The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-08-08
HOW THE THING WAS DONE.
Reasons for Raising the Sal
aries of Congressman.
BACK PAY GRABBED BEFORE,


form OF Q letter 10 George L. Briggs, OF Amesbury,
WHO wrote 10 him for that purpose. 1t Is o long.
winsed and peppery document OF seven columns.
The following IL synopsis Of the screed:-
increase Of sasry 10 correct. and that the salaries
pr0nsed ny the btu are not so large In purchasing
probem IN .,mne sna .o nc ,s ssa' ss
population OF three aud half millions paid wash.
,assen "a salary o. $4,000 population Of thirty
Ne claims that the bill equaliSes the salaries OF
oongressmen more than u raises them W abolish.
sConxrcs-man should have as much az the sgent
Of MILL for whom $1,000 Is not q large salary,
ought 20 elect Conxressmen worth a. much "a that
Every Congress which has increased It's pay and
pllcable 10 those who voted for it. II this Is true,
he says all are thieves" plunderers,a
All our soldiers nave received back pay, and are a.
much "thieyes' a. the members of Congress. Our
nAso ss Dssr pay S% the
NEWSPAPERS aRAs RACE Par
when they can. aud libel those who give Il TO them.
Respondents IN washington unless these cor
mehi by cierkships, &c. Thsi X. the newspaperS
he says. cannot AFFORD to pay clever men tncir
their support oat Of the Treasury. The General
holds That "that which has been done
meni, by the common consent OF all gocn men.
without substantial objection, must be taken In
dcne as to justify whoever does IT, The increase
OF salary, made retroactive, was right In itself.
The mode OF liking and paying the compensation
OF members OF Congress much considered In the
Convention hichiiramed the constitution. One
proposition Was that they should receive their pay
other iar-seeing men, ON the ground that when
politics changed IN the State the Legislatures would
starve their members Of Congress Into submission
to their viii. Another proposition was made that
the outgoing Congress- should tx the pay for the
the senators should have no paw On The ground
that rich men could only come 10 the senate. OF
onS sucn p msn Was wna rseSssa tns
rich men should go 10 the senate.
why III COULDN'T VOTE AGAINST IT.
The men OF large wealth In Congress did not
vote for the increase Of salary with the single
ception OF the senior Senator nom Pennsy ivsnia.
because It made no difference TO them. Having
means by which can live without any salary, l
crease OF salary; for, being Of the people. deemed
poor man ought to have the opportunity Of repre-
tves are not so wen paid o. TO be able to i've there,
one OF two things must follow, either that ne could
sell himself and his vote 70 get the means Of living
the nnai result was giving members adequate
compensation nps 70 be naed oy the votes Of both
practice, each Congress fixes the salary OF ia
members, not only for Congress, but establishes
II every year when IL passes the legislative appro
priatl0n bill. Congress alone determines Its own
compensation for itself during Its term, and no.
A moments reflection win show that u IL impos.
sioe ever 70 raise the pay 81 mpmbers Of Congress
their own pay. large majority OF the present
mepbers were reelected to the next Congress.
,p eay asd ey s sSe ms
for whatever cause and make Il applicable
70 the next Congress. then, in that case.
the minority would be voting an Increase OF their
own pay over and above the sum az which II stood
AZ the time they were elected And In the case OF
two years, the pay cannot be raised at all unless |
the then present senators vote 10 raise their own
THE REQUIREMENT OF THE SEwspArERs
that no man shall ever vote to raise his own pay,
wSSa render an Of se
elected, Is that he VIII serve two years Tor
such compensation ~ shall be determined at any
time during the term for which he serves by his
own vote IN conjunction with those Of mis- fellows.
on the contrary, the clerk OF committee does
make q contract that he will serve for so much per
day, during the Congress, and having made that
agreement being u newspaper correspondent or
his contract, and writes denuncatory articles
against receiving back pay insisting on the sacred
Very little objection was made In the debates In
Congress to the increase Of salary being made APP
p,cabe to the present Congress the question
discussed was what the amount ought 70 be.
However, Mr.. uawiey. OF Connecticut. spoke very
nuently upon the subject OF our raising our own
member, hear, has refused 10 take his increased
pay. But no was elected 10 serve only three
State, who had deceased and as his BACK pay would
amount to but little more than his mileage, which
much effect as they might have done n they would
cost him more.
Mr.. Butler next proceeds TO show that the retro
active clause IL justified by the example OF all pubic
men, and instances the fact that In i7yo the question
Of giving back pay 10 the members during the
whole OF the Congress was 80 little regarded that
the yeas and NAYS where not called In either Iogsei
did in the present Instance. Ia ISIS ne nnds that
John Mclean OF Ohio, afterwards Judge OF the "a
preme Court; X. X. NJ. Johnson. Afterwards Vice
president: Timothy Pickering, an hOnOrcd member
from Essex, and Daniel Webster, al voted
Tor increased back pay. In 1896, on tue last night
OF the session, the pay OF members OF congress IN
addition to mileage, was made apphcsOle back
w y.s, TO n raised ors s me
besides the prior allowance for Newspapers, sta
tionery and books. as nxed when iae, ~sfs
was made. The vote stood loo ia ls,or W ~
against in the House, oi the eleven Represents,
back pay and three Jailed 10 vote, when one
negative vote would have defeated the oA-
pay clause Of the biil IL was sustained by =
70 ", or more than twothrds. among whom
New Hsmnsnlre Trumoull Of Illinois. Bel OF Tea.
nessee and Wilson OF Massachusetts,, the latter OF
~ 10 not Seneye any party can make anyihiss AZ
this tirue, when we spend t'5,VOo.e~ annually t0
Earry on .1 rsasonspe 70 IN ,scf q
Congress. If anybody undertakes thatsfssl game
believe he WIN be irswnea down ~ tbs sood
'e"''' W" rns Thing WAS DONE skroEG
In 1896 the salary OF Inemoers Of Congress vas
again Increased TO xs00o. or sixty-sesen per cenI
retaining mileage stationery postage. newspapers
and other allowances, Ito be computed rom The
FIRST day oil the present Congress-" OF bacg pay
Tor sixucn mODths SO. by that, the "ba'S
salary Of each member was nearly doubled. Tie
bill passed by vote OF 81 yeas In the llOase
TO 30 nays, two members from Nsssachu-
setts--Banks and A. II. Rsce--votins IN the
Affirmative Boutwell, and Elliot ye,ng IN the mega
tive, and six members-to wit, John ID. Alley, Ames,
J. II. Baldwin, IA. l.. Dawes, samuel Hooper, aud
William Il. Wasnburn, now Ills Excelency the
Geyernor-"dodged the vote" Robert &. Scnenck,
| Thaddeus stevens and John +. farnsworth are
also named AZ among those who voted for and
took the salary then, and the General takes occa-
SION to avenge himself upon the editorial irater.
nifty by showing that HenryJ Raymond, OF the New
YORK. Times "dodged' and that Mr.. Baldwin,