National Republican., 1873-06-27
MIR. cARrENrER on BAcK PAY.

We print this morning the speech Of scna-
tor Carpenter, Of Wisconsin, on the back pay |
question, delivered at GAINESVILLE, Wis, last |
evening. Mr.. Carpenter Is one Of the ablest |
statesmen, most eloquent speakers, and pro- |
found lawyers In Congress or In the country. |
Enthusiastic admirers fancy that they sec In |
him another Webster, and II cannot be de- |
MED that there are many points Of resem- |
blance between them, intellectually and other |
wise. Mr.. Carpenter has upon this subject |
made good speech; sttong In Illustration,
and In mere rhetorical point OF view ex-
ceedingly happy. He could not make a
weak speech II he desired to do 1t; so that 1t
may he taken for granted that what he says
in other columns this morning In defence Of
his action and OF that Of large number Of
his colleagues Is the best thing that can be
said upon the subject. What Isl there In it7
First Of all, he blameS the newspaper press
for the present state of public feeling upon
this whole question. The press we do not
think will quarrel with him for this, or at
tempt In any way to shirlS whatever Of re-
sponsiblllty or unpopularity II may bring; so
that that poln. may be dismissed as Of no
consequence whatever In the controversy.
Secondly, Mr. Carpenter justiAcs the action
Of the last Congress, and makes out a strong
l4feraofe 'g6RthatsjarI.. Taking aQyn. the
clusivcly that Congress had the legal right to
do as 1t did. Nobody, VIC suppose, wIll dis
pute that. Technically and within the letter
of the law Congress was right. There is no
legal means Of Furnishing the members who
voted themselves additional compensation, or
as 1t is called, "back pay, because they yio-
lated no law, and only exercised the indis-
putable right conferred upon them by the
Constitution; but Mr.. Carpenter seems to
forget that 1t Is the moral aspect Of this ''back
pay" business, and not the mere legal
phase Of II to which the great majority Of the
people object. What is right in taw may,
nevertheless, be all wrong In morals. II Is
no argument to say that two or three other
Congresses did the same thing; that some OF
our foremost statesmen whose names are
now crowned with halo In American history
did exactly what Mr.. Carpenter and his asso-
ciatcs have done this year. That may be oil
true and is oil true; but two wrongs do not
make 4 right and because Benjamin 7. Wade,
Charles Sumner and Lyman Trumbull put
back pay In their pockets some years ago
upon similar occasion, Mr.. Carpenter Is not
morally justified In doing the same thing now.
Mr.. Carpenter admits that the press family
complained then; an admission which Is
hardly calculated to strengthen his SIDE Of
the argument. Then, the press was, compar-
atively speaking, u mere infant To-day 1t
Is giant that sways and leads public opin-
Ion, and makes politicians as distinguished
as even Mr.. Carpenter cover before 1t when
they do wrong.
Mr.. Carpenter repudiates with intense le-
gal scorn position which has been taken by
a large portion OF the press, that when. the
members of the last Congress were elected
there was an implied II not an express con.
tract that they should serve their constitu-
encics for the compensation that then ex-
listed. Perhaps he Is right. But the plea
that he puts In that Il could Just as legally
increase its compensation the nrst as the last
day OF the session is q more legal piece OF
quibbling. No one denies that Congress was
legally competent to increase lis compensa-
tion; but that 1t was right morally not all OF
Mr. Carpenters sweet and charming elo-
quence can persuade any rational man to be-
lieve. That Congress did what was only Just
and fair In increasing the compensation OF
Its members In the future nobody will ques-
tlon. That needs no defence whatever. Be-
tween the press and the accused members
the people are the final arbiters. They will
give their decision In their own way and In
their own time. As an aid to making up
their judgment, we commend to them Mr..
Carpenters speech as an able and eloquent
defence Of one side Of the question.