaine) |
had spoken yesterday of
Deu,a.Ogisu
lie (Stephens) maintained that there could |
be no craftsmanship without it. There |
never had been a statesman who was not /
a demagogue,-the sham and the genuine. |
The genuine delnagogIe was the man who |
led the people-the sham demagogue pam
dered to the errors and preiudiceS of the
people. He was very glad to say that the
increase Of the salary bill was measure
for which neither political party was re-
sponsible. His opinion was that the Demo
Gratis, in the proportion of their votes in
Congress, were quite as responsibilities the
Republicans. The first great thing to be
learned in this life, as taught i'll the schools
of ancient Greece, was to discriminate be-
tween tlst which the multitude thought
was right and that whichwas right in Itself. /
He claimed when Congress passed the re-
trOactive law Of last session it had
Constitutional Right
to do SO. He was not saying whether it
was eXpedient or not, but no blush should +
rest on the cheek of any man whether he
voted for it or not. He should have felt
that he was as justly entitled to it as he
was to receive dollar a day. 1t was a
constitutional law, cOnstitutionally passed,
and those who were entitled to pay under
it were as much entitled TO the whole of il
as they were to any dime received under it.
If any thought it was too much and re-
turned it, he (Stephens) would not cast a
slur upon him for doing 50. He was not |
going to place value on his own services |
as a Representative, but if he were to state |
what he thought the services of a Repre-
sentative ought to be worth, it would 90 |
far above the figure of any law that has ever
been passed. He had given it as his opin-
ion in the last speech he made in the House |
fourteen years ago, that if the salaries of |
the members Of Congress were $4,000, |
Senators $4,000, Chief Justice of the SUI
preme Court $4,000, OF Associate Judges |
SO, 900, and of the President 100000 it |
would be better for the country at large. |
lie held the same opinion still. He GER |
tainly should not vote for the bill reported |
by the committee, but he believed that the |
was the abolition of the franking priyi- |
lege.
Garfield.
Mr.. Garfield replied to Mr.. Stephens. |
There were some things, he said, in the |
speech just delivered, so radically unlike |
the views entertained by the American |
people that they should be replied TO at |
once, particularly as to public positions be- |
ing held out as prizes for the emOluments |
attached to them. All that the distin- |
guished gentleman had said in regard to |
the distinction between the genuine dema-
gOgtIe and the sham demagOgue, would be |
cordially cOncuTed III by all who heard |
him. Public opinion, i'll some Of its forms,
might sometimes be wrong, but after all,
the place where public opinion finally adj
jUsted itself finally gave the stamp to what
mankind would usually call right. If this |
were world where the highest power was
the best paid power, the gentleman's argu-
ment would have been right, but exactly
the reverse of that rule was true. Re
turning to the practical question before the
House, he said, when public opinion held |
that the pay which Congress had voted to
itself was too high, it
would be IndeIicate
in Congress to resist that public opinion.
None Of the bills before the House met his
views, and yet he was willing to vote for
several Of them if they came first in order.
1t seemed to him that the aggregate amount
of payment and allowances, including the
mileage allowed under old law, ought to be
preserved, only that the mileage ought to
be equalized and distributed among all the
members, He believed that if there was a
fair equalization OF the total payments I'M
der the old law, it would satisfy all the
reasonable demands of public opinion, and
no unreasonable one ought to be satisfied.
MIR. Randall argued at length as to the
adequacy and equalization of pay, in favor
OF the repeal of mileage and Of the substi-
tuition of actual expenses.
Mr.. Potter hoped the law would be re-
pealed, that the franking privilege end
mileage would not be restored, and that |
any increase beyond s., 900 should be con-
fined to future Congresses.
Radical Criticism OF Grant.
Mr.. Kasson advocated the substitute re-
ported by minority of the committee, and |
argued that the majority bill would
strengthen that element of personal gov
,D,,tv al,