The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-01-15

The long debates IN Congress on the re- /
peal Of the law, raising the salafies Of mem I
bcrs and other United States officials, are
disgraeefuI in high degree. While mos,
Of the speakers expressed willingness aud /
discrimination 70 obey what they admitted
to be the will Of the people n this matter,
there was a wriggIing and twisting and Of
fering of amendments and raising points Of
order, which clearly showed how very disa- /
greeable was the duty incumbent ON them
and how gladly they would avoid il, If they
could. The many explanations, attempted |
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. manifested to throw
of the blame, one on another, mark eonspi- |
cuously the whole proceedings Crimina-
tions and recriminations and direct charges,
and ugly exposures of hypocritical conduct,
followed thick and fast, great confusion
prevailed, and members, at times could |
hardly be restrained from fighting
each other in the very hall of the capitol
We gather all this from careful reading of
tho Congressional Record, which, We know,
smooths down everything that occurs as
much as possible. Even Speaker Blaine
lost his equilibrium, got mad, and an
nounced that any member who should OBJ
jcct TO a certain course being pursued would
he guilty of express malice toward him per
4nally, and he should so consider it. This
was simply outrageous, direct interference
with the duties of members to their con
stitucnts, and an attempt to overawe and
control the proceedings of the House Mr..
Hoar, of Massachusetts,, took occasion to
remind the Speaker of this, in delicate
way, and requested him to take back the
offensive expression, which he finally did I
after a fashion, and intimated that he was
sorry, hut that his situation'was a very try
ing one, and that members could hardly
conceive how much he suffered Poor man
We can well understand that he must have
hard time of it, presiding over such a
body, and we can also understand that he
is not much better than the most of them,
who give him so much trouble The con-
gressional saints suffer rather more from
the exposures made than the professed sin
ners Those. who were the loudest in de-
nouncing the conduct of their brother mem
bers turned out to be, in some cases, the
worst offenders themselves. There has
been terrible uprooting of characters, and
the result seems to be six OF one and half
dozen of the other. The least said would
lave been best and direct and speedy ac
ton on the repeal. We are glad to note
that our own members took no part in all
these disgracefu proceedings otherwise
than to vote, and we believe their votes
will generally meet with the appreciation
of their constituents. The final result in
the House was the passage of the follow
ing bill, which, as it is short, we give to
our readers in full
BE it enacted, etc.. That from and after
the passage of this act the compensation of
Senator'S Representatives, and delegates
shall be at the rate of $4,000 per annum,
payable monthly, and in addition thereto
the actual individual expenses of each Sena-
tor, Representative and delegate in going
to and returning from the seat of govern
ment once in each session, to be certified in
writing by each.
Sec. 3 That the compensation of the
Speaker of the House of Representatives
shall eat the rate of $4,000 in addition to
his pay as Representative, amounting in all
to $4,000; and that of the Vice President
shall be the same amount, with the same al
lowance for travelling expenses as hereinbc
fore provideda aaer s
Sec. g. That all laws and parts of laws
inconsistent with the provisions of Wis act
are hereby repealed.
Sec A. That the Secretary of the Treas
ury is required to cover into the Treasury all
sums that may remain undrawn, or which
have been received as increased compensa-
ton, under the provisions of said act, APP
proved March 3, 1S73,sand which shall have
or may come into his possession by the re-
turn thereof. 81
1t will thus be seen that the pay of the
members of Congress has been reduced
from $500 to $4,000, and of the Speaker
and Vice President to $4,000, and every
thing else has not been disturbed, except
there is an authority given to the Treasury
Department to receive the back increased
compensation of members of Congress. if
they may desire to refund it, which is not
likely. Four of our members, Hancock,
Giddings, Herndon and Willie, voted for
this bill land two, Mills and Mclean, against
it. The vote stood 1S1 for to 1SO against
"a not voting.
Whether the Senate will concur with the
House is quite uncertain. The bill is now
before it, and it may be amended, so as to
make it very different thing, and then be
sent back to the House, and between the
two it may be further quarrelcd over and
finally lost. 1t is quite certain, we think,
that the salaries of President Grant and the
members. OF the Supreme Court will not be
disturbed. Grant win hold on to his like
grim death. With him money is the main
consideration.
60